For her “Opening Statement” segment on Saturday, Fox News Channel’s Jeanine Pirro argued China must be held accountable for the “pain and loss,” which she claimed was preventable.
Pirro also praised President Donald Trump for his handling of the pandemic thus far.
Transcript as follows:
PIRRO: You may not have lived during the World War, but you are living in one now. This war, however, unlike any we have seen in American history, an invisible enemy crossing the globe with a virtual paintbrush splashing its venom across countries and continents.
We are hunkered down, sheltered in place, shutting our businesses and praying for light at the end of the tunnel. Three hundred thousand Americans stricken, more than 8,000 killed and we are nowhere near the apex.
The United States is indeed at war, and the leader of the most powerful nation on Earth is now in a wartime posture. We watch President Donald Trump daily as he works to take this nation from a place of frightening vulnerability to a place of physical, economic and spiritual strength.
A leader who understands his number one responsibility is to protect his citizens. At the same time, as a businessman, he is mindful of the free enterprise system that has produced the vast wealth to fund the vital institutions that protect us, including our healthcare system.
And he is working to get us back to that thriving economy that he created for us.
President Trump’s focus is singular, finding solutions to win this war. Beginning in January, blocking those from coming from China nearly 10 days after the first coronavirus case was identified in the United States.
He brought together the most brilliant minds in Science and Medicine, healthcare, the economy, energy and manufacturing to fight this invisible enemy and he brings them out to be questioned, indeed cross-examined by the mainstream media in a way that no other President has in the past.
He fears no one and is not afraid of complete transparency. He has triggered the Defense Production Act, a war mobilization effort to begin mass production of needed supplies.
But before that, he engaged in a public-private partnership, giving credit to companies like Walmart and Walgreens and Target, Boeing and more. Companies who stepped up. Companies who asked for nothing, but offered help in spite of the fact that they were suffering their own financial hardships.
And he’s called out companies like 3M and GM for not doing all they can to help America fight the virus, and appeared to not be cut those people from the same cloth as those other companies that have stepped up almost immediately.
Now the Navy Ship, the hospital ship U.S. NS Comfort stocked and equipped with medical and pharmaceutical equipment is in the New York Harbor, and its sister ship, the Mercy is on the West Coast.
The left and mainstream media said he couldn’t and wouldn’t be able to deliver as promised. But in typical Trump fashion, he delivered ahead of schedule.
Thank God at this moment in America’s history, we have a businessman as a President of the United States.
As leader, President Trump doesn’t listen to the lieutenants who are moaning and whining and making outrageous claims as they sit and pontificate about what should be done for them about what they need, which in some cases they already have.
President Trump is more than capable and would be more than justified to counterpunch based on some of those ridiculous claims that he could easily rebut.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): But as the President fiddles, people are dying.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PIRRO: Nancy, the only person fiddling is you, as you delayed the passage of a much needed bill so you can get in your pet projects. But as a wartime President, President Trump has neither the time nor the inclination to engage with you.
He is in full throttle wartime mode as a general, exquisitely focused on keeping all of us safe and healthy.
Now, the President has talked about how he has gotten to like one of his biggest critics, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. He is being complimented by California Governor Gavin Newsom. He even complimented congressional Democrats for pulling together on the latest $2.2 trillion stimulus bill choosing not to comment on the absurd effort to include the Green New Deal, abortion funding and millions for the Kennedy Center.
The President has been beyond gracious even to Chinese President Xi Jinping, whom he says he is working with to fight the virus.
Many believe this virus, whatever you choose to call it stems from the wet markets in Wuhan, China where animals like wombats and pigs and other wild animals lie next to each other in open markets, a virtual petri dish where disease can jump from animals to humans.
And even Dr. Anthony Fauci, in response to whether or not wet markets should exist set this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: I think you should shut down those things right away. I mean, it just — it boggles my mind how when we have so many diseases that emanate out of that unusual human animal interface that we don’t just shut it down. I don’t know what else has to happen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PIRRO: When this is over, one thing has to be clear. China has to be made accountable for at the very least, its complete lack of transparency. China could have prevented a great deal of pain and loss, both physical and economic, had they been honest, but they never have been honest and we have a lot of time to think about how this needs to be resolved as it relates to China, when this is all over.
And that’s my open.
Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor
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