Donald Trump has given himself an “A+” for his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic after the number of cases in the US put his handling of the crisis in the political spotlight.
The president told Fox and Friends: "We're rounding the corner.
"With or without a vaccine. They hate when I say that but that's the way it is.
“We've done a phenomenal job. Not just a good job, a phenomenal job. Other than public relations, but that's because I have fake news. You can’t convince them of anything, they’re fake.
"On public relations, I give myself a D. On the job itself, we take an A+ with the ventilators and now with the vaccines that are years ahead of schedule."
It comes as the death tolls in the US neared 200,000. According to Johns Hopkins University, the US has reported at least 199,818 deaths, while the number of cases has reached more than 6.8 million.
With 200,000 now dead from Covid, Trump says; "We're rounding the corner on the pandemic. And we've done a phenomenal job. Not just a good job. Other than public relations, but that's because I have fake news. You can't convince them of anything. They're a fake ... we take an A+" pic.twitter.com/X0FJVyzbFI
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 21, 2020
Data shows that over 70% of the fatalities in the US have been among people over the age of 65, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC.
Hitting out at his presidential rival, Joe Biden said that Donald Trump had failed to act. He said: "Due to Donald Trump's lies and incompetence in the past six months, [we] have seen one of the gravest losses of American life in history.
"With this crisis, a real crisis, a crisis that required serious presidential leadership, he just wasn't up to it. He froze. He failed to act. He panicked. And America has paid the worst price of any nation in the world."
It is not the first time that Trump has praised his own handling of the Covid-19 crisis. In mid-March, as the coronavirus pandemic was spreading rapidly in the United States, Trump rated himself a 10 out of 10 for his response to it. Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward also asked Trump in July what he would grade himself for the handling of the pandemic, with Trump giving himself an A.
READ MORE: US election: Donald Trump cuts Joe Biden's poll lead to five points
A poll released at the weekend showed 51% to 29% support for Joe Biden over Donald Trump when it comes to who is more trusted to effectively deal with the coronavirus.
In the US the virus remains uncontained, however, on Monday, Donald Trump insisted to rally members that the worst was over.
Trump is behind Democratic rival Joe Biden nationally in every major opinion poll.
Health experts forecast that fatalities from Covid-19 in the US could reach 378,000 by the end of 2020.
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