Pence said many things last night that bothered me, but one line in particular stuck in my head this morning. He said, President Trump and I have the same plan as Joe Biden - we’re talking about testing, creating new PPE, and developing a vaccine.
But, here’s the truth. 1/
But, here’s the truth. 1/
Public health is about doing the right things at the right time. You don’t get credit for a testing strategy if millions couldn’t get tested when they needed it. You don’t get credit for creating PPE in Oct if health workers were dying because they lacked N95s in April. 2/
You certainly don’t get credit for a vaccine if you rush an untested candidate to market in order to score political points, and in so doing undermine public trust in vaccines. 3/ https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/05/health/covid-19-vaccine-willingness-cnn-poll-wellness/index.html">https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/0...
Trump & Pence have consistently done the wrong thing at the wrong time. They didn’t embrace masks early enough (and still haven’t fully). They didn’t use the DPA to surge PPE production before the 1st wave. And they pushed states to reopen too soon, resulting in more deaths. 4/
Public health isn’t just about management: it’s also about leadership. It requires using the power of one’s voice and one’s example - and the example set by Trump and Pence has consistently been poor. 5/ https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/05/03/849856919/pence-i-should-have-worn-a-mask-when-visiting-the-mayo-clinic">https://www.npr.org/sections/...
Public health is about being clear-eyed in the face of sometimes sobering data so that you can continuously improve. Unfortunately, this past week has shown that Trump/Pence can’t even be clear-eyed about their own health & safety, let alone yours. 6/ https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/34-people-connected-white-house-previously-infected-coronavirus/story?id=73487381">https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/...
When new health threats emerge - whether HIV, ebola, or coronavirus - good leaders identify the most effective tools that science can muster and they apply them. They do what works now, rather than waiting for a cure or overhyping unproven therapies. 7/ https://www.rollcall.com/2020/10/06/trumps-antibody-drug-out-of-reach-for-all-but-rare-cases/">https://www.rollcall.com/2020/10/0...
9 months into this crisis, Trump & Pence are still just talking about the pieces of a plan.
What Americans need now are leaders who can mount a cohesive response at the right time.
@JoeBiden and @KamalaHarris are those leaders. This is their time. #VoteTrumpOut. 8/8
What Americans need now are leaders who can mount a cohesive response at the right time.
@JoeBiden and @KamalaHarris are those leaders. This is their time. #VoteTrumpOut. 8/8