WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump has renewed his criticism of China over the global coronavirus pandemic and said COVID-19 is worst for United States than Pearl Harbor and 9/11 attacks.
Trump said fallout from the pandemic has hit the United States harder than the December 7, 1941 Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor or the September 11, 2001 Al-Qaeda attacks on New York and Washington. “This is really the worst attack we’ve ever had,” Trump told reporters at the White House.
“This is worse than Pearl Harbor. This is worse than the World Trade Center”, President Trump said.
The surprise Japanese attack on the Pearl Harbor naval base in Hawaii drew the United States into World War II. The 9/11 attacks killed about 3,000 people, triggering two decades of US wars and anti-terrorism operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and other countries.
Trump lashed out at China, continuing a war of words over the origins of the deadly virus that emerged in Wuhan last year.
“It should have never happened,” he said. “Could have been stopped at the source. Could have been stopped in China.”
China hit back Wednesday at US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo over his claims the virus originated in a Wuhan laboratory, saying he has no evidence.
“This matter should be handed to scientists and medical professionals, and not politicians who lie for their own domestic political ends,” China’s foreign ministry spokeswoman said.
Scientists believe the disease originated in animals and jumped to humans — possibly in a Wuhan wet market where wild animals were sold.
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