Tracy Morgan is defending President Donald Trump amid the coronavirus outbreak.
In an interview with “Today” Tuesday, the actor and comedian, 51, gave the president the benefit of the doubt in terms of how he’s been handling the pandemic, which has been criticized.
A Politico/Morning Consult poll from earlier this month showed voters may be becoming frustrated with the White House’s handling of the crisis. Overall, 61% of registered voters in that poll said Trump was not prepared to handle the outbreak.
“The struggle is real,” Morgan told “Today” show co-host Hoda Kotb. “People want to criticize the president, but imagine being a president of a country and have your country get sick. So it’s difficult for him. We’ve all got to pull together as people, now.”
He continued, “Now is not the time for blame and all these other things, and anger. It’s here now. We just got to be together. We’ve got to all stay safe. Nobody wants to transmit it, nobody wants to attract it, nobody wants to get it. So let’s just stay safe and do the protocol that we have to do.”
Morgan, who says he’s been following guidelines of wearing face masks, admitted that he got scared after seeing the news of the Bronx Zoo tiger testing positive for COVID-19, triggering him to want his pets tested.
“I’m getting my sharks tested, I’m getting my moray eel tested. I just bought a 600-pound silverback gorilla, I’m going to take him down to NewYork-Presbyterian to get him tested,” he said.
When Kotb asked if he was being serious, he replied, “This is real stuff.”
He also praised healthcare workers helping those affected by the virus.
“They know what they’re doing, they’re fighting the frontline,” he said. “I know these people work hard to take care of you. I’m very proud of them, they’re my heroes.”
Contributing: William Cummings, USA TODAY
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