Many viewers did a double take Sunday when President Trump said at his Tulsa, Oklahoma rally that he wants to slow down COVID-19 testing.
"When you do testing to that extent, you are going to find more people, you're going to find more cases. So I said to my people slow the testing down please," the President said.
The number of cases has been rising in many locations around the country and world, including California.
"I guess if he meant what he said then, you know, it's absurd. If he didn't mean it, it's still irresponsible," said Dr. Ethan Weiss, cardiologist at UCSF who lead a team of medical workers to New York City early in the pandemic.
The White House has since said that the president was joking about slowing down testing.
"You've got 2,500 people in the Tulsa area who have tested positive for COVID, there are hundreds of people who have died," said KCBS Radio political analyst Marc Sandalow. "This is not the kind of thing you joke about."
Dr. Weiss believes the President meant what he said.
"I think we probably all know what he meant, which was that he doesn't like to see the numbers going up and would prefer people to stop testing," he said. "(He) thinks the numbers are going up because people are doing more testing."
The local fire marshal estimates about 6,200 people attended the rally. It was a much smaller crowd than expected, but Dr. Weiss says seeing even that many people gathered in one place with hardly anyone wearing a mask was "really like a crime."
"This is an area where a strong leader needs to stand up and say this is the least we can do to protect each other," Dr. Weiss said of people who refuse to wear a mask because they say it infringes upon their freedom. "And I'm astonished that they are not taking that opportunity."
Governor Gavin Newsom issued a statewide public health order Friday requiring most individuals to wear masks in public.
