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2 weeks ago, I assumed the Trump administration's coronavirus response was abysmal due to incompetence.
I no longer think we're here through gross negligence. The Republicans in charge HAVE been taking action, just not for the health and safety of Americans.
I no longer think we're here through gross negligence. The Republicans in charge HAVE been taking action, just not for the health and safety of Americans.
When Republican senators learned about the danger COVID-19 posed, they didn't take steps to protect Americans. They sold off stocks instead. https://www.msnbc.com/all-in/watch/gop-senators-sold-stock-after-secret-coronavirus-briefing-81045573687
While the CDC was telling us we didn't need to wear masks and not to buy them so they could go to front-line workers, long-time GOP operatives were leaving politics to get into the PPE business. In 2 weeks, they became the largest global supplier. https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/27/republican-fundraiser-company-coronavirus-152184
Mike Gula claimed he got into the PPE business "because the president and the vice president were asking people to help."
He will not say where or how he procured such a large supply of PPE or the profit margin on sales back to states and hospitals. https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/27/republican-fundraiser-company-coronavirus-152184
He will not say where or how he procured such a large supply of PPE or the profit margin on sales back to states and hospitals. https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/27/republican-fundraiser-company-coronavirus-152184
Mid-March, Jared Kushner quietly started Project Airbridge, working with private companies to snap up medical equipment all over the world, transporting them on federal planes. It's unclear what the companies are doing or how they're profiting. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/coronavirus-what-is-project-airbridge/
Project Airbridge did result in a nice photo op for Trump and the CEOs of the companies involved in the Rose Garden. It's good to see the Trump administration giving free PR to the rich executives making money in the midst of a crisis. https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-vice-president-pence-members-coronavirus-task-force-press-briefing-14/
States have complained that despite the fact that the federal stockpile appears to be growing, they've had trouble getting requested supplies. https://www.propublica.org/article/heres-why-florida-got-all-the-emergency-medical-supplies-it-requested-while-other-states-did-not
In response to these complaints, the Trump administration has claimed it's not for the states' use but "our" use. (HHS went so far as to update the language on their site after Jared Kushner made statements to this effect.) https://www.politico.com/news/2020/04/03/strategic-national-stockpile-description-altered-after-kushners-remarks-163181
Trump has told states they're responsible for their own supplies. Instead of leveraging the Defense Production Act or coordinating resources, the federal government has instead jumped into bidding wars for privately sourced PPE, outbidding states. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-03-19/trump-told-governors-to-buy-own-virus-supplies-then-outbid-them
Some governors claim that suppliers have told them, even after they've ordered shipments, that the Trump administration has instructed them not to send supplies to some states. https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/27/politics/michigan-governor-medical-supplies-cnntv/index.html
States have had PPE shipments confiscated on tarmacs--presumably by the feds, but one state representative said they didn't know WHO was confiscating the shipments.
https://www.wcvb.com/article/3-million-masks-ordered-by-massachusetts-were-confiscated-in-port-of-new-york/32021700 https://twitter.com/mmcauliff/status/1244727043469856771
https://www.wcvb.com/article/3-million-masks-ordered-by-massachusetts-were-confiscated-in-port-of-new-york/32021700 https://twitter.com/mmcauliff/status/1244727043469856771
When Admiral John Polowczyk--responsible for IDing PPE needs/supply--was asked where all the supplies federal planes were flying in as part of Project Airbridge were going, he admitted they were not going to the stockpile, but to private distributors. https://twitter.com/joshtpm/status/1245878992336556033
Based on Polowczyk's statement, supplies to states are being confiscated by the federal gov't, redirected to private distributors, then states are bidding against each other for private supplies, allowing the cost to go through the roof.
White House-orchestrated profiteering.
White House-orchestrated profiteering.
Apart from PPE profiteering, there's Trump's bizarre fascination with hydroxychloroquine, a malarial drug that's had mixed results in treating COVID-19. He has pushed it repeatedly in pressers, despite experts saying it's unproven. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/05/us/politics/trump-hydroxychloroquine-coronavirus.html
Trump's free advertising in pressers has resulted in a run on hydroxychloroquine, meaning people who need it to treat other conditions can't get it. https://www.propublica.org/article/lupus-patients-cant-get-crucial-medication-after-president-trump-pushes-unproven-coronavirus-treatment
Notably, one of the major manufacturers of hydroxychloroquine, Novartis, once paid Trump's lawyer $1.2 million to gain access to the president. https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/09/novartis-paid-trumps-lawyer-michael-cohen-more-than-1-million-for-work-he-was-unable-to-do-company-says.html
In addition to Trump's free advertising, the US has purchased a large order of hydroxychloroquine to add to the stockpile, in addition to large donations from Novartis and other manufacturers. https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexledsom/2020/04/06/the-hydroxychloroquine-debateas-the-us-orders-29-million-doses-initial-champion-france-remains-divided-over-its-efficacy/#3a2ce8e477e5
Trump's private partners in the "public-private partnership" to add COVID-19 supplies to the federal stockpile are making money hand over fist, while states in the midst of a public health crisis struggle to get the supplies they need to keep people alive.
FEMA claimed it didn't need to leverage the Defense Production Act after all to expanding testing capabilities, once a private source had been located. 2 weeks later, tests are still scarce. Hospitalized people can't get tested.
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/24/trump-administration-defense-production-act-146070 https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/06/opinion/coronavirus-testing.html
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/24/trump-administration-defense-production-act-146070 https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/06/opinion/coronavirus-testing.html
Why would Trump use the DPA to compel private companies to ramp up production, when his administration benefits far more by keeping supply limited and allowing all his private partners to get rich on the higher prices? https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/488938-trump-rejects-calls-to-directly-use-defense-production-act
While White House advisers say things like, "We're getting what we need without putting the heavy hand of government down," states and hospitals are desperately trying to get supplies they need without any help from the federal government at all. https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/488938-trump-rejects-calls-to-directly-use-defense-production-act
There aren't enough tests. There isn't enough PPE. There aren't enough ventilators. More than 10,000 Americans have died, including several front line healthcare workers, and Trump is still doing little to help states get what they need. Why not?
Follow the money.
Follow the money.
