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Pitching for ideas? Trump turned to baseball great Rodriguez & girlfriend J-Lo for coronavirus thoughts, say US reports
US President Donald Trump has cast his net far and wide in seeking input on how to tackle the mounting Covid-19 crisis in the country, including seeking the thoughts of baseball great Alex Rodriguez, according to some reports.
Coronavirus casualties are rising rapidly by the day in America, which has become the new epicenter for the pandemic.
Also on rt.com US passes 100,000 CASES of Covid-19 after becoming world epicenter for virus – Johns Hopkins University
In economic terms, US leader Trump has formally signed a $2.2 trillion stimulus package as the nation bids to stave off even more disaster.
And in seeking thoughts from various quarters on how to handle the crisis, Trump has apparently turned to New York Yankees legend Alex Rodriguez and his partner, pop princess Jennifer Lopez.
Reports from ABC News' John Santucci and Katherine Faulders state that Trump called the man known as A-Rod for his "thoughts" on the pandemic amid a "marathon" of meetings last week.
During marathon day of meetings earlier this week, President Trump continued outreach across the country regarding coronavirus & phoned former Yankees baseball player Alex Rodriguez. Multiple sources tell ABC, the president spoke to ARod from the Oval Office via me & @KFaulders
— John Santucci (@Santucci) March 28, 2020
A source close to Rodriguez told @ABC the call with Trump was “pleasant” adding that Trump was seeking thoughts from ARod about the coronavirus response. Sources say there was no discussion of AROD or his fiancé Jennifer Lopez taking on any official effort.
— John Santucci (@Santucci) March 28, 2020
The supposedly unconventional approach provided ample ammunition for Trump-bashers, who questioned what exactly the 44-year-old former slugger and his popstress partner could bring to the table regarding the battle against the raging outbreak.
If I was president in the middle of a biblical pandemic the first person I’d reach out to for advice is a former all-star baseball player. Who wouldn’t?
— Marc Shkolnick (@mshkolnick) March 28, 2020
I just hope that @JLo was home when he called. I’m sure her medical, public health and economic insights would be invaluable to handling a global pandemic.
— Leslie McCarthy (@LeslieM3355) March 28, 2020
Others though felt that the baseball star was a logical choice for pharmaceutical advice, considering the 14-time All-Star was once banned for an entire season for violating MLB's performance-enhancing drugs policy.
And this being Trump-era America, some presidential fans dismissed the claims outright as being fake news...
With or without A-Rod and J-Lo's help, Trump and the US continue to battle a deadly outbreak which on Friday hit the 100,000 cases mark, putting it out in front of even the likes of China - where the outbreak began - and Italy, which had previously been the epicenter of the pandemic.
