Kellyanne Conway, during an appearance on Fox News Wednesday, suggested there were 18 previous viruses ahead of the coronavirus that could...
Kellyanne Conway, during an appearance on Fox News Wednesday, suggested there were 18 previous viruses ahead of the coronavirus that could have become pandemics and that the World Health Organization was acting irresponsible when it came to global well-being.
'This is COVID-19, not COVID-1 folks, and so you would think the people in charge of the World Health Organization, facts and figures, would be on top of that,' Conway, who serves as White House counselor, charged during an appearance on 'Fox & Friends.'
The disease was named COVID-19 because it's from the coronavirus family - which can include strains that mimic the common cold - and was first detected in the year 2019.
And Conway's remarks took a different tone when she spoke to reporters in the White House driveway after her appearance on Fox News.
'It's called covid-19; not covid-20. It originated in 2019 even though the WHO called it a global pandemic sometime in March of 2020. So they knew for a while and they dragged their feet it looks like,' she said.
Kellyanne Conway suggested there were 18 previous viruses ahead of the coronavirus that could have become pandemics in an appearance on Fox News
Kellyanne Conway's remarks on the coronavirus took a different tone when she spoke to reporters in the White House driveway after her appearance on Fox News
The Trump administration has attacked the World Health Organization for not pushing China to be more transparent in the coronavirus in that country
Her attacks on the WHO came after President Donald Trump announced the United States was suspending the United States' contribution - which was $453 million in fiscal year 2019 - to the organization.
'Is it so much to ask that the minor dividend, the minor return on our investment, would be for the WHO to be honest about the origins of the virus in Wuhan? About the fact that it was human-to-human transmission? They lied about that, or weren't transparent about that, so this is about transparency and accountability,' Conway said during her Fox News appearance.
She denied the organization was being used by the administration as a 'scape goat.' President Trump has sought to blame an array of officials and organizations for the coronavirus pandemic, including governors and China.
'They're not a scape goat,' Conway told reporters at the White House.
'At the very very least we should expect a return on that investment that the WHO tells us the truth about this virus, about its origins, whether it can be transmitted human to human – they denied that – they made a very political statement that when the president shut down travel to China,' she said.
'Lying about it and not being transparent – let's at least hit pause and investigate that. Nobody's scape goating them. We're asking them why they didn't do their job,' she added.
Trump announced on Tuesday that he was suspending funding while an investigation into the WHO's handling of the pandemic is carried out.
The move was not a surprise. The president has railed against the WHO for days as part of his desire to put the blame for the pandemic on anyone other than his administration.
Trump singled out what he called the WHO's 'dangerous and costly decision' to argue against international travel bans to combat the pandemic.
While praising his own decision to limit travel to and from China on January 31 - a month after the first cases of the disease were reported - Trump added: 'Other nations and regions who followed WHO guidelines and kept their borders open to China, accelerated the pandemic all around the world.
'The decision of other major countries to keep travel open was one of the great tragedies and missed opportunities from the early days. The WHO's attack on travel restrictions put political correctness above lifesaving measures.'
The U.S. is the largest single contributor to the WHO, paying in some $893million between 2018 and 2019 which made up around 15 per cent of the agency's total budget during that period.
Trump also said he was concerned about the World Health Organization praising China's transparency about the virus.
But he was questioned on that given that he, too, praised China's transparency.
Several days before Trump decided to announce the partial travel ban, he praised China's efforts in combatting the coronavirus.
'China has been working very hard to contain the Coronavirus. The United States greatly appreciates their efforts and transparency,' Trump wrote on Twitter on January 24. 'It will all work out well. In particular, on behalf of the American People, I want to thank President Xi!'
President Trump announced Tuesday from the White House Rose Garden (pictured) that he was halting all US funding to the World Health Organization over its response to the coronavirus pandemic
A graph showing top contributors to the WHO in the years 2018 and 2019 and the total amount paid in both those years, according to the organisation's own data
Trump sporadically praised China through February and March as well - while also occasionally calling coronavirus the 'China virus.'
On Tuesday when asked if he was being hypocritical, Trump answered, 'I'm always respectful of China,' before bringing up the amount of money he believed he brought in because of the trade war, brushing off the question.
Conway clarified Trump's early praise of China's transparency on Wednesday.
'Because we figured we were getting transparent and factual information. And the WHO has responsibility in that too. And a week later the President did what people criticized him for doing that saved lives – he did the travel ban,' she said.
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