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© Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.U.S. wasted months before preparing for virus pandemic, reports show
By MICHAEL BIESECKER WASHINGTON©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.
86 Comments
Pukey2
Wasted months. And the sky is blue.
Never fear, Kushner's here.
Chip Star
*As the first alarms sounded in early January that an outbreak of a novel coronavirus in China might ignite a global pandemic, the Trump administration squandered nearly two months that could have been used to bolster the federal stockpile of critically needed medical supplies and equipment.*
Enough said.
PTownsend
Another variation on 'I don't take responsibility for that'.
And given Trump and family are all about getting more while the Don's in office, it could be none of their major campaign contributors or any corporations they were invested in were those making medical supplies.
Laguna
Translation: These federal supplies belong to the Trump administration, and state governors who show insufficient servility to Trump get nothing.
Strangerland
What pandemic? The president told us it's a Democrat party hoax. He wouldn't be telling falsehoods would he? Not Trump, I refuse to believe it.
Chip Star
The MAGMA is strong with this one.
bass4funk
Dr. Barbot underestimated this virus, Chinese expert Gordon Chang said, the world got it wrong because China lied and wasn’t forthcoming about the severity of the virus.
*As the global outbreak heated up in January, Barbot repeatedly assured New Yorkers their risk was “low,” and to resume normal activities with only basic precautions such as washing hands.*
*On Feb. 2, with the city’s first suspected coronavirus case under investigation and China’s death toll skyrocketing, Barbot touted upcoming Chinese New Year events where crowds gather shoulder-to-shoulder in city streets.*
Shame on her, she should resign immediately as a licensed physician in getting it all wrong.
Chip Star
And the excellence continues to flow forth from Donny’s mouth in the form of contradicting the medical professionals even now:
Though advisers, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, have cautioned many times that more data is needed on the drug, hydroxychloroquine, Trump, in a White House briefing, went so far as to urge patients to take it.
“What do you have to lose? Take it,” the president said. “I really think they should take it. But it’s their choice. And it’s their doctor’s choice or the doctors in the hospital. But hydroxychloroquine. Try it, if you’d like.”
Of course, his ardent fans will tell us not to listen to to the president because that’s the kind of president they think is appropriate to have in office. Smh. Dear lord!
Chip Star
“The notion of the federal stockpile was it’s supposed to be our stockpile,” Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law and adviser, said at a White House briefing Thursday. “It’s not supposed to be state stockpiles that they then use.”
What a moron. Does the Kush think the federal government isn’t comprised of all of the states? Sounds about par for the course for the ignorant people that support Donny.
gogogo
Trump blaming everyone but himself.
bass4funk
And so many of the experts got it all wrong again and again...
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/v748x4/a-pandemic-expert-tells-us-why-she-was-so-wrong-about-coronavirus
One expert I spoke with in late February was Theresa MacPhail, a medical anthropologist, Assistant Professor at Stevens Institute of Technology, and author of the book The Viral Network: A Pathology of the H1N1 Influenza Pandemic. MacPhail worked with the CDC in 2009 as a volunteer intern as part of its Global Disease & Detection unit, taking part in global conference calls on the H1N1 pandemic and seeing how the organization is structured. She was in Hong Kong during its H1N1 outbreak.
In late February, she spoke optimistically with me about America’s ability to handle the coming Covid-19 outbreak. In early March, she got sick with what she believes to be Covid-19. She reached out to me recently, insisting to go on the record again to say that she was wrong, and that she put too much faith in the CDC and America’s ability to manage the crisis.
PTownsend
Trump refuses to take responsibility for any of the many problems resulting during his time in office. His backers point fingers of blame away from him and at 'otherguys'. Sometimes real people, other times apparitions like 'the media' and 'the deep state'.
That this monster and its spread need to be seen as a dynamic made up of many elements goes without saying. But anyone saying Trump's numerous missteps and outright lies, which have misled mostly his own followers, haven't been responsible for the ongoing messes is blinded by their political messiah's dim light.
