WATCH LIVE: Fauci, Redfield Testify On Trump Administration’s COVID-19 Response

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Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases is pictured testifying in March on Capitol Hill. He and others leading the federal coronavirus response testify before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Tuesday.

Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images

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Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images

Trump has been much criticized for his handling of the coronavirus outbreak. The U.S. now has the largest number of confirmed cases in the world — more than 2.3 million — as well as the most deaths — about 120,000. The daily number of people dying with COVID-19 has declined in recent weeks, but the number of cases is rising in many parts of the U.S.

The committee’s Democrats pressed the health officials for details on why the federal response has not been more effective and whether Trump prevented health experts from taking action sooner.

Fauci said there’s a reasonable chance there will be vaccine available by the «beginning of 2021.» He said that a billion doses might be available for a vaccine, because companies were making doses already so they’ll be ready if one of the vaccines under development proves effective. Hahn emphasized that while vaccine development is moving quickly, no corners are being cut in terms of safety.

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At his campaign rally on Saturday in Tulsa, Okla., Trump said he told his administration to «slow the testing down» for the coronavirus.

«When you do testing to that extent, you are gonna find more people, you’re gonna find more cases,» Trump said. «So I said to my people, ‘Slow the testing down, please.’ They test, and they test. We have tests that people don’t know what’s going on.»

Democrats have seized on the comments as evidence that Trump is putting politics ahead of the lives and livelihoods of Americans. Joe Biden, the Democrats’ presumptive presidential nominee, soon tweeted, «Speed up the testing,» and a Democratic super PAC put out an ad centered on Trump’s remarks.

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At a press briefing on Monday, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Trump has not directed officials to slow down testing and instead has «led the way in making us the world’s leader with regard to testing.» She said that in his Tulsa comments, Trump «was joking about the media and their failure to understand the fact than when you test more, you also find more cases.»

McEnany praised the president’s response. «We could have lost 3 million lives but we lost far fewer because Trump took action early,» she told reporters.

On Tuesday morning, Trump told reporters that he was not joking.

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