President Donald Trump speaks during a press briefing with the coronavirus task force, at the White House, Tuesday, March 17, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

At Tuesday’s White House Coronavirus Task Force press briefing, President Trump began with an opening statement in which he touched on the task force’s working relationship with governors on the issue of coordinating to make sure they had the resources they needed to help combat the pandemic.

Noting that there had been “great coordination”, Trump stated that the federal government would be there for the American people in the event their respective governors “fail” them:

And the governors have been working hard, and we are working hard with the governors. There’s been great coordination, especially over the last little while. We’ve given them a lot of equipment, a lot of ventilators. But a lot of equipment of all types. And I will protect you if your governor fails. If you have a governor that’s failing, we’re going to protect you. But the governors are working well with us over the last period of time.

Watch this portion of the Trump’s statement below:

President Trump: "I will protect you if your governor fails."

Full video here: https://t.co/3w9Yv5OBxU pic.twitter.com/5GJshGnkDg

— CSPAN (@cspan) April 7, 2020

What Trump said was in keeping with previous comments he’s made about how states should take the lead in procuring supplies and equipment in the interest of time, but that if they didn’t or couldn’t, the federal government would step in to resolve the issue.

NBC News White House correspondent Kelly O’Donnell, however, tried to spin Trump’s remarks as a major shift in his position on the role of federal government in helping states fight the virus. Here’s what she tweeted, with the emphasis on “NEW LANGUAGE”:
‏

NEW LANGUAGE FROM TRUMP:

"I will protect you if your governor fails"

BUT he has insisted the federal government is the "BACKUP"

— Kelly O'Donnell (@KellyO) April 7, 2020

My mouth dropped open when I read the tweet. I mean, she literally debunked her own reporting in her very next sentence.

When others pointed this out to her, she said she shouldn’t have included the word “but”, as though that changed what she reported to any meaningful degree:

Clever…That's funny. I appreciate everyone's concern for my vocabulary. I should not have included "BUT" That was an error. Focus on the president suggesting governors may "fail" you.

— Kelly O'Donnell (@KellyO) April 7, 2020

O’Donnell should just admit she was wrong, delete the tweet, and move on. But I guess that’s just to much to ask, because the problem isn’t her erroneous reporting, but our (correct) interpretation of it.

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