CrazyJoe
We can thank Tump for all he has done to make "hoax" such a staple of national conversation. His so-called "Presidency" is the biggest hoax of all, given the obvious fact that he has no idea what being President involves, has no qualifications for the job, and no interest in growing into it. The only growth that concerns him, as so often is pointed out, is in the amount of time he gets to appear in public free of criticism, in the number of bootlickers and cultish droolers he can gather around him, and in the fortune he can make while perched in the White House.
darknuts
And what was the media doing all that time? Oh yes, downplaying the virus and calling Trump a racist for restricting travel from China. What were the democrats doing that whole time? Oh yeah, trying to impeach Trump and distracting his administration with nonsensical accusations. What was the WHO doing that whole time? Oh yeah, spreading Chinese propaganda and misinformation as to the severity of the virus. Oh but it's all on Trump I'm sure. The entire outbreak in US and all the resulting death was the orange man's fault.
Chip Star
Dr. Barbot is irrelevant to this article.
BertieWooster
Hardly surprising is it? Trump has such a frail hold on reality. Donald's view of life is 99% "Donnie and his great works" and 1% what is actually going on around him.
Chip Star
You know who didn’t get it incorrect and is Donny’s lead person in this issue? Dr. Fauci:
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the U.S. government’s top infectious disease specialist, warned in early 2017 that a “surprise outbreak” would occur during the Trump administration, and he said that more needed to be done to prepare for a pandemic.
“There is no question that there will be a challenge to the coming administration in the arena of infectious diseases,” he said in a speech titled “Pandemic Preparedness in the Next Administration” at Georgetown University Medical Center. He delivered it just days before Trump was inaugurated on Jan. 20, 2017.
Alexandre T. Ishii
When someone of Trump's family is affected by this no-mercy virus, Mr. president will be really in action. 'Til there how many months? The air polluted by virus all big cities and Washington DC isn't exception.
Chip Star
BigYen: Brilliant post highlighting the utter irrelevance of Darknuts’ post.
Toasted Heretic
Even draconian China, with it's appalling crackdown on experts who tried to warn the world, has got its act together, for now.
Trump's response was an is irresponsible and vain. Ditching the Pandemic Response Team a couple of years back was a big mistake. Claiming that the numbers were low and everything would be fine come April was the kind of comment that was removed from reality.
Muzzling the CDC, blaming the crisis on the media and the opposition was authoritarian and petulant.
And now, his dangerous urging of people to try an unproven anti-malarial drug is plain wrong. He is not a doctor.
If he was a leader like Leo Varadkar, maybe he could get away with his "medical" advice.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/05/irish-taoiseach-leo-varadkar-to-work-a-day-a-week-as-a-doctor
lincolnman
And the evidence of all the denial, dysfunction, and complete incompetence is there for all to see - well, all those not blinded by MAGA vision...
Americans watched Trump on "The Apprentice" - now they're watching him host "Survivor" - and because of his lies and buffoonery, over 250K Americans could lose - their lives...
stormcrow
U.S. wasted months preparing for virus pandemic . . .
Trump has wasted 3 years preparing for any virus pandemic. He keeps blaming Obama, but Trump forgets now that Obama hasn't been the president for the past 3-plus years, he has. That excuse is getting pretty worn out now. As a matter of fact, maybe this is because of the Republican views of healthcare, Trump has actually gone in reverse by not maintaining vital stockpiles and not paying enough attention to the federal agencies involved.
u_s__reamer
There is no proof that "Nero fiddled while Rome burned", but it is incontrovertible that Trump tweeted madly, golfed regularly at tax-payers' expense, watched lotsa trash TV , held rallies and hosted social events with his bizness associates, but was totally disengaged from the urgency of the hour while the virus silently spread throughout the land. This is one for the history books and should be immediately subjected to the scrutiny of a congressional investigation with a view to a second impeachment. The USA has never faced such a crisis in leadership since the Civil War, and that's a fact.
darknuts
@Bigyen
There IS NO ONE PERSON IN CHARGE OF THE US. We are not an alogarchy. Power is shared between the president, congress, the courts and the media even though it is not a government branch. Their job of keeping people informed is essentialto the functioning of government. They have done more harm downplaying this virus than anyone because rely on them for information. This is a time for the media and goverment to come to together to fight this virus. Instead you have partisan bickering and the media spreading misinformation about the president everyday. This has to stop!
Sneezy
The buck stops anywhere but here, I take no responsibility, somehow my decisions are Obama's fault.
