To the surprise of essentially no one — the Trump Administration actively interferred and inhibited the CDC response to the COVID outbreak potentially putting millions of Americans art dire risk.
A massive, bombshell report published Friday by the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis reveals the Trump administration engaged in "unprecedented political interference" in the work of scientific experts, including at CDC, and "was responsible for a series of critical failures that undermined the nation’s ability to respond effectively to the coronavirus pandemic."
One heading from the 46-page report reads: "The Trump Administration’s Persistent Political Interference in the Pandemic Response Contributed to One of the Worst Failures of Leadership in American History."
In a devastating revelation the report adds that "Trump Administration officials purposefully weakened" CDC's "testing guidance to reduce the amount of testing being conducted and obscure how rapidly the virus was spreading across the country."
The Select Committee finds administration officials "championed a dangerous 'herd immunity' strategy inside the White House—including by arranging a roundtable event between then-President Trump and a fringe group of herd immunity proponents—that would have placed millions of lives at risk."
It alleges it has new evidence showing that "Trump White House officials blocked CDC briefings and media appearances, and attempted to sidestep CDC in finalizing coronavirus guidance. The Select Subcommittee also uncovered evidence showing that Trump White House officials neglected the pandemic response to focus on the 2020 presidential election and promote the Big Lie that the election results were fraudulent."
Yeah, it was like we thought it was.
Continued…
But the Trump administration's failures date back to the very beginning of the pandemic, the reports reveals, with the administration ignoring warnings from its own officials to obtain critical supplies including PPE (personal protective equipment) which ultimately led to medical professionals including doctors and nurses being forced to wear trash bags and reuse medical-grade face masks for days and weeks at a time.
The report often avoids accusing specific individuals but in one damning example it says career scientists were "instructed to destroy evidence of political interference."
A "CDC official confirmed...she was instructed to destroy evidence of political interference by a Trump Administration political appointee. The CDC official told the Select Subcommittee that she understood this instruction—which 'seemed unusual' and made her 'uncomfortable'—came from then-CDC Director [Robert] Redfield
Look, when you’re a public official you are being trusted to keep the public interest first and foremost — not your own personal issues, not your political aspirations.
The Trump Administration violated this trust. They betrayed their oaths and betrayed the American people. The left us and medical professional high-and-dry because of their malfeasance, corruption and incompetence.
Friday, Dec 17, 2021 · 10:20:43 PM +00:00
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Frank Vyan Walton
Let’s also recall that Dr. Birx has stated that Trump himself was responsible for approx 300,000 additional Covid deaths during his tenure.
In a new CNN documentary set to air on Sunday night, Birx said the initial wave of deaths caused by covid-19 in the US were mostly unpreventable, but the majority of deaths following the first 100,000 “could have been mitigated or decreased substantially.”
“I look at it this way: The first time, we have an excuse. There were about 100,000 deaths that came from that original surge,” Birx said. “All of the rest of them, in my mind, could have been mitigated or decreased substantially.”