Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Secret Recording Emerges of Top Senate Republican Privately Contradicting Trump's Rosy Outlook on Coronavirus Weeks Ago

Secret Recording Emerges of Top Senate Republican Privately Contradicting Trump's Rosy Outlook on Coronavirus Weeks Ago
Mark Wilson/Getty Images // Samuel Corum/Getty Images

Toward the end of February, there were about 15 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the United States. President Donald Trump vowed that those cases would be down to zero by the following week.

Since then, there are over 10,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the United States, and the death toll has surpassed 100. Both of those numbers are expected to sharply increase in the coming weeks.


Republicans at the time were largely following Trump's lead in dismissing the threat posed by the virus—but at least one Senator said in private what's becoming all too apparent to the public in the weeks following Trump's slow response to what has since become a pandemic.

Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Richard Burr (R-NC) was secretly recorded speaking with a high profile group of constituents.

At the same time that Trump said the virus would "disappear" one day "like a miracle," Burr was saying the diametric opposite to North Carolina business interests.

Burr warned:

"There's one thing that I can tell you about this: It is much more aggressive in its transmission than anything that we have seen in recent history. It is probably more akin to the 1918 pandemic."

He continued:

"There will be, I'm sure, times that communities, probably some in North Carolina, have a transmission rate where they say, let's close schools for two weeks, everybody stay home."

You can listen to the full recording here.

As most know by now, Burr's warning was prescient. Schools around the nation have closed, not set to reopen for far longer than two weeks. Bars and restaurants have shuttered across numerous states as well.

His recording just went to show that at least one Republican knew the threat the virus would become, but kept silent while Trump dismissed it.





Meanwhile, Americans largely feel that COVID-19 is as big a threat as Burr warned weeks ago.




Wash your hands. Stay inside. Vote in November.



More from People/donald-trump

Screenshot of Donald Trump
Fox News

Trump Slammed After Suggesting That Nazis Showed 'Signs Of Love' To Holocaust Victims

President Donald Trump was called out after he diverted from a conversation about Israeli hostages being held by Hamas and commended Nazis who he claimed showed "love" to Holocaust victims.

Trump made the remarks during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office after he was asked by reporters about his plan to secure the release of the 59 Israeli hostages being held in Gaza by Hamas.

Keep ReadingShow less
Michelle Williams
Paras Griffin/Getty Images

Michelle Williams Puts First Class Passenger On Blast For Gross Bare Feet On Her Flight

Michelle Williams found herself in an all-too-relatable mid-flight nightmare—and she had the receipts to prove it.

The Destiny’s Child singer took to Instagram on Sunday to hilariously call out a fellow passenger who decided to go barefoot and make himself a little too comfortable on their flight from Chicago to New York.

Keep ReadingShow less
Wolf
Colossal Biosciences/TIME

Scientists Just Brought Dire Wolves Back From Extinction—And Everyone's Thinking The Same Thing

In a stunning achievement, scientists have brought back an animal that went extinct some 13,000 years ago—and a lot of people are not quite ready to celebrate.

The genetically engineered wolf pups resemble the dire wolf, an ancient, long-gone species.

Keep ReadingShow less
Jeff Ross
Mike Coppola/Variety via Getty Images

Comedian Jeff Ross Shares Photos Of Puffed Up Lip After Allergic Reaction To Ice Cream

Insult comic Jeff Ross revealed he had a medical emergency after a show Saturday night that resulted in a trip to the ER. However, he assured fans the show must go on despite "looking like Mickey Rourke at the end of The Wrestler."

Ross recounted the ordeal on Instagram, showing his swollen lip taking over his face from eating burrata ice cream after his Take a Banana for the Ride show in Mill Valley, California, near San Francisco.

Keep ReadingShow less
screenshot of Jesse Watters on Fox News
Fox News

Jesse Watters Offers Mind-Numbing New Claim About Masculinity—And Is Instantly Dragged

Problematic Fox News MAGA pundit Jesse Watters has made another bizarre claim about masculinity.

Having already taken exception with eating ice cream, drinking milkshakes, and taking bubble baths, Watters is now targeting tech jobs.

Keep ReadingShow less