An Australian journalist has taken Donald Trump to task over his handling of the coronavirus.
Axios' Johnathan Swan put on a masterclass for challenging someone when they provide a statement or statistic.
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The HBO special touched on everything from the pandemic, to civil rights icon John Lewis, to Ghislaine Maxwell and nearly every answer Trump gave was as eyebrow raising as the next.
Trump provided pieces of paper that pointed towards America doing 'great' in the fight against the coronavirus, however Mr Swan hit back.
Donald Trump told the Axios journalist: "Right now, I think it's under control."
Swan replied with: "How? 1,000 Americans are dying a day."
Trump just to justify his statement with: "They are dying. That's true. It is what it is. But that doesn't mean we aren't doing everything we can. It's under control as much as you can control it. This is a horrible plague that beset us."
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Swan tried to hold the President to account by saying: "You really think this is as much as we can control - 1,000 deaths a day?"
Trump said: "First of all, we have done a great job. We've gotten the governors everything they needed. They didn't do their job. Many of them didn't and some of them did. ... But the governors do it. We gave them massive amounts of material."
Swan did what few of his counterparts are able to do and that's challenge every time Trump makes an aloof statement.
The President said: "There are those that say you can test too much. You do know that...Just read the manuals. Read the books. Read the books."
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Swan hit back with: "Manuals? What manuals? What books?"
It's a rare moment when Donald Trump is pushed into a corner and forced to explain what he means when he says things.
People watching the interview have posted on social media that the 37-minute grilling looked like something out of Saturday Night Live or Veep.
The conversation steered away from the coronavirus and went onto allegations that Russia is providing bounties to the Taliban to kill US soldiers, the use of Federal troops in Portland, what the President thinks about systemic racism in the country, and him not accepting the results of the federal election in November.
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His answers on the late civil-rights icon Rep. John Lewis were mind boggling when Swan asked him how he thinks history will remember Lewis.
Trump replied: "I don't know. I really don't know. I don't know. I don't know John Lewis. He chose not to come to my inauguration. I never met John Lewis, actually, I believe.
Swan said back: "Do you find him impressive?
Trump said: "I can't say one way or the other. I find a lot of people impressive. I find many people not impressive. He didn't come to my inauguration. He didn't come to my State of the Union speeches. And that's OK. That's his right. And again, nobody has done more for Black Americans than I have. He should have come. I think he made a big mistake."
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The 37-minute interview is available to watch online.
Featured Image Credit: Axios/HBOTopics: News, Coronavirus, Donald Trump
