enhanced_deficit
04-10-2020, 12:53 PM
Caution, it's CNN reporting but appears to be being validated by other sources.
Navarro publicly said Americans had 'nothing to worry about' while privately warning coronavirus could cost lives and dollars
By Em Steck and Andrew Kaczynski, CNN
Fri April 10, 2020
(CNN) White House trade adviser Peter Navarro publicly said Americans had "nothing to worry about" while he privately warned the White House that the coronavirus pandemic could cost trillions of dollars and hundreds of thousands of American lives.
Navarro circulated two memos (https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/07/politics/peter-navarro-memo-donald-trump/index.html) at the White House in late January and February warning that a full-blown coronavirus outbreak would leave American lives and the economy vulnerable.
But Navarro, a frequent surrogate for President Donald Trump and his administration on television, continued to present a far more optimistic message in public, CNN's KFile found after reviewing Navarro's interviews, statements and writings.
In the January 29 memo, Navarro wrote that the "increasing probability of a full-blown COVID-19 pandemic" could infect as many as 100 million Americans and kill "as many as 1-2 million souls." That same day -- in which the coronavirus task force was also formed -- Navarro made no mention of the possibility when asked a question about the impact of the coronavirus while appearing on CNBC (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oo4KdqRNAAk) promoting the USMCA trade agreement.
"Not to jump too quickly to the impact of the coronavirus, but obviously there's the fear that it's going to unwind some of the potential benefits of phase one," CNBC's Carl Quintanilla said. "(Secretary of Agriculture) Sonny Perdue today said he didn't know whether it would affect ag commitments. How much are you worried about that unwind or potential unwind?"
"Well, we have a really strong leadership with (Health and Human Services) Secretary (Alex) Azar and the CDC. We're working very carefully and diligently on this, so, well, let's see how this unfolds. This is not my lane per se, so I'm going to let others come on CNBC and inform that," Navarro said.
But in the memo, Navarro had privately urged the White House to impose a travel ban on China. The White House imposed restrictions on -- but did not ban -- travel from mainland China on January 31, two days after the memo circulated.
In a statement to CNN regarding his CNBC appearance, Navarro said, "A question about agricultural purchase commitments is clearly not my lane."
At the White House coronavirus briefing Tuesday, Trump said he didn't know about Navarro's memos until a few days ago and still hadn't read it.
"He wrote a memo and he was right and I haven't seen the memo," the President said. "I will see it later on, after this. But it didn't matter whether I saw or not, because I acted on my own. I guess I had the same instincts as Peter."
In Navarro's second memo, dated February 23, he urged for immediate funding to "minimize economic and social disruption."
"Any member of the Task Force who wants to be cautious about appropriating funds for a crisis that could inflict trillions of dollars in economic damage and take millions of lives has come to the wrong administration," Navarro wrote.
But at a press gaggle on February 24, Navarro assured that coronavirus was "nothing to worry about for the American people" under Trump's leadership.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/10/politics/peter-navarro-coronavirus/index.html
Navarro publicly said Americans had 'nothing to worry about' while privately warning coronavirus could cost lives and dollars
By Em Steck and Andrew Kaczynski, CNN
Fri April 10, 2020
(CNN) White House trade adviser Peter Navarro publicly said Americans had "nothing to worry about" while he privately warned the White House that the coronavirus pandemic could cost trillions of dollars and hundreds of thousands of American lives.
Navarro circulated two memos (https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/07/politics/peter-navarro-memo-donald-trump/index.html) at the White House in late January and February warning that a full-blown coronavirus outbreak would leave American lives and the economy vulnerable.
But Navarro, a frequent surrogate for President Donald Trump and his administration on television, continued to present a far more optimistic message in public, CNN's KFile found after reviewing Navarro's interviews, statements and writings.
In the January 29 memo, Navarro wrote that the "increasing probability of a full-blown COVID-19 pandemic" could infect as many as 100 million Americans and kill "as many as 1-2 million souls." That same day -- in which the coronavirus task force was also formed -- Navarro made no mention of the possibility when asked a question about the impact of the coronavirus while appearing on CNBC (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oo4KdqRNAAk) promoting the USMCA trade agreement.
"Not to jump too quickly to the impact of the coronavirus, but obviously there's the fear that it's going to unwind some of the potential benefits of phase one," CNBC's Carl Quintanilla said. "(Secretary of Agriculture) Sonny Perdue today said he didn't know whether it would affect ag commitments. How much are you worried about that unwind or potential unwind?"
"Well, we have a really strong leadership with (Health and Human Services) Secretary (Alex) Azar and the CDC. We're working very carefully and diligently on this, so, well, let's see how this unfolds. This is not my lane per se, so I'm going to let others come on CNBC and inform that," Navarro said.
But in the memo, Navarro had privately urged the White House to impose a travel ban on China. The White House imposed restrictions on -- but did not ban -- travel from mainland China on January 31, two days after the memo circulated.
In a statement to CNN regarding his CNBC appearance, Navarro said, "A question about agricultural purchase commitments is clearly not my lane."
At the White House coronavirus briefing Tuesday, Trump said he didn't know about Navarro's memos until a few days ago and still hadn't read it.
"He wrote a memo and he was right and I haven't seen the memo," the President said. "I will see it later on, after this. But it didn't matter whether I saw or not, because I acted on my own. I guess I had the same instincts as Peter."
In Navarro's second memo, dated February 23, he urged for immediate funding to "minimize economic and social disruption."
"Any member of the Task Force who wants to be cautious about appropriating funds for a crisis that could inflict trillions of dollars in economic damage and take millions of lives has come to the wrong administration," Navarro wrote.
But at a press gaggle on February 24, Navarro assured that coronavirus was "nothing to worry about for the American people" under Trump's leadership.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/10/politics/peter-navarro-coronavirus/index.html