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The Trump administration has repeatedly urged states to take the lead on securing equipment and tests to fight coronavirus. But when MD Governor Larry Hogan secured 500,000 tests for his state, he was mocked and belittled from the White House podium. https://thedispatch.com/p/while-hogan-leads-on-covid-testing
“The administration made it clear—over and over again—that they want the states to take the lead, and we have to go out and do it ourselves, and so that’s exactly what we did,” said Hogan.
"Testing is a local thing," Trump said Sunday. "It's very important. It's great, but it's a local thing." So, Hogan did as he was told. You’d be forgiven for thinking that Hogan’s ability to procure coronavirus tests on a massive scale would win him praise" from the WH.
That didn’t happen. At Monday’s briefing, CNN's Kaitlin Collins asked Adm. Brett Giroir why Hogan had to go overseas for tests if they were so readily available in the U.S. Giroir was amused. "I don’t know what the governor of Maryland is doing in South Korea," he said, smirking.
Trump joined in. "The governor of Maryland could have called Mike Pence. Could have saved a lot of money. ... No, I don't think he needed to go to South Korea. I think he needed to get a little knowledge—would have been helpful."
Why? The answer isn’t complicated: "While Hogan doesn’t seem eager to pick fights with the president, his matter-of-fact style requires him, when asked, to challenge the steady stream of self-aggrandizing silliness that comes from Trump’s mouth."
Hogan finished his press conference by acknowledging that he worried that the federal government would intercept the shipment of tests. "That was a big part of our concern." https://thedispatch.com/p/while-hogan-leads-on-covid-testing
