President Donald Trump addressed the nation Wednesday night in what was supposed to be an attempt to calm a fearful nation about the threat of the coronavirus. It ended up being the opposite.
“Although he read from a prepared script as he delivered a rare prime-time televised address to the nation from the Oval Office, Trump incorrectly described his own policy," wrote the Washington Post Thursday.
Brett McGurk, who previously served as a Presidential Envoy under the Bush, Obama and Trump administration, explained that every address from the Oval Office is a major event because it happens so rarely. In the case of President Barack Obama, he only did an Oval Office address three times. Even when he announced the U.S. had killed Osama bin Laden, he didn't do it from behind the famous Resolute Desk.
"If you serve in a White House, preparing an Oval address is one of the rarest and most serious of tasks. It symbolizes a moment of national urgency and the unique role of a POTUS in leading us through it," tweeted McGurk. "For the speech to be full of major errors, demonstrates total incompetence."