Like many of President Donald Trump’s allies, Evangelical leader and president of Liberty University Jerry Falwell Jr. tried to downplay the COVID-19 outbreak that has been rapidly spreading across the country.
“You know, it’s just strange to me how so many are overreacting,” Falwell told the co-hosts of “Fox and Friends” Friday morning.
Hinting at some sort of anti-Trump conspiracy theory, the Evangelical claimed there was “not the same hype” over H1N1 (aka the swine flu) in 2009.
“And it makes you wonder if there’s a political reason for that,” he said. “Impeachment didn’t work, and the Mueller report didn’t work, and Article 25 didn’t work, and so maybe now this is their next attempt to get Trump.”
Falwell also floated another conspiracy theory: The coronavirus could be the “Christmas gift” North Korea had threatened to give to the U.S. in December.
“Could it be they got together with China and this is that present? I don’t know,” he said. “But it really is something strange going on.”
For weeks, Trump and his conservative foot soldiers have been trying to minimize the impact of the coronavirus while accusing critics of hyping up the disease – all in an effort to shield the Trump administration from criticism of its poor response to the outbreak.
Watch Falwell below:
Jerry Falwell Jr. says "so many are overreacting" to the coronavirus. pic.twitter.com/qfDJLFoZrR
— Talking Points Memo (@TPM) March 13, 2020
