Surprise, surprise, Donald Trump lied once again, and this lie was a doozy.

A video has emerged of Trump talking about cutting the pandemic response team in 2018 – just days after claiming that he knew nothing about the disbanded White House unit that originated in Obama’s White House.

Trump said of the pandemic team that “some of the people we’ve cut they haven’t been used for many, many years and if we ever need them we can get them very quickly and rather then spending the money”.

“I’m a business person, I don’t like having thousands of people around when you don’t need them,” he added.

Trump has come under fire in recent days for his decision to disband the National Security Council directorate at the White House responsible for planning the country’s preparedness for future pandemics.

The unit had been established by the previous White House administration in 2014 after the outbreak of Ebola.

But last Friday, Trump was singing a different tune.

At Friday’s press conference, PBS reporter Yamiche Alcindor asked Trump about the change he presided over.

“You did disband the White House pandemic office, and the officials that were working in that office left this administration abruptly,” Alcindor said. “So what responsibility do you take?”

Trump called it a nasty question. And he denied the facts. And he said, “I don’t know anything about it.” He went on to say, “It’s the—it’s the administration. Perhaps they do that. You know, people let people go. You used to be with a different newspaper than you are now. You know, things like that happen.”

.@Yamiche: You said you don't yet responsibility for any failures, & yet you disbanded the pandemic response team. What do you say to criticism of that?

TRUMP: "I just think it's a nasty question … I didn't do it. We have a group of people … I don't know anything about it." pic.twitter.com/PGRY0kI6uh

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 13, 2020

In a political context, it is hard to imagine a more damaging video. Yeah, it’s Donald Trump, and he lies and does something awful almost every single day.

But this video catches Trump in a lie about what he knew, and shows him openly defending his proposals for significant cuts to agencies that battle infectious diseases, explicitly based on the dubious premise that employing experts in that field is a waste of money in the years between epidemics or pandemics. This is the rare clip that could conceivably make the difference in a national election.

WATCH:

Last week, Trump was asked why he fired the Pandemic Response Team in 2018 and he replied that he “didn't know about it.”
Maybe this video will jog his memory 👇 pic.twitter.com/zY0zE4X0FD

— J. Dice 🎲 (@jdice03) March 17, 2020