PTownsend
Which outlets are you referring to? I've read many posters claim something they call 'the media' were scaremongering. I've read others say their media talking mouths were parroting Trump saying it's just a flu/cold. The media, at least the free, for-profit press, report events from their perspectives for their markets. Leaders at all levels have messed this thing up, including the US 'leader'.
Toasted Heretic
What is an alogarchy?
Power should be shared between the people.
The Trump administration has let the citizens down. The deaths so far and those to come could have been vastly reduced if the regime had behaved responsibly.
Yes. And it will. People will realize that corrupt governments are out of touch and self serving. They will take the power away from politicians.
PTownsend
In addition to Obama Trump's also pointed fingers of blame at 'the deep state department', the media for asking 'nasty' questions, the Democrats, among others. And his backers parrot him. Cult of personality, after all.
Blacklabel
Joe Biden: “We cannot let this, we’ve never allowed any crisis from the Civil War straight through to the pandemic of 17, all the way around, 16, we have never, never let our democracy sakes second fiddle, way they, we can both have a democracy and ... correct the public health.”
PTownsend
Not sure what an 'alogarchy' could be, but I agree the US Constitution established a separation and balance of powers, ensured freedom of speech and a free press. It's great more people are seeing the executive should NOT be granted more powers. Especially someone like Trump with such a poor grasp of reality, someone with a history of being a corrupt businessmale.
PTownsend
The 'other people make mistakes, too' defense of Trump's 'gaffes' and word salads is not much of a defense.
Blacklabel
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/04/03/fact-check-did-obama-administration-deplete-n-95-mask-stockpile/5114319002/
spoiler alert: True
Puts this quote into perspective now huh:
Serrano
Sigh. Have mistakes been made in the U.S. and every other country on this pandemic? Yes.
The question is would Hillary, Biden or Sanders have done a better job than Trump? Of course not.
The president told us it's a Democrat party hoax.
Ahem... here's the full context of his remarks -
"Now the Democrats are politicizing the coronavirus, you know that right? Coronavirus, they’re politicizing it. We did one of the great jobs. You say, ‘How’s President Trump doing?’ They go, ‘Oh, not good, not good.’ They have no clue. They don’t have any clue. They can’t even count their votes in Iowa. They can’t even count. No, they can’t. They can’t count their votes.
"One of my people came up to me and said, ‘Mr. President, they tried to beat you on Russia, Russia, Russia.’ That didn’t work out too well. They couldn’t do it. They tried the impeachment hoax. That was not a perfect conversation. They tried anything. They tried it over and over. They’d been doing it since you got in. It’s all turning. They lost. It’s all turning. Think of it. Think of it. And this is their new hoax."
https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2020/mar/15/joe-biden/ad-watch-biden-video-twists-trumps-words-coronavir/
Oh, so now you can see he wasn't calling the Wuhan virus a hoax, he was criticizing the Democrats for politicizing it in their latest attempt to take him down after all their previous failed attempts.
Blacklabel
New York’s own report from way before Trump was president:
Q: Can the State stockpile as many ventilators as would be needed in a severe pandemic?
A: Even if New York State purchases additional ventilators, the demand would quickly outpace supply in a severe pandemic. No matter how many ventilators are available, in a severe pandemic there will be shortages because so many people will be sick at the same time. In addition, even with enough ventilators, a sufficient number of trained staff may not be available to operate them, particularly because health care workers will be among the ill.
So they chose not to buy any based on this and used the money elsewhere.
Sneezy
Yes, possibly, and absolutely yes, in that order.
Hung Nguyen
It is hard to believe that Trump could miss the biggest opportunity in his whole life to instruct the US industry to start producing such essentials as masks, sanitiser, ventilators for his country and the whole world when the virus was widespread within Wuhan. If he did, he could make America great again, demand more respect from his Democrat counterparts, and prove that he is a visionary leader of the world.
lincolnman
Now I understand how they make pretzels...
That's not a question, that's a fact...Marianne Williamson would have done a better job than Trump...
Bush II would have done a better job than Trump, and that's saying something...
And someone else forgets we had over 3 years of the Trump administration to "fix" things...
We understand - most Americans would like to forget the past 3 years too...
Strangerland
The biggest problem is that Trump gutted the budget of the CDC, and scrapped the pandemic response unit of homeland security, well before this ever happened.
He gambled on there not being a pandemic while he was president, thinking he could save some money. Well, as usual for sir Trump the Incompetent, he failed.
