The Trump administration will support taking action against anyone responsible for the spread of the coronavirus, a list that could include China, "when the time is right," Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Newsmax TV.
During an appearance on "The Chris Salcedo Show" Tuesday morning, Pompeo discussed China's role in the COVID-19 pandemic, which has sickened close to 2 million people worldwide and killed more than 120,000.
"There will be a time — and that time's not too far off — there will be a time when the world will get to see which countries performed well, which countries created risk and imposed cost," Pompeo said.
The full interview with Pompeo will reair at 5 p.m. on "The Chris Salcedo Show."
The virus, Pompeo said, has "cost American lives, and I'm very confident that both President [Donald] Trump and members of Congress like Sen. [Tom] Cotton, when that time is right, those who are responsible for both the loss of lives, the tragedy that's taken place here in the United States, and the economic damage that has been done all around the world, I'm very confident that this administration will lead the way in holding both those countries and the individuals responsible for it accountable."
The virus first cropped up in Wuhan, China in November and spread across the world over the next few months. The global economy has suffered a massive hit because of it.
More than 6 million Americans have filed for unemployment, nearly 600,000 have gotten sick, and more than 23,000 have died.
Regarding China's virus data, Pompeo said, "sometimes it just doesn't fit with what we know to be the case."
"We need every government, including the Chinese government, to be transparent and open. If we can get those things, if we can get transparency, if we can get these data sets right, we've got a real shot at pushing back against this thing and getting the global economy back on track."
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