US President Donald Trump cannot handle the COVID-19 pandemic in the US, White House ex-security advisor John Bolton said in an interview with CNN.
Bolton says Trump turned 'a blind eye' to the coronavirus pandemic
STEPANAKERT, JUNE 25, ARTSAKHPRESS: According to him, Trump was "turning a blind eye" at the start of the outbreak as he did not want to hear "bad news" about his "friend," Chinese President Xi Jinping.
"I think there is an empty chair in the Oval Office, because the President did not want to hear bad news about Xi Jinping, his friend. He did not want to hear bad news about the cover-up of the virus in China, or its potential effect on the China trade deal that he wants so much. And he didn't want to hear about the potential impact of a pandemic on the American economy and its effect on his reelection. Turning a blind eye to all these early signs I think hampered the country's ability to deal with this, and continues to do so," Bolton told CNN's Wolf Blitzer on "The Situation Room."
Asked if he had confidence in US President's coping with the pandemic, Bolton noted: "I do not."
"I am afraid that the erratic nature of the policies as they've evolved since January when the experts really began to sense that this problem might be out there has characterized our response throughout. And I'm worried that it continues to be the pattern that the President follows. It's not part of a comprehensive strategy. I think in a country the size of the United States, state and local authorities should have a big role, but at the federal level, the response has not been consistent," he said.
John Bolton's book 'The Room Where It Happened' was released this week.
According to the Justice Department, there were classified items that remained in the book, including some as "exceptionally restricted."
Trump had earlier said that every conversation with him is "highly classified."
Federal prosecutors are weighing whether to criminally charge John Bolton with disclosing classified information or not.