Sunday shows – Trump team defends coronavirus response

Multiple supporters of President Trump appeared on the Sunday morning political talk shows to defend his response to the coronavirus, after audio of interviews with journalist Bob Woodward sparked controversy last week.

Guests also discussed the November general election matchup between Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden as well as the raging wildfires on the west coast.

Read The Hill’s complete coverage below.

White House adviser says Trump was ‘straightforward’ on coronavirus when pressed on Woodward interview By REBECCA KLAR   White House trade adviser Peter Navarro dismissed concerns on Sunday that President Trump was purposely downplaying the threat of the coronavirus earlier this year in light of recently released recordings that show Trump privately acknowledged the threat to journalist Bob Woodward in February.  Read the full story here

Trump campaign senior adviser says president is ‘not at all’ downplaying the severity of the pandemic By JUSTINE COLEMAN   Jason Miller, the senior adviser to President Trump’s campaign, said Sunday that Trump is “not at all” currently downplaying the severity of the coronavirus pandemic after the president told journalist Bob Woodward he was in February. Read the full story here

GOP chair defends Trump messaging on masks: ‘To say that he should have known then what we know now isn’t really fair’ By ZACK BUDRYK    “I think 20/20 vision in hindsight is always perfect, but as a new pandemic hit our shores we were all being told by Dr. Fauci, the scientists that we shouldn’t wear masks,” Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel  said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “It’s a new virus … to say that he should have known then what we know now isn’t really fair.” Read the full story here

Almost 2 in 3 Americans disapprove of Trump’s handling of pandemic: poll By JUSTINE COLEMAN   An ABC News/Ipsos poll determined that 65 percent of respondents said they disapprove of the president’s management of the COVID-19 crisis, almost eight months after the first coronavirus case was confirmed in Washington state. Read the full story here

Biden adviser defends campaign rallies in early March: ‘He didn’t have access to the kind of information that Donald Trump had’ By ZACK BUDRYK    “He wasn’t the president, and he didn’t get the information from government experts telling him this was deadly and airborne the way President Trump did,” Jake Sullivan said. Read the full story here

Demings slams GOP coronavirus relief bill: Americans ‘deserve more than the crumbs from the table’ By REBECCA KLAR   Rep. Val Demings (D-Fla.) criticized a Republican-backed coronavirus stimulus bill on Sunday after Senate Democrats blocked the GOP legislation amid a stalemate between the parties.  Read the full story here

Economist Stephen Moore calls on Pelosi, Schumer to ‘get a deal done’ amid stimulus stalemate By KAELAN DEESE    Economist and economic adviser to President Trump Stephen Moore called on Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) to “get a deal done” amid a stalemate to pass a fifth coronavirus relief package. Read the full story here

Biden leads by 5 points nationally in Fox News poll By ZACK BUDRYK   Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden leads President Trump by 5 percentage points among likely voters in a national Fox News poll released Sunday. Read the full story here

Biden senior adviser: ‘We know that we have work to do’ to gain Latino support By JUSTINE COLEMAN    Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s senior adviser, Symone Sanders, said Sunday that the campaign is aware it has “work to do” to gain support from Latino voters.  Read the full story here

Strzok: ‘I continue to believe that Donald Trump is compromised by the Russians’ By ZACK BUDRYK   Former FBI agent Peter Strzok told NBC’s Chuck Todd Sunday that he still believes President Trump to be “compromised by the Russians.”  Read the full story here

Los Angeles mayor slams Trump over response to California fires By REBECCA KLAR    Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti (D) slammed President Trump on Sunday over his response to the wildfires blazing across California and his dismissal of climate change as their cause.  Read the full story here

Oregon senator says Trump’s blame on ‘forest management’ for wildfires is ‘just a big and devastating lie’ By JUSTINE COLEMAN   Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) said Sunday that President Trump blaming “forest management” for wildfires is “just a bid and devastating lie.” Read the full story here

Oregon governor calls wildfires a ‘bellwether for climate change’: ‘This is a wake up call for all of us’ By REBECCA KLAR   “We saw incredible winds, we saw very cold hot temperatures, and of course we have a landscape that has seen 30 years of drought,” Oregon Gov. Kate Brown (D)  said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “This is truly the bellwether for climate change on the west coast and this is a wakeup call for all of us that we have to do everything in our power to tackle climate change.” Read the full story here