Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair questions Trump’s leadership in facing ‘terrifying’ coronavirus pandemic and says the ‘absence of global coordination’ worries him
- Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, who served from 1997 to 2007, questioned President Donald Trump’s leadership amid the pandemic in an interview Friday
- He pointed out that there’s a lack of global coordination in tackling the crisis
- He reflected on working with Bill Clinton, George Bush and Barack Obama and how they prioritized working with global leaders
- ‘It’s that global coordination, the absence of which means that each individual country’s less effective at dealing with the disease… That worries me,’ he said
- Across the globe there are over 5.3million COVID-19 infections
- Trump has isolated the US from several international alliances and threatened to withhold funding from the World Health Organization for its handling of virus
- Here’s how to help people impacted by Covid-19
Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair is questioning President Donald Trump’s leadership in the coronavirus pandemic and bashing his refusal to coordinate with other world leaders.
When asked his opinion on how Trump was leading the nation, Blair said he was worried about the lack of global coordination in tackling the crisis.
‘The worry I have that an absence of global coordination and global leadership that’s necessary for it is a huge problem,’ he said in an interview with NBC News on Friday.
‘When I think back to the times when I’m dealing with American presidents whether it’s Bill Clinton or George Bush, Barack Obama as well, the most important thing at a time like this is to say, “How do you bring the world together?”‘
Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair is questioning President Donald Trump’s leadership in the coronavirus pandemic and bashing his refusal to coordinate with other world leaders
With global coordination he said leaders could find a vaccine together, accelerate the development of therapeutics and testing capability, and organize economic measures to keep the international economy afloat.
‘It’s that global coordination, the absence of which means that each individual country’s less effective at dealing with the disease. That’s the thing that worries me,’ he stated.
Blair, who served from 1997 to 2007 and was a key ally of President George W. Bush in the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, called the pandemic ‘terrifying’.
When asked his opinion on Trump’s suggestion that people could beat the virus by injecting disinfectant into their system he said: ‘I think most people would understand what I would think, but it’s probably better sometimes not to say it.’
When asked his opinion on Trump’s suggestion that people could beat the virus by injecting disinfectant into their system he said: ‘I think most people would understand what I would think, but it’s probably better sometimes not to say it’
He said that in Western countries people are well-informed about the disease but not sufficiently informed about the economic collapse it could trigger.
‘The safest thing for any political leader to do is just keep the lockdown because the risk of COVID-19 spreading is going to be minimal, but on the other hand if you’re looking responsibly into how you get through this into the medium term without the economic wreckage being absolutely devastated,’ he said.
‘Political leaders around the world have got to be thinking about how to get the economy moving again,’ he added.
Across the globe COVID-19 has infected more than 5.3million with the US leading with the highest number of infections. Economies across the globe have been shut down in the crisis.
In the US, the first quarter of 2020 saw the steepest decline since the Great Recession as unemployment climbed to over 40million.
In the US, states have started phased reopenings as President Donald Trump continues his rallying cry to fully open the entire country and restart the economy.
In Trump’s time in office he has strained international alliances and withdrawn from agreements including the Iran nuclear deal, the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Paris climate agreement.
Following the coronavirus outbreak he threatened to freeze US funding for the World Health Organization, accusing the agency of being too closely tied to China and for its handling of the virus.