“It Is What It Is” – Trump Defends Coronavirus Response

President Trump insists his administration has the COVID-19 pandemic under control in Axios On HBO interview, despite 150,000 American deaths. NBC's Alice Barr reports.

(NBC News) — President Trump is taking heat for telling an interviewer that the rising death toll from COVID-19 “is what it is.”

In his interview with Axios on HBO, Mr. Trump insists his administration has the pandemic under control.

“They are dying, that’s true. And it is what it is. But that doesn’t mean we aren’t doing everything we can,” he says.

Critics say President Trump is denying responsibility.

“When he says ‘It is what it is’ that is the most cruel abdication of presidential leadership I’ve ever seen,” says New Jersey’s Senator Bob Menendez.

Others argue his lack of a national strategy has deepened the crisis.

“Where was the national program to produce personal protective equipment? Where was the national program on testing?” asks Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkely.

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