Date | March 11, 2020 |
---|---|
Duration | ~10 minutes |
Venue | Oval Office, White House |
Location | Washington, D.C., United States |
Coordinates | 38°53′52″N 77°02′11″W / 38.8977°N 77.0365°W |
Theme | COVID-19 pandemic |
The 2020 Oval Office address, officially titled On the Coronavirus Pandemic, was the second televised, prime-time Oval Office address during the presidency of Donald Trump, delivered on March 11, 2020 at 9:01PM EDT. It was released during the rapidly spreading COVID-19 pandemic and the 2020 stock market crash.[1]
The COVID-19 pandemic is an ongoing global pandemic of COVID-19, a disease caused by SARS-CoV-2. The virus was first reported in Wuhan, Hubei, China, in December 2019.
A confluence of events made March 11 a significant day in the progression of Covid-19 in the United States:
United States President Donald Trump initially reacted mildly to the COVID-19 pandemic, aiming to minimize public panic. Vice President Mike Pence, who chaired the White House Coronavirus Task Force, urged Trump to deliver a more serious public statement about the pandemic. Eventually a speech was drafted for Trump with the assistance of Stephen Miller, his chief speechwriter, and Jared Kushner, his son-in-law. To make time for the delivery of the address, Trump cancelled a scheduled private dinner at Pence's residence and Pence cancelled a press conference with the White House Coronavirus Task Force.[7]
In the address, which lasted about 10 minutes,[8] President Trump announced several initiatives directly related to combating the Covid crises:[9]
Trump also announced several financial initiatives tied to the pandemic:[9]
Multiple errors, both within the speech and with Trump's delivery,[10] led to temporary widespread confusion:[11]
Reception to the speech was generally negative.[15] The American Conservative writer Daniel Larison described the speech as going over "like a lead balloon."[15] Trump received substantial criticism over his choice of wording in the speech, which seemed to imply a total ban on trade with Europe was being implemented,[17][18] as well as making the speech without first consulting with European Union leaders.[19] Trump's speech did not have a positive effect on the stock market, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures trading 600 points lower as he was concluding his speech, though this was partly influenced by other factors.[20] Trump also drew criticism for perceived racist and nativist themes present within his speech.[21]
Several commentators and analysts, albeit almost exclusively those strongly affiliated with the right-wing, viewed the speech in a more positive manner.[22] Generally, those with more positive viewpoints of Trump's speech focused on the themes of victory included within it.[23]