Trump Attacks Fox News' John Roberts For Asking A Normal Question

President Donald Trump attacked Fox News journalist John Roberts during a coronavirus task force briefing on Wednesday for bringing up the disbanded pandemic response team.

Roberts, who was setting up a question by mentioning criticisms of Trumps response to the coronavirus outbreak, noted that former Obama administration officials had pointed out that the Trump administration dissolved the pandemic office of the National Security Council.

We didnt do that. That turned out to be a false story.... What are you, working for CNN ? Trump said, interrupting the reporters question.

Roberts, who previously worked at CBS News and then CNN for several years before joining Fox News, replied: No no, Im pointing out what they have said, and what you have said, thats all.

Fox isnt so easy either. Dont kid yourselves, the president shot back.

\"You know that's a false story\" -- Trump hits back at John Roberts of Fox News after Roberts correctly notes that Trump disbanded the executive branch team responsible for coordinating responses to pandemics https://t.co/6EdhaYvZ3V pic.twitter.com/K53HuNfYbY

Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 1, 2020","type":"rich","meta":{"author":"Aaron Rupar","author_url":"https://twitter.com/atrupar","cache_age":86400,"description":"\"You know that's a false story\" -- Trump hits back at John Roberts of Fox News after Roberts correctly notes that Trump disbanded the executive branch team responsible for coordinating responses to pandemics https://t.co/6EdhaYvZ3V pic.twitter.com/K53HuNfYbY Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 1, 2020\n\n","options":{"_hide_media":{"label":"Hide photos, videos, and cards","value":false},"_hide_thread":{"label":"Hide previous Tweet in conversation thread","value":true}},"provider_name":"Twitter","thumbnail_height":675,"thumbnail_url":"https://pbs.twimg.com/ext_tw_video_thumb/1245488681932259328/pu/img/DFAhgdWkvi1_3Kxc.jpg","thumbnail_width":1200,"title":"Aaron Rupar on Twitter","type":"rich","url":"https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1245488899968905217","version":"1.0"},"flags":[],"enhancements":{},"fullBleed":false,"options":{"theme":"news","device":"mobile","editionInfo":{"id":"us","name":"U.S.","link":"https://action.news","locale":"en_US"},"originalEdition":"us","isMapi":false,"isAmp":false,"isVideoEntry":false,"isEntry":true,"isMt":false,"entryId":"5e854e0ac5b6f55ebf47b67c","entryPermalink":"https://action.news/entry/trump-attacks-fox-news-john-roberts-pandemic-team-question_n_5e854e0ac5b6f55ebf47b67c","entryTagsList":"donald-trump,fox-news,coronavirus,pandemic,united-states-national-security-council","sectionSlug":"politics","deptSlug":"politics-news","sectionRedirectUrl":null,"subcategories":"entertainment","isWide":false,"headerOverride":null,"noVideoAds":false,"disableFloat":false,"isNative":false,"commercialVideo":{"provider":"custom","site_and_category":"us.politics","package":null},"isHighline":false,"vidibleConfigValues":{"cid":"60afc111dcf87c2cd2f5d8bf","overrides":{"front_page_top_videos":{"desktop":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","mobileweb":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d"},"top_media":{"desktop":"60b8e6bdc5449357a7ada147","mobile":"60b8e701c5449357a7ada2ee","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"},"anthology":{"desktop":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","mobile":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"},"content":{"desktop":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","mobile":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"}},"playerUpdates":{"5668ae6ee4b0b5e26955d6a6":"60d2472d9340d7032ad7e443","56aa41bae4b091744c0440d8":"60e869dc7c5f3b17b6741b81","5841b2b5cc52c716ec6e5a7f":"60b8e355cdd90620331ba185","58b5e2b8d85a10302feee895":"60b64316b171b7444beafdb2","58b74698f78ced31417819ae":"60b8e5bec5449357a7ad9b52","58b74ccecebcea57e2c3a3d1":"60b8e5eac5449357a7ad9ca5","58cff690d85a100b9992bc39":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","58cffb3fb6d9b972a49a3c9d":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","58cffdd74d96935d7d6ec180":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","58d03a84f78ced6518eb2fa7":"60b643c82e76be41f112735c","592edf20e0fa177b0c26f7fd":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","5b35266b158f855373e28256":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","5c116f29f79c4171d82b7c2a":"60b64440b171b7444beb040b","5c1170fc600c9a697bf0c6b9":"60b646102e76be41f1127ffc","5c47791afa1b317df8ae0c4f":"60b8e6bdc5449357a7ada147","5c477987a6b48b35f164773d":"60b8e701c5449357a7ada2ee","5c4779ee943c3c2a64f28371":"60b8e747cdd90620331bb861","5c477a26fcd67b26879bc7c2":"60b8e788c5449357a7ada67b","5d8921a78c3ae845f366c9b6":"60ae7be5f3a7c13a30417ff9","58b98b00ba82aa39a6534321":"60d0de7c9340d7032ad1146c","58b9d14cb6d9b96c9ec32af3":"60d0dec19340d7032ad115a0","58cff8eccebcea42931e0436":"60d0e005b627221e9d819d44","592edf5de0fa177b0c26f95b":"60d0e38fb627221e9d81adcf","58cff72fd85a100b9992c112":"60d0e447b627221e9d81b0da","56b4d34fe4b022697697c400":"60d2472d9340d7032ad7e443","60b8e4c0c5449357a7ad957d":"60e869dc7c5f3b17b6741b81"}},"connatixConfigValues":{"defaultPlayer":"ff7fdddc-5441-4253-abc4-f12a33fad58b","clickToPlayPlayer":"d014396e-b366-4c17-aeac-3ce906fa3fd0","videoPagePlayer":"f010447b-d244-4111-a314-7b4542ae4145","verticalPlayer":"e58cb05a-0bc8-4210-9108-fea82726c065","stickyPlayerControl":"52ea1755-d601-4ad1-bccc-d8cce3f0e5da","stickyPlayerON":"8055e9e5-3bda-4933-8d45-9ad814fb6e22"},"topConnatixThumnbailSrc":"https://img.connatix.com/873d118c-1719-446c-835f-4b24224c8e11/1_th.jpg?crop=480:270,smart&width=480&height=270&format=jpeg&quality=60&fit=crop","customAmpComponents":[],"ampAssetsUrl":"https://amp.assets.huffpost.com","videoTraits":null,"positionInUnitCounts":{"buzz_head":{"count":0},"buzz_body":{"count":0},"buzz_bottom":{"count":0}},"positionInSubUnitCounts":{"article_body":{"count":17},"blog_summary":{"count":0},"before_you_go_content":{"count":0}},"connatixCountsHelper":{"count":1},"buzzfeedTracking":{"context_page_id":"5e854e0ac5b6f55ebf47b67c","context_page_type":"buzz","destination":"huffpost","mode":"mobile","page_edition":"en-us"},"tags":[{"name":"Donald Trump","slug":"donald-trump","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/donald-trump","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/donald-trump","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/donald-trump"},"relegenceId":2789214,"department":{"name":"Latest News","slug":"politics-news"},"section":{"title":"Politics","slug":"politics"},"topic":{"title":"Donald Trump","slug":"donald-trump","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/news/topic/donald-trump"},{"name":"Fox News","slug":"fox-news","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/fox-news","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/fox-news","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/fox-news"},"relegenceId":3683013,"department":{"name":"Latest News","slug":"politics-news"},"section":{"title":"Media","slug":"media"},"topic":{"title":"Fox News","slug":"fox-news","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/news/topic/fox-news"},{"name":"Coronavirus","slug":"coronavirus","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/coronavirus","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/coronavirus","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/coronavirus"},"department":{"name":"Latest News","slug":"politics-news"},"section":{"title":"Politics","slug":"politics"},"topic":{"title":"Coronavirus (COVID-19)","slug":"coronavirus","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/news/topic/coronavirus"},{"name":"pandemic","slug":"pandemic","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/pandemic","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/pandemic","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/pandemic"},"url":"https://action.news/topic/pandemic"},{"name":"United States National Security Council","slug":"united-states-national-security-council","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/united-states-national-security-council","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/united-states-national-security-council","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/united-states-national-security-council"},"url":"https://action.news/topic/united-states-national-security-council"}],"isLiveblogLive":null,"isLiveblog":false,"cetUnit":"buzz_body","bodyAds":["

