Fox News reporter Peter Doocy asked President Donald Trump on Friday about a virus outbreak that was making people have very bad diarrhea.The latest report from the CDC said the outbreak had spread to four more states — Illinois, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania — bringing the total number of affected states to nine.This virus is caused by a parasite called cyclospora and has been connected to shredded iceberg lettuce.One of the main symptoms of this illness is diarrhea.
At a press conference on Friday, Doocy asked the president when it would be safe to eat lettuce again.
Trump was taken by surprise by the question and then said he was thinking about putting tariffs on Mexico because of the outbreak.The conversation went like this:
DOOCY: When is it gonna be safe to eat lettuce again?
TRUMP: I don’t know. I haven’t thought about it. It’s the first time I’ve been asked that question. Are you eating lettuce recently?
DOOCY: I should always have more lettuce.
TRUMP: Because if you are, get out of here, Peter! No, it’s a very interesting question from you. I didn’t think you’d ask that kind of a question. Nobody wants to ask that question, but —
DOOCY: Well, there’s this food coming in — I guess, from Mexico. It’s tainted. It’s making a lot of people sick. That is the CDC’s terminology that I was using.
TRUMP: I think what we’re gonna do is we’re going to put a major tariff on Mexico because of the lettuce, and we’re going to put a big tariff on Canada because of the smoke.
About the Author