Blacklabel
nobody stealing supplies from hospitals either as Trump falsely claims! Oh wait:
https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/police-arrest-hospital-aide-thefts-equipment-supplies-69981223
The items recovered included gloves, hand sanitizer, surgical scrubs, wash clothes, paper towels, masks, bleach cleaner, toilet paper and an automatic hand sanitizer, Brambila said.
SimondB
That is the most fantastically unrealistic conclusion to come too. The real question should be: Could anyone have handled this worst then Donald Trump? Of course not.
Blacklabel
Remember your hero John Bolton?
says it’s not true.
Bolton and his allies shot back after Cameron's op-ed was published, saying she and other critics were misleading the public by saying the office had been disbanded. Tim Morrison, one of Bolton's deputies at the National Security Council, said it was bloated and the decision to consolidate the global health unit with two others eliminated "overlap" within the National Security Council.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2020/03/18/coronavirus-did-president-trumps-decision-disband-global-pandemic-office-hinder-response/5064881002/
Strangerland
Um, he's on your team.
Which is why of course, he cannot be trusted.
Read the truth: https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2020/03/18/coronavirus-did-president-trumps-decision-disband-global-pandemic-office-hinder-response/5064881002/
Sneezy
"John Bolton defends decision taken by John Bolton".
Woah, this is an amazing political scoop.
And it's, uh, your buddies on the far-right who say things like "love me some Bolton, always have".
lincolnman
So if Bolton is to be believed here, then he also is to be believed regarding the "drug deal", right?
I understand that two suspicious individuals were seen in the area - one was short and the other had a goofy haircut - they called each other "Don Jr" and "Eric"...
Blacklabel
So all of these “experts” are offering their help and expertise in this time of crisis for our country......aren’t they?
darknuts
They were referring to Fox news who lately have been criticized for downplaying the virus. Something that all the major media outlets did months ago.
https://freebeacon.com/coronavirus/flashback-media-downplayed-coronavirus-called-it-less-serious-than-flu/
Sneezy
Yes. They're not killing people by recommending they ingest poison, which is more than you can say for the President.
darknuts
And how is he supposed to unify the nation with a congress that's blaming him for everything that has gone wrong without offering solutions? They should be helping him not hindering him. Instead you have media spreading misinformation and launching constant attacks during the worst national crisis since world war two. You got the democrats holding up the stimulus package over things that have nothing to do with the virus. And ofcourse they are starting another investigation. How is a president supposed to unite the country when the very pillars of society refuse to come together to fight a common enemy? The fact is, no one can unite this country anymore. We are too divided due to partisan bickering and media propaganda.
Dude. If you're on a basketball team, do you really want other players calling you out and only you for mistakes the entire team made? Responsibility for dealing with this crisis needs to be shared between the president, congress and the governers. And that's as it should be. I might have to leave this here otherwise we'll be going back and forth all day. It's been good debating with you. People need to get a grip. The president is doing the best he can in a time of crisis. We should be doing our best make sure he succeeds. We argue about lessons learned later.
bass4funk
Never yet heard of a President doing that.
No, if he does something that is out of line, even his supporters criticize him, but they look at the entire players involved not only the President.
Speaking of China should either compensate or forget the debt we owed them
Blacklabel
Debunked. He never told a Democrat donor to feed her husband fish tank cleaner.
the actual medicine has already saved hundreds and is being recommended worldwide.
bass4funk
More or less the other way around when you ask liberals what to do, they reiterate the same thing Trump says, but because their libs, they nod to it, Trump says it, he’s somehow lost? Lol
Yes, she is, unless liberals want to shift the goalpost and now discount the medical experts. She and many physicians are indeed relevant since we go by their expertise and follow their medical advice, if we should discard what they say, then we don’t need to rely on their medical advice, we can save the money, so either they are relevant or they are not, can’t pick when their advice is important or when it should be dismissed because you guys don’t like the President. She should definitely resign and go back to private practice.
bass4funk
Not one single liberal can prove he said such a thing, because he never did.
lincolnman
Lib, Lib, Lib - someone's mind is stuck in a feedback loop...
How about we stop getting our ties and shirts made there?
lincolnman
Fear not my fellow Americans - if you get sick with Corona and swamped with medical bills, and you took the advice of our current President and his Fox News friends, and failed to sign up for insurance through Obamacare, you can get TRUMPCARE....
