(Enter PRESIDENT TRUMP, VICE PRESIDENT PENCE, DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DR. DEBORAH BIRX, and SURGEON GENERAL JEROME ADAMS. They all stand in close proximity to each other and touch each other and their faces repeatedly. Also, ATTORNEY GENERAL WILLIAM BARR stands holding a folder.)
TRUMP: Let’s get started. Lots of death. Hydroxychloroquine. Ratings. I am a doctor.
REPORTER: Millions of Americans are still waiting to get tested. Can you explain the delays?
TRUMP: First of all, sports. Secondly, anyone who wants a test gets a test. I wanted a test and I got a test.
(PENCE clears throat and gently moves toward the podium.)
PENCE: I want to build on what the president said by adding that though he is 100 percent right, I should also say that the vast majority of people who want a test will not get a test.
(DR. FAUCI leans over to the podium.)
DR. FAUCI: I want to build on what the vice president said by just adding that the virus will be with us for 18 months and kill 240,000 people.
(Horrified murmurs fill the room.)
REPORTER: So should the public be wearing masks?
(Everyone near the podium shrugs. DR. FAUCI coughs into his bare hand.)
TRUMP: Here is a man who makes pillows.
MAN WHO MAKES PILLOWS: I am a man who makes pillows.
DR. BIRX: I’d like to build on the statement of the man who makes pillows. We’ve had three months of conflicting messages on masks, so I want to clarify that it is not at all necessary that you wear a mask — unless you want to avoid contracting the virus.
(TRUMP looks at DR. BIRX, who is wearing a scarf.)
TRUMP: You could also wear a scarf. I am a scientist.
TRUMP: Let’s get started. Lots of death. Hydroxychloroquine. Ratings. I am a doctor.
REPORTER: Millions of Americans are still waiting to get tested. Can you explain the delays?
TRUMP: First of all, sports. Secondly, anyone who wants a test gets a test. I wanted a test and I got a test.
(PENCE clears throat and gently moves toward the podium.)
PENCE: I want to build on what the president said by adding that though he is 100 percent right, I should also say that the vast majority of people who want a test will not get a test.(DR. FAUCI leans over to the podium.)
DR. FAUCI: I want to build on what the vice president said by just adding that the virus will be with us for 18 months and kill 240,000 people.
(Horrified murmurs fill the room.)
REPORTER: So should the public be wearing masks?
(Everyone near the podium shrugs. DR. FAUCI coughs into his bare hand.)
TRUMP: Here is a man who makes pillows.
MAN WHO MAKES PILLOWS: I am a man who makes pillows.
DR. BIRX: I’d like to build on the statement of the man who makes pillows. We’ve had three months of conflicting messages on masks, so I want to clarify that it is not at all necessary that you wear a mask — unless you want to avoid contracting the virus.
(TRUMP looks at DR. BIRX, who is wearing a scarf.)
TRUMP: You could also wear a scarf. I am a scientist.
