Thread by @alexdschiller

Trump lies on China ban: A quick thread:

Ok so here's what really happened.

On January 31, 2020, United, Delta, and American Airlines all announced suspension of flights to China through March 28th (Delta through April 30).

All of them cited pressure from unions.

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A USA Today article on the same day, Jan 31, reported, "White House considering travel ban, but said they have not contacted the airlines."

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Later that same day, *after* the three major airlines (and several international carriers) announced the flight cancellations, the White House announced temporary restrictions on travel from China.

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On Feb 1st, Trump signed an executive order banning all foreign nationals who had been in China from entering the U.S.

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On Feb 2nd, the State Department released a travel advisory - announcing most airlines had already suspended flights, and recommending U.S. citizens in China "attempt to depart by commercial means."

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Trump also signed a different travel ban on January 31st - suspending all immigrant visas from Nigeria, Myanmar (Burma), Eritrea, and Kyrgyzstan, as well as barring citizens of Sudan and Tanzania from the U.S. diversity visa program - which was totally unrelated...

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...to the Coronavirus outbreak.

Democrats criticized Trump for waiting too long, for ignoring the problem, for not requesting enough resources, and for deep cuts to pandemic response programs that delayed an appropriate response.

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Democrats did not criticize Trump for "Closing the country down to China," as they had been pressuring him to do so.

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Democrats did spend a few days criticizing the other travel bans, that placed arbitrary visa restrictions on African and Middle Eastern countries, entirely unrelated to Coronavirus or China.

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Tl:dr - Trump is lying, by conflating Dem reactions to a different travel ban, in order to rewrite history - again - to simultaneously paint himself as the hero and the victim.

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#coronavirus #CoronaOutbreak #China #Trump #TravelBan