THE BEAST

TESTAMENT guitarist Alex Skolnick has slammed the Trump administration's handling of the outbreak of of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus first observed in China.

Earlier today, Skolnick took to his Twitter to write: "Watching this WH press briefing - every speaker praising the President's 'extraordinary leadership.' Even if that were true (which it's obviously not), this is not how it's done here. What country is this? Who are we? How did we get here? Is anyone buying this horsesh-t?! WtF" He added a "face screaming in fear" emoji.

After another Twitter user chimed in that "They're just making sure [ Donald Trump 's] ego is soothed because his precious market numbers are in the tank and he probably won't shut up about it," Skolnick replied: "Exactly. I wasn't a fan of George W Bush but after 9/11 - putting aside the Iraq debacle to follow - at least he was able convey a sense of reassurance during a time of emergency. And I don't recall him - or any other President - getting praised by staff as if in a hostage video."

At a press conference on Friday, Trump worked hard to convince the public his administration has the coronavirus under control, even though the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the United States has more than doubled in the past week.

The President said at a rally in South Carolina Friday that Democrats are now "politicizing" the virus. "They have no clue. They can't even count their votes in Iowa," he said. On Saturday, Trump clarified that he doesn't think coronavirus itself is a "hoax," but the criticism is.

Skolnick has made no secret of his political views, frequently tweeting against Trump 's policies, including imploring the U.S. president to "get the HELL out of OUR country" in August 2017 after Trump tweeted about his proposed border wall while Tropical Storm Harvey made landfall in Texas.

Back in 2012, Skolnick tweeted that Ted Nugent , Donald Trump and Dave Mustaine didn't "seem that reasonable" to him because of their "militant" support of then-Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney .

TESTAMENT 's new album, "Titans Of Creation" , will be released on April 3 via Nuclear Blast .

Watching this WH press briefing - every speaker praising the President’s “extraordinary leadership.” Even if that were true (which it’s obviously not), this is not how it’s done here. What country is this? Who are we? How did we get here? Is anyone buying this horsesh-t?! WtF 😱

— Alex Skolnick (@AlexSkolnick) March 9, 2020

Exactly. I wasn’t a fan of George W Bush but after 9/11 - putting aside the Iraq debacle to follow - at least he was able convey a sense of reassurance during a time of emergency. And I don’t recall him - or any other President - getting praised by staff as if in a hostage video.

— Alex Skolnick (@AlexSkolnick) March 9, 2020