Trump calls US the ‘King of Ventilators’ as governors plead for aid

President Trump on Sunday declared that the US is the “King of Ventilators” and said he is “right on testing” the way he was “right” about the breathing devices.

“Just like I was right on Ventilators (our Country is now the ‘King of Ventilators’, other countries are calling asking for help-we will!), I am right on testing,” Trump wrote on Twitter. “Governors must be able to step up and get the job done. We will be with you ALL THE WAY!”

The president, who has been criticized by some governors for not providing enough testing kits or ventilators for use in the treatment of coronavirus patients, had said at the White House briefing on Saturday that the country has enough ventilators and has conducted 4 million tests.

“But I still go back because the hardest thing of all, by far, by a factor of 20, is the ventilators. And now we’re the king of ventilators. We have ventilators,” he told reporters, adding that the US will use its supply to help other countries in need of ventilators.

He said he has spoken to Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who is in need of ventilators, and told him the US would help “very substantially.”

The president’s Sunday tweet came after Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam said it was “delusional” for Trump to suggest that states have sufficient testing kits to begin taking steps to open their states for business.

“That’s just delusional to be making statements like that,” Northam said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

“We have been fighting every day for PPE. And we have got some supplies now coming in. We have been fighting for testing. It’s not a — it’s not a straightforward test. We don’t even have enough swabs, believe it or not. And we’re ramping that up. But for the national level say that we have what we need, and really to have no guidance to the state levels, is just irresponsible, because we’re not there yet,” he continued.

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