'Clueless, shameless, dissembling': New York Daily News editors rip Trump for trainwreck HBO interview

The New York Daily News on Wednesday published a scathing editorial in which the editors took President Donald Trump to task for his widely derided interview with Axios reporter Jonathan Swan.

The editors say that Swan during his questioning exposed a "clueless, shameless, dissembling president" who appears to be overwhelmed by the COVID-19 pandemic that is ripping through the country.

"Trump... fumbled and shuffled misleading charts showing U.S. deaths low as a proportion of total cases," the editors write. "When Swan responded with plain facts about how poorly America fares in international comparisons of deaths per population, Trump stammered: 'You can’t do that.'"

The editors then argue that performances such as this one are a big reason why voters have shown they have little confidence in the president's ability to handle the crisis.

"No wonder new polling shows two-thirds of Americans believe the richest and most powerful nation on Earth has handled coronavirus worse than other countries," they conclude. "No wonder desperate states are banding together to make up for yawning gaps in federal leadership on testing. The nation is sick in no small part because its leader is sick."