Coronavirus: Top Trump economic aid says he has no regrets as Obama skewers White House

Donald Trump‘s top economic adviser told reporters he has no regrets about the White House’s Covid-19 response because the president’s team followed “the actual facts”.

Democratic legislators and its presumptive presidential nominee, former vice president Joe Biden, have criticised Mr Trump for not taking warnings about the virus’s severity. They also have called the overall federal response – largely as a result of his tepid attitude – slow and uneasy.

The White House’s Larry Kudlow, however, disagrees.

“Look, I and many others looked at the actual facts. The cases were very low at that point,” Mr Kudlow said of the administration’s actions in January and February – despite US intelligence community warnings to the president that a highly contagious novel virus was headed to the United States.

“And you’ve had so many debates, you know, there were people criticising the president for the travel restrictions, other people, you know, as recently as early mid-March,” he said.

“I’m not going to name names, but you have prominent people on the air saying, you know, this was going to be less than an ordinary flu,” Mr Kudlow contended in the Trump White House’s latest comment showing how much of its policies are a result of what is said on cable news networks.

But former president Barack Obama, in a video endorsing Mr Biden for the Democratic nomination for president, criticised the job done by Mr Kudlow and Mr Trump.

“If there’s one thing we’ve learned as a country from moments of great crises, it’s that the spirit of looking out for one another can’t be restricted to our homes, or our work places, or our neighbourhoods, or our houses of worship. It also has to be reflected in our national government, the kind of leadership that’s guided by knowledge and experience, honesty and humility, empathy, and grace,” Mr Obama said.

“That kind of leadership doesn’t just belong in our state capitals and mayor’s offices. It belongs in the White House,” he said. “And that’s why I’m so proud to endorse Joe Biden for president the United States.”

While it is not yet clear the president and former VP will be able to wage a conventional campaign with rallies and other in-person events should the coronavirus outbreak not subside later this year – or if it returns this fall – the Trump campaign soon issued a reminder that what’s coming will be a vicious race.

“Barack Obama spent much of the last five years urging Joe Biden not to run for president out of fear that he would embarrass himself,” Trump campaign manger Brad Parscale said in a statement.

“Now that Biden is the only candidate left in the Democrat field, Obama has no other choice but to support him,” he added. “Even Bernie Sanders beat him to it. Obama was right in the first place: Biden is a bad candidate who will embarrass himself and his party. President Trump will destroy him.”