It turns out that President Donald Trump’s coronavirus response is even more of a failure than originally thought, and it goes all the way back to before he even took office.
Just a few weeks ago, Trump insisted that the outbreak had been contained and that there was nothing to worry about. Now there are nearly 5,000 cases in the United States and 90 people have died because of the virus. And states still do not have enough coronavirus tests, which means the number of cases is likely even higher.
Trump even went so far as to silence health officials so he could continue misleading the public and has ignored the science from the start.
He was also briefed on the coronavirus threat early on. But now we are learning that he was also briefed about pandemics and how to properly handle them by the Obama administration all the way back in 2017 before Inauguration Day, a briefing that Trump clearly threw out the window because he foolishly believed he could deal with it better himself.
Chris Lu is the former Secretary of Labor under Obama who oversaw the transition from Obama to Trump. According to Lu, the Obama transition team passed along everything they had learned about combating pandemics — information that would have served Trump well had he bothered to take it seriously.
BREAKING: A week before Inauguration Day 2017, Trump team participated in a tabletop exercise with outgoing Obama team about preparing for a “major domestic incident”
One incident discussed was a pandemic. I participated in that exercise.
THREAD 1/6 https://t.co/dsiauylaoe
— Chris Lu (@ChrisLu44) March 16, 2020
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There were 3 role-playing scenarios: hurricane, pandemic and cyber incident. Obama team discussed need to anticipate requirements, stay ahead of challenges and provide resources quickly
The goal was to acquaint Trump officials with how to coordinate around major incidents. 2/6
— Chris Lu (@ChrisLu44) March 16, 2020
The pandemic role-playing scenario involved:
-“Novel influenza” with infections in Asia and Europe
-Efficient person-to-person transmission
-Insufficient lab capacities
-Travel bans
-Lag time before it comes to U.S.
-Need for vaccine
-Ventilator shortagesSound familiar?
3/6— Chris Lu (@ChrisLu44) March 16, 2020
In event of a pandemic, Trump team was told:
-Pandemics can start in other countries and don’t respect borders
-Science must guide decisions
-Federal/state collaboration is key
-Consistent messaging needed
-Social distancing recommended
-“Days – and even hours – can matter”4/6
— Chris Lu (@ChrisLu44) March 16, 2020
Thirty Trump officials attended the exercise (Cabinet and senior White House staff) https://t.co/QScWKsX6Hj
But the vast majority of these officials are no longer in government
When you’re dealing with a crisis like #COVID19, stable and experienced leadership matters.
5/6
— Chris Lu (@ChrisLu44) March 16, 2020
Bottom line: when Trump says “we were all surprised” by #COVID19, he shouldn’t have been.
The Obama team warned Trump’s staff about a possible pandemic. Whether it was lack of preparation or staff turnover, the necessary work wasn’t done to get in front of this.
/END
— Chris Lu (@ChrisLu44) March 16, 2020
Trump was warned three years ago that the United States was at risk of being hit by a pandemic from Asia. He also had a tried and true strategy handed down to him by an administration that had experience handling epidemics such as Ebola and H1N1. He should have been prepared. Instead, he ignored the Obama team and proceeded to disband the pandemic response team the following year, cut funding to the CDC and refused to fill hundreds of positions at the CDC that would have strengthened their own response to the coronavirus pandemic.
And once the coronavirus hit us, he did the exact opposite of what the Obama team advised.
This is outrageous and unconscionable. Trump’s team was briefed on how to handle pandemics and he let his hatred of Obama cloud his judgment, and now the United States is paying the price for his incompetence.
Featured image via screen capture
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