President Donald Trump said Tuesday at the White House he would continue to call out Democrat governors during the coronavirus crisis if they spread false informatio, despite calls for bipartisanship.
“I only do that when I have to respond,” Trump said when asked by ABC News correspondent Jon Karl why he failed to “lead by example” regarding bipartisanship.
The president spoke to reporters Tuesday afternoon at a White House press briefing about the federal response to the coronavirus.
Trump reserved the right to fight back.
“If they’re not going to play fair — because you know they have the media on their side — I don’t,” he said. “I just have me.”
Trump vowed to defend his administration from unfair, false attacks.
“When they attack me or these incredible people behind me, I’m not going to let them get away with it. I can’t do that,” he said.
Trump said he had no problem being bipartisan but required Democrats to “play fair” as the country fought the spread of the virus.
“If they are going to play fair, there’s going to be nobody better than Donald Trump in terms of bipartisanship,” he said.
As an example, Trump cited the New York Times reporting “totally inaccurately” about his call with governors on Monday about purchasing medical ventilators.
“It was a disgraceful thing. It was bad journalism, but they do a lot of bad journalism,” Trump said about the Times.
The president attacked Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) on Tuesday after she appeared on CNN to criticize the president.
“Failing Michigan Governor must work harder and be much more proactive,” he wrote. “We are pushing her to get the job done. I stand with Michigan!”
Trump said similar things about Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) after he criticized his federal response.
“Andrew, keep politics out of it…” Trump wrote on Twitter on Tuesday, and asked Cuomo on Monday to “do more” to fight the crisis.