Trumpcare - think of it as the same as Trump University - what you get is useless and you still get a bill for it!
SuperLib
How are his TV ratings?
Sneezy
He promoted an untested drug that can have lethal side effects. Because he is the President, his words carry weight. He was trusted by this couple, and a man died. This is indisputable.
None of this is true.
Sneezy
Oh, Republicans are in favor of reparations now? Well, I know where you can start...
bass4funk
Says the people that have been attacking conservatives for soooooo long.
How about we stop getting our ties and shirts made there?
Masks, iPhones, TV, Nintendo Switches, Advil, Excederin.....
bass4funk
Yeah, the entire world for not letting us know in advance and trying to cover it up.
Sneezy
Correct! America should be paying reparations to the rest of the world, you've got it!
Serrano
It is hard to believe that Trump could miss the biggest opportunity in his whole life to instruct the US industry to start producing such essentials as masks, sanitiser, ventilators for his country and the whole world when the virus was widespread within Wuhan
Yeah? And how many other world leaders got right on the ball and did this? Oh, they didn't?
Trumpcare
We don't have Trumpcare, we basically still have Obamacare. Were you not aware of this?
Go ask Congress why we still have Obamacare.
Sneezy
Can't I ask the President? Before he was elected he said he was the best deal maker ever, and he's said multiple times that he's going to present an incredible, fantastic, amazing healthcare plan, the best healthcare plan - but he's never revealed one.
Where is it?
Why is he so bad at doing deals?
bass4funk
America didn’t create a virus, nor does its people consume wildlife endangered species or even have a wet market or lab experimenting with live animals. Please keep the conversation with the people that created this virus.
Jimizo
Some world leaders got on the ball much earlier than Trump and didn’t spout ill-informed trash about this virus. It certainly wasn’t 794D chess.
Second-rate leader.
lincolnman
Congratulations - you made a post without "Lib" in it...
Is Trump selling those on his website too? According to Trump, China caused the virus, is an unfair trader, bad, bad, bad - but not too bad to get his cheap ties and shirts made there cheating US textile workers...
Sneezy
Oh, I see, so for you history started 7 weeks ago? Got it, thanks.
PTownsend
Trump's just as bad as the other 'leaders'. Another low bar to go along with what some of his other supporters have claimed, like weshould just ignore what he says and listen to people who know what they're talking about..
Trump promised his 'better than Obamacare'. Is the hold up Mexico won't pay for it, either? Or was this just another of the 15,000 'misinformations' including 'It's not a pandemic' which somehow mutated to 'I said all along it was a pandemic'.
bass4funk
There job is intel, they did their job, the medical professionals, they screwed up and maybe not intentionally, but they did, they underestimated this virus and guaranteed the public there’s no real danger to worry about.
bass4funk
No, but if you want to include SARS then....
Strangerland
How could you. He literally never put together any health care plan. His entire plan was to dismantle Obamacare.
Because they protected it. Imagine if Trump had been able to get rid of it - there would be even more uninsured than there are now.
bass4funk
No, but why should they give a pass to other leaders or medical professionals? Just to dump all over the President because it makes liberals feel warm and fuzzy.
Relax, take a deep breath, listen to Fauci, he’s a doctor and he gets it right...a lot of times.
Strangerland
Singapore, South Korea, Germany, Canada, Australia...
And those are just off the top of my head.
I know you hate it, but Trump was really incompetent on this one. He dropped the ball, and thousands of Americans will die as a result.
Sneezy
Sure, if you like! But the US will be tapped up for reparations by China, Japan, all of Latin America, almost every country in the Middle East, not to mention black and native Americans. If you want the US to start handing out that money, then keep going down this road.
bass4funk
Uhhhh....I don’t know how this relates to the virus, but with everything based on liberal logic.....ok.
Strangerland
Trump called for Obama to resign when two Americans died of Ebola. You also called for the same at the time.
Why is it different for Trump?
bass4funk
Been waiting to hear that one for awhile now.....
No and why should he when the medical experts didn’t?
nishikat
And he put Jared in charge. God help the USA.
The medical experts are not the deciders, Trump is. The politicians set the direction and especially with TrumpCare things are getting worse. Trump's policy is not based on science but rather the teachings of the Bible.