WHO director hits back at Trump threat to defund agency

The head of the World Health Organization took aim at President Trump’s criticism of the agency on Wednesday, telling him and other world leaders not to politicize the coronavirus crisis “if you don’t want many more body bags.”

“If you don’t want many more body bags you refrain from politicizing it – please quarantine politicizing COVID,” WHO Director Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters in a lengthy answer when asked about Trump’s criticism of the agency. A day earlier, the U. S. president had threatened to cut off funding.

"My short message is please quarantine politicizing COVID – the unity of your country will be very important to defeat this dangerous virus. Without unity we assure you even any country that may have a better system will be in more trouble. That’s our message," he said.

He went on to urge a global response to the virus similar to the one that combated smallpox.

"The United States and China should come together and fight this dangerous enemy, they should come together to fight it and the rest of G-20 should come together to fight it, and the rest of the world should come together and fight it," he said.

“We will have many body bags in front of us if we don’t behave,” he said. “When there are cracks at [the] national level and global level, that is when the virus succeeds."

Trump has accused the U. N. agency of being "very China centric" and claimed they "really blew it" in their initial response to the pandemic -- including what he saw as the agency's criticism of his ban on foreign nationals from China.... (Read more)

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