Trump Feud with WHO Continues
Evan Vucci/AP
We ran the numbers: There are 2976 news articles covering this topic. 30% (886) are left leaning, 43% (1294) center, 27% (796) right leaning.
Trump sharply criticized the World Health Organization (W.H.O.) during a White House coronavirus task force briefing Tuesday night and suggested that he might put a hold on U.S. funding for the organization. While left-leaning articles highlight that the W.H.O. repeatedly warned about the emergence of the coronavirus pandemic while Trump was publicly playing down its effects, right-leaning articles highlight that Republican lawmakers want to defund the W.H.O. in the next appropriations bill.
A left-leaning article by The New York Times highlights that President Trump lashed out on Tuesday at the W.H.O., denouncing the organization for the missteps and failures that have been leveled at him and his administration. However, the W.H.O. repeatedly issued warnings about the emergence of the virus in China and sounded the alarm in the earliest days of the crisis, declaring the coronavirus a “public health emergency of international concern.”
NPR reports that W.H.O. Director General Tedros said Wednesday that using the COVID-19 pandemic to score political points is dangerous and will only result in “many more body bags.” Although Tedros has received death threats in recent months, the W.H.O. director stated that he doesn’t care whether people target him personally.
A right-leaning article by Fox News highlights that an increasing number of Republican lawmakers are joining the push for the World Health Organization to be defunded over its treatment of China in the initial days of the coronavirus response. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said that in “the next appropriations bill, there’s not going to be any money for the W.H.O.”