"When you do testing to that extent, you're going to find more people, you're going to find more cases," Trump said at the Tulsa rally. "So I said to my people, 'Slow the testing down, please.'"
TULSA, Okla. (AP) — President Trump said Saturday he's asked his administration to slow down coronavirus testing because robust testing turns up too many cases of Covid-19.
Trump told supporters at his campaign rally that the United States has tested 25 million people, more than any other country. The "bad part," Trump said, is that widespread testing leads to logging more cases of the virus.
"When you do testing to that extent, you're going to find more people, you're going to find more cases," Trump said. "So I said to my people, 'Slow the testing down, please.' They test and they test."
The campaign his presidential rival Joe Biden said Trump was putting politics ahead of the safety and health of Americans.
Trump held his first rally in 110 days Saturday despite concerns from health officials that it could lead to further spread of the virus in Tulsa. Most of the attended declined to wear a mask.
"In an outrageous moment that will be remembered long after tonight's debacle of a rally, President Trump just admitted that he's putting politics ahead of the safety and economic well-being of the American people — even as we just recorded the highest number of new Covid-19 cases in almost two months and 20 million workers remain out of work," according to the Biden campaign's statement.
The outbreak has killed more than 122,000 people in the United States, and nearly half a million worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University, though the real numbers are believed to be much higher.
The number of newly confirmed cases per day has risen from about 21,400 two weeks ago to 23,200, according to an Associated Press analysis. And in Florida, Georgia, Texas and Arizona — states that loosened their stay-at-home restrictions early — daily deaths have been rising since early June.
"This virus has killed nearly 120,000 Americans and cost tens of millions their jobs, in large part because this president could not and would not mobilize testing as quickly as we needed it," according to the Biden campaign statement. "To hear him say tonight that he has ordered testing slowed — a transparent attempt to make the numbers look better — is appalling."
By KEVIN FREKING
Subscribe to Closing Arguments
Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.