A tweet that President Donald Trump posted in January praising China’s response to the coronavirus outbreak has already come back to haunt him, after he again attempted to shift blame for his own administration’s failures in addressing the pandemic.

Trump on Tuesday announced the U.S. would suspend funding to the World Health Organization, accusing the body of being “very China-centric” and of “severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of coronavirus” by taking the word of officials in China, where the virus is believed to have originated.

Critics of Trump immediately hammered the president for this Jan. 24 tweet, in which he hailed China for “working very hard to contain the Coronavirus.”

China has been working very hard to contain the Coronavirus. The United States greatly appreciates their efforts and transparency. It will all work out well. In particular, on behalf of the American People, I want to thank President Xi! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 24, 2020

“The United States greatly appreciates their efforts and transparency,” Trump wrote, adding: “It will all work out well.”

Worldwide, the contagion has now sickened more than 2 million people and killed upwards of 126,000. In the U.S., some 26,000 people have died from COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus.

CNN’s John King noted Trump’s hypocrisy on Tuesday’s broadcast of “Outfront.” He pointed out that the WHO’s response was “flat-footed” and “did overly trust China,” but urged host Erin Burnett to “look at the president’s own words.”

“He said we were working with the World Health Organization back in the early days and things were fantastic,” King noted, adding: “He said the World Health Organization is responsible for deaths around the world because it cozied up to China. He did the same thing.”

Check out the segment here:

And the response to Trump’s old tweet here:

FACT-CHECK:



Pres. Trump is trying to blame the WHO for its early coronavirus response and basically "taking China's word" - here was Pres. Trump in *January*: https://t.co/7SGRmX3xrp — Ari Melber (@AriMelber) April 14, 2020

President Trump says U.S. is pulling funding to WHO because the group praised China's "transparency."



Below is President Trump's tweet from January 24 praising China's transparency. https://t.co/zVew3c212c — Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) April 14, 2020

Trump, tonight: "I don't talk about China's transparency."



Trump, in January: "The United States greatly appreciates [China's] efforts and transparency." https://t.co/AvL2GJhgWk — Peter Alexander (@PeterAlexander) April 14, 2020

Trump just denied that he ever said this below... https://t.co/QOQDEGjZ3H — Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) April 14, 2020

Trump is now trying to blame the coronavirus on the World Health Organization and complaining that the WHO praised China for its transparency.



Guess who else praised China for its transparency? https://t.co/QOQDEGjZ3H — Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) April 14, 2020

A president who never takes responsibility. https://t.co/CrQetOQ9Lv — EDWARD Israel-Ayide (@wildeyeq) April 15, 2020

Here's the President praising China's transparency, the very thing he's accusing the @WHO of. https://t.co/kRhvqAUOQq — Bill Neely (@BillNeelyNBC) April 14, 2020

Lest we forget https://t.co/6QXcFdWnxx — Tom Miles (@tgemiles) April 15, 2020

Just in case anybody was confused as to why a reporter might claim Donald Trump said a thing, which he then strongly denies ever having said.



"He strongly denies it," is, on a side note, the phrase he uses when defending friends he has employed who are accused of crimes. https://t.co/J4tZw1xnol — Dylan Brody (@dylanbrody) April 14, 2020

Trump today: "The WHO willingly took China's assurances at face value and defended the actions of the Chinese government, even praising China for its so-called 'transparency.'"



Trump on Jan. 24: https://t.co/iovU3A6KFm — Zach Basu (@zacharybasu) April 14, 2020