Pence's former top aide says Trump called the coronavirus 'a good thing' because he didn't like shaking hands with 'disgusting' supporters

"When we were in a task-force meeting, the president said, 'Maybe this COVID thing is a good thing -- I don't like shaking hands with people. I don't have to shake hands with these disgusting people,'" Olivia Troye, who until recently served as Vice President Mike Pence's top coronavirus task force adviser, says in the two-minute video. "Those disgusting people are the same people he claims to care about. These are the people who are still going to his rallies today, who have complete faith in who he is."

Troye, who served as a senior aide to Pence on homeland security and counterterrorism for two years, was deeply involved in the administration's coronavirus response. She said she left her White House job in August after concluding that the president was undermining efforts to keep Americans safe.

"The truth is he doesn't actually care about anyone but himself," she said.