Washington (CNN) Democratic presidential candidate Tom Steyer said Thursday that President Donald Trump "has already blown" the US response to the global spread of the novel coronavirus.

"The President has already blown this. He is very, very late," the businessman told CNN's Wolf Blitzer on "The Situation Room."

"The first announcement of this publicly was at the end of December of last year. We're at the end of February and he's starting to focus on this and honestly, that is way too late."

Steyer's comments came after Trump held a news conference Wednesday night in which he placed Vice President Mike Pence in charge of the US government response amid growing criticism of the White House's handling of the outbreak. The President repeatedly defended the White House's response, stressing the administration's ongoing efforts and resources devoted to combating the virus.

"Because of all we've done, the risk to the American people remains very low," Trump said.

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