Amid House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's, D-Calif., criticism of his coronavirus response, President Donald Trump fired back, calling her "incompetent" and saying she is trying to create a "panic" for a political gain.
"She's trying to create a panic," Trump told reporters in a special White House briefing Wednesday night. "And there's no reason to panic. We have done so good."
Pelosi had attacked Trump for not asking for enough money to address the potential coronavirus spread in America, which Trump came out and assessed still as a "very low" risk.
"I think she's not thinking about the country," Trump said, rejecting the criticism as a political, election-year attack.
"All they're trying to do is get a political advantage," he added. "This isn't about political advantage. We're all trying to do the right thing."
Trump added a dig, Pelosi "should go back to her district and clean it up."
"I think Speaker Pelosi's incompetent," Trump said. "She lost the Congress once. I think she's going to lose it again.
"She lifted my poll numbers up 10 points. I never thought I would see that so quickly and so easily."
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., was not spared in a presidential response to his criticism either.
"They shouldn't be saying, 'President Trump isn't asking for enough money' – how stupid of a thing to say," Trump said, answering reporters questions after his official briefing. "If they want to give us more money, that's OK. We'll take more money.
"This is the first time I have been told we have to take more," he added. "Usually, it's we have to take less. We should be working together. He shouldn't be making statement's like that, because it's so bad for the country."
Ultimately, Trump said, the criticism being levied is off target, because Pelosi and Schumer are hitting his team.
"They're not demeaning me; they're demeaning the greatest healthcare professionals in the world," Trump said.
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.