Tracy Morgan defends Trump from coronavirus criticism

Tracy Morgan attends a screening of "What Men Want" in New York on Feb. 4.(Charles Sykes/Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

Tracy Morgan has made a living saying outlandish and controversial things — both in fiction and in real life — and his appearance on “Today” on Tuesday was more of the same.

In an interview with Hoda Kotb, Morgan defended President Trump against critics of his handling of the coronavirus pandemic. This despite the wave of frustration that’s been directed at the president in recent weeks for his slow and ineffective actions at the start of the pandemic.

“People want to criticize the president, but imagine being a president of a country and have your country get sick,” Morgan said. “So it’s difficult for him. We’ve all got to pull together as people, now.”

Around 60% of the country believes that Trump wasn’t prepared for the pandemic, according to one poll, but Morgan says that these concerns should be irrelevant at this point in the outbreak.

“Now is not the time for blame and all these other things, and anger. It’s here now. We just got to be together. We’ve got to all stay safe,” he said.

As much as he’s worried about his community, Morgan’s also been scared about the well-being of his vast collection of exotic animals, since a Bronx Zoo tiger tested positive for the virus.

“I’m getting my sharks tested, I’m getting my moray eel tested. I just bought a 600-pound silverback gorilla, I’m going to take him down to New York-Presbyterian to get him tested,” he said, probably joking.