CLEVELAND, Ohio Republican President Donald Trump in a Thursday interview with a Cleveland radio station shirked responsibility for the current status of the coronavirus pandemic, instead blaming China and the governors across the country.

During a roughly 40-minute interview on Geraldo in Cleveland hosted by Geraldo Rivera on WTAM, Trump assessed the job he was doing as fantastic, saying that if he is re-elected, things will go back to normal quickly. Thats as coronavirus cases and deaths remain elevated in states across the country, including Ohio.

Trump didnt say if he would do anything differently, but said governors run their states, blamed China for letting the virus escape its borders and assessed his performance as fantastic.

We shouldnt have lost one person. This should have been stopped by China, Trump said. They stopped it from going into China and they didnt stop it from going into Europe and the rest of the world. Its one of those things thats just terrible. They should have never let it come out of China. They stopped it going into China but they didnt stop it from going out into the world.

Trump didnt address Ohio specifically throughout the interview except to briefly say Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, was doing a good job as governor. But the disease has surged across the state starting at the beginning of July.

In all likelihood, the state will hit 100,000 cases easily within the next week. More than 3,500 Ohioans have died at a clip of 25 daily over the last three weeks.

The country as a whole is approaching 5 million cases. More than 159,000 people have died from coronavirus complications. The United States accounts for more than 20% of the reported deaths worldwide, according to figures from Johns Hopkins University.

Trump said other countries were lying about their coronavirus figures.

We see whats happening by satellite, Trump said. They dont report.

Trump said he expected things to rapidly get better by the Nov. 3 election, including the possibility of a vaccine. Trump said he wasnt rushing a vaccine to help his re-election prospects.

Trump is visiting Ohio today. The president is flying into Cleveland where he will be greeted by DeWine, who canceled his Thursday coronavirus briefing to make the trip to Cleveland. Trump will then head to Clyde to visit the Whirlpool factory and give remarks. Later this evening, Trump will be in Bratenahl for a fundraiser.

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Donald Trump says hes done fantastic job on coronavirus in interview with Cleveland radio show - cleveland.com