Conservative group hits Trump for coronavirus response in new ad

An anti-President Trump group of Republicans released a new ad Thursday blasting the president’s messaging over the coronavirus pandemic.

The ad, released by Republicans for the Rule of Law, shows Trump at the World Economic Forum in January being asked whether there were “words of a pandemic” and the president responding “no, not at all.”

The ad shifts to Trump speaking to Fox News Host Sean Hannity saying “Well, we pretty much shut it down,” about the spread of the coronavirus before going on to include other clips of Trump, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson and Vice President Pence discussing the spread of the virus between January and this month, with a growing count of the number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in the U.S. overlaid throughout the ad.

“America needs a president who tells the truth. Our lives depend on it,” the ad says.

A Feb. 25 clip included in the ad shows Kudlow telling reporters, “We have contained this, I won’t say airtight, but pretty close to airtight.” A March 13 clip shows Trump telling reporters, “No I don’t take responsibility at all,” during a press conference, where he also said that “we were given a set of circumstances and we were given rules, regulations and specifications from a different time.”

The group, who supported the president’s impeachment, said the ad will air on “Fox & Friends” Friday morning, according to their website.

Chris Truax, a spokesman for Republicans for the Rule of Law, released a statement saying “Accurate and timely information is America’s most potent defense against the pandemic we now face.” Truax continued, saying the majority of “Republicans who have been misled by the president’s self-serving coronavirus lies are our families, our friends and our neighbors,” USA Today reported.

“We urge them, and all Americans, to get their coronavirus information from the CDC and other reliable sources. This isn’t about politics. It’s about saving hundreds of thousands of American lives,” Truax said.

More than 246,000 people have been infected by the coronavirus around the world. Nearly 10,000 people have died, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.