Fox News medical contributor Dr. Marc Siegel defended President Donald Trump as the “anti-fear monger in chief” for his handling of the coronavirus outbreak.

Siegel concurred with the director of the Centers for Disease Control who told Congress this week that threat of contracting the virus in the United States is low, telling Fox Business Network that this is the “message” that needs to be getting out to the American people.



(Source: Fox Business)

“Currently, that is absolutely correct,” Siegel told Fox News legal analyst Gregg Jarrett who was guest hosting on “Lou Dobbs Tonight” Thursday.

Siegel’s reality-check flew in the face of what conservative activist Candace Owens called a “Doomsday Cult” on the left which raises the alarm every time Trump makes a move and has been working in over-drive since the coronavirus hit the news.

Weeks ago, we were all going to die from World War 3 because Trump killed Soleimani. —which was scheduled to take place before we were all going to die from climate change in 12 years. But now we’re all going to die from Coronavirus. The Left is becoming a Doomsday Cult. — Candace Owens (@RealCandaceO) February 27, 2020

Siegel called out Democrats for “not working with the president” on handling the coronavirus threat and preventing major outbreaks in the U.S.

“They’re looking for every angle on trying to criticize him. He’s trying to be the anti-fear monger in chief which is what he’s supposed to be doing,” Siegel added.

He noted that, despite escalating numbers of cases in other countries, the flu-like virus has “not taken traction here in the United States yet, it is not spreading among communities, it is not spreading rapidly from person to person.”

Despite the alarms being raised by Democrats who have been openly accusing the Trump administration of mishandling the emergency response, Siegel reiterated there is no need to panic.

“I interviewed almost every member of that task force the president put together and is getting no credit for it,” he said. “This an incredibly competent task force with a lot of experience with emerging contagions and they are quite right to say the risk to Americans is low.”

Siegel addressed the rise in purchases of surgical masks as people react to the reports of an impending crisis.

“You know what happens if you wear a mask unnecessarily on the street? You are sending a message coronavirus is coming down the street when it’s not there,” he told Jarrett who advised people should not be “driven by the mass hysteria being driven in large part by the media and Trump’s political opponents.”

“Right now it’s not a problem in the United States. We are vigilant. We are concerned, and we are watching other areas of the world,” Siegel said. “And I think this task force deserves congratulations for how they are going about it.”

Siegel praised Trump’s decision to place Vice President Mike Pence in charge of the White House response to the virus outbreak, saying the president was “not going to saber rattle over this. I think it’s a wise choice.”

Washington Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee tweeted his grandstanding remarks about a phone call with Pence.

I just received a call from @VP Mike Pence, thanking Washington state for our efforts to combat the coronavirus. I told him our work would be more successful if the Trump administration stuck to the science and told the truth. — Jay Inslee (@JayInslee) February 28, 2020

Trump blasted Democrats for politicizing the coronavirus outbreak during a press conference at the White House on Wednesday with officials of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He specifically called out House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as “incompetent” and accused her of not caring about the American people.

Trump boasts swift action against coronavirus, blasts Pelosi for politicizing and ‘trying to create panic’ https://t.co/b0egrTxfM8 — Conservative News (@BIZPACReview) February 27, 2020

Pelosi slammed Trump’s $2.5 billion request from Congress to help combat the threat of the coronavirus, calling it “long overdue and completely inadequate to the scale of this emergency” in a statement this week.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer advanced an $8.5 billion coronavirus plan but Trump called out “Cryin’ Chuck Schumer” during Wednesday’s remarks, noting that Democrats are feigning outrage over the funding rather than working together on a plan to prepare the U.S. for a potentially larger outbreak.

The very people who run/represent these cities think they can handle a pandemic better than Trump. Let that sink in. pic.twitter.com/dNnNckBnG0 — Eric AKA Rocketman (@keck553) February 28, 2020

At the news conference this week, the president sought to address fears about a larger outbreak of the virus in the U.S., insisting that aggressive measures he ordered at the outset have minimized the nation’s exposure so far even as there have been more than 81,000 cases reported around the world, mainly in China.

“Because of all we’ve done, the risk to the American people remains very low,” Trump said. “We’re ready to adapt, and we’re ready to do whatever we have to.”