Trump officials lavish praise on president's coronavirus response

Almost every day for the past week and a half the White House has held a briefing on the coronavirus, and the message that emerges from them is clear: Whatever happens in the outside world, as far as his administration is concerned, President Trump is doing a tremendous job.

The transcripts of the briefings show administration officials appearing to engage in a competition to pay the most fulsome tribute to the “leadership,” “vision” and “strong actions” of the president. Surprisingly, Vice President Mike Pence, whose experience in praising Trump should have made him an odds-on favorite, appears to be in a dead heat with Health and Human Services Secretary Alexander Azar.

The tone was set at the briefing on Feb. 26 at which Pence was introduced as the head of the coronavirus task force, and took pains to praise Trump for recognizing that the situation was, in fact, an emergency: “This team has been, at your direction, Mr. President, meeting every day since it was established.” At every public appearance since then, Pence has been scrupulous to attribute every action taken by the task force to Trump’s “direction” or “leadership,” including such minutiae as revising federal inspection protocols for nursing homes.

Then Azar got on board during the Feb. 26 briefing with this encomium:

“Thank you, Mr. President, for gathering your public health experts here today and for your strong leadership in keeping America safe. Because of this hard work and the president’s leadership, the immediate risk to the American public has been and continues to be low.

“The president’s early and decisive actions, including travel restrictions, have succeeded in buying us incredibly valuable time. … The president’s actions taken with the strong support of his scientific advisors have proven to be appropriate, wise, and well-calibrated to the situation.”

Vice President Mike Pence at a recent briefing on the Trump administration's coronavirus response. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

At another briefing on March 3, Azar seized the honor of announcing that Trump’s quarterly paycheck, which he regularly turns over to worthy causes within the government, had been donated “to the Office of the Assistant Secretary