Published 11:27 IST, April 17th 2020
White House defends Ivanka Trump for violating COVID-19 restrictions
The White House has now defended POTUS advisor, Ivanka Trump and her family for violating the guidelines of social distancing and travelling to New Jersey.
- World News
- 3 min read
The White House has defended US President Donald Trump’s advisor, Ivanka Trump and her family for violating the guidelines of social distancing and travelling from Washington to New Jersey, last week, despite both states having stay-at-home orders. Amid the deadly coronavirus outbreak, Ivanka has been constantly advocating for the rules put forth by the CDC and encouraging people to follow self-isolation. However, she, her husband Jared Kushner faced harsh criticism after their travel was first reported.
While giving a statement to an international news outlet, White House official has called, Ivanka's travel to Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster to celebrate Passover at an establishment which is considered their “family home”, as “non-commercial”. The statement also added that “her travel was no different than had she been travelling to/from work”. Further supporting the POTUS adviser’s decision to travel amid global health crisis, White House said Ivanka’s home in New Jersey was “less populated” than the area around her home in Washington.
While most critics took to social media to accuse Ivanka of “hypocrisy”, according to reports, White House claimed that Ivanka was practising social distancing while she was in Bedminster and was working remotely. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had issued a travel advisory on March 28 and urged people from the tri-state area, including New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, to stop all non-essential domestic travel in the wake of the pandemic. As of April 16, the coronavirus has infected at least 678,144 people in the US and killed over 34,640.
COVID-19 'passed the peak' in US
Before White House stood in support of Ivanka disregarding the federal government, US President Donald Trump not only said that his “aggressive strategy” was working against the pandemic but added that “the data suggests that nationwide we have passed the peak on new cases”. Trump’s comments came as US reported another record number of deaths due to COVID-19 disease with 2,600 casualties in 24 hours.
After originating from China’s “wet markets”, the coronavirus has now claimed 146,855 lives worldwide as of April 16. According to the tally by international news agency, the pandemic has now spread to 210 countries and has infected at least 2,183,581 people. Out of the total infections, 552,735 have been recovered but the easily spread virus is continuing to disrupt many lives. Major cities have been put under lockdown in almost all countries and the economy is struggling.
Image Source: AP
Updated 11:17 IST, April 17th 2020