\r\n\r\n","

\r\n\r\n"],"adCount":0},"isCollectionEmbed":false}">

"You know that's a false story" -- Trump hits back at John Roberts of Fox News after Roberts correctly notes that Trump disbanded the executive branch team responsible for coordinating responses to pandemics https://t.co/6EdhaYvZ3V pic.twitter.com/K53HuNfYbY
Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 1, 2020

You know thats a false story, what you just said is a false story.... You shouldnt be repeating a story you know is false, Trump continued.

The subject of dismantling the pandemic response unit has proved to be a sore topic for Trump on multiple occasions.

Last week, when PBS White House correspondent Yamiche Alcindor asked about it, he also lashed out , labeling her question nasty and claiming he didnt know anything about it. Alcindor later defended her question as relevant, fair, and truth-seeking.

The Global Health Security Team, established under the Obama administration in response to the Ebola outbreak, was disbanded in 2018 when Trumps then-national security adviser, John Bolton, reshuffled the NSC.

Last month, when he was asked similar questions , about whether he regretted budget proposals that called for massive cuts to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health and the World Health Organization, he said no.

Some of the people we cut, they havent been used for many, many years. And if we have a need, we can get them very quickly, he said.

Im a business person. I dont like having thousands of people around when you dont need them, he added.

A HuffPost Guide To Coronavirus

Stay up to date with our live blog as we cover the COVID-19 pandemic
How long are asymptomatic carriers contagious?
Heads up: Not all your tax deadlines have been postponed
I just got out of a COVID-19 ICU . Heres how I made it through.
How to make a no-sew coronavirus face mask
Why some people might have trouble getting their coronavirus rebates payments
What to do if you live with someone with COVID-19
Theres a simple game that can stop a tantrum cold
The HuffPost guide to working from home
What coronavirus questions are on your mind right now? We want to help you find answers.
Everyone deserves accurate information about COVID-19. Support journalism and keep it free for everyone by becoming a HuffPost member today .