President Donald Trump joked about being "involved in" models during a coronavirus briefing at the White House. The quip came while the president was fielding questions about the trajectory of the pandemic.
"The models show hundreds of thousands of people are going to die and you know what I want to do? I want to come way under the model," he said. "The professionals did the models and I was never involved in a model. At least this kind of a model."
Vice President Mike Pence, standing stoically behind the president, did not laugh.
Nearly 276,000 Americans have been infected by the coronavirus, according to Johns Hopkins University. The White House estimates up to 240,000 U.S. citizens could die before the virus is under control.
First lady Melania Trump said she was a model before meeting Trump in 1998. They married in 2005.
