Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador says he “disagrees” with U.S. President Donald Trump’s assertion that the rise in coronavirus cases in the U.S. Southwest may be partly due to the United States sharing a 2,000-mile border with Mexico.
Lopez Obrador suggested that his counterpart’s comments are connected to the “start of the electoral campaign.” He refused to enter into a debate about the matter, insisting that the relationship between the two governments was “very good.”
Observers on the ground have provided scant evidence that Mexicans are responsible for a rise in hospitalizations in U.S. border states. Covid-19 infection spikes in recent weeks have also been seen in Florida, Delaware, northern California and the Midwest states.
Critics of Trump say he is trying to divert attention from the real cause of increased Covid-19 transmission in the United States: the relaxation of social distancing and the lack of a federal mask-wearing policy.
Speaking on the weekend with Fox News’ Chris Wallace, Trump also credited his border wall for keeping the coronavirus numbers down. “Thank God I built most of the wall, because if I didn’t have it up, we’d have a much bigger problem with Mexico.”