[ad_1]
WASHINGTON (AP) – A former adviser to Vice President Mike Pence, who served on the White House coronavirus task force, says President Donald Trump once suggested that COVID-19 could be a good thing because it would prevent him from getting You shake hands with “gross” people. “
Olivia Troye is the latest former member of the Trump administration to speak out against her and urge voters to deny her a second term. She joins a growing list that includes Miles Taylor, former Chief of Staff of the Department of Homeland Security and former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci.
Trump said Thursday he did not know Troye, who was Pence’s national security adviser.
In a video posted Thursday by the Republican Voters Against Trump group, Troye says working for Trump was “scary” and says he was more concerned about his reelection chances than protecting the nation from the virus.
“The truth is that he doesn’t care about anyone but himself,” he says.
Troye alleges that, during a task force meeting he attended, the president said: “’Maybe this COVID thing is a good thing. I don’t like to shake people’s hands. I don’t have to shake hands with these disgusting people. ‘
“Those disgusting people are the same people he says he cares about. These are the people who continue to attend his rallies today and who have total faith in who he is, “he says, insisting,” if the president had taken this virus seriously, or if he had really gone out of his way to say how serious it was. It would have slowed the spread of the virus, it would have saved lives. “
When asked about Troye as he was leaving the White House Thursday night for a campaign rally in Wisconsin, Trump said he had no idea who Troye is.
“He worked for the vice president. She was in the task force as some kind of a lower level person. I have no idea who she is, ”Trump told reporters. “As far as I know, I never met her. Maybe she was in a room. I have no idea who she is. She doesn’t know me. She’s just another person leaving, and whether it’s CNN or Washington Post, saying negative things.”
Trump said he had been told about the “most beautiful farewell letter” written by Troye.
“She wrote a beautiful letter as I understand it, a letter praising the administration,” Trump said. “But then people get in touch with her and say, ‘Let’s say some bad things about Donald Trump.’
The vice president’s office posted a copy of Troye’s outgoing email, dated July 23, and addressed “Dear Task Force Members.” Pence chairs the task force. Troye opened the letter with praise for her dedication and commitment to “doing the right thing.”
Troye, a longtime Republican, said she plans to vote for Trump’s Democratic challenger Joe Biden in November.
The White House flatly denied the exchange Troye described, and White House spokesman Judd Deere said “his claims are unrealistic and totally inaccurate.”
Additionally, she dismissed Troye as being “disgusted” and said that she generally observed task force meetings from an overflowing staff room and was never in private meetings with the president.
“Em. Troye is a former detainee and a member of the Department of Homeland Security career staff, who is upset that her detail was interrupted because she was no longer able to keep up with her daily duties,” added Keith Kellogg, Pence Homeland Security advisor, who said Troye reported him and never expressed concern about the management’s response.
Pence also declined and said he had not read his comments “but it seems to me that he is a more disgruntled employee who has decided to do politics during the election year.
“I could not be more proud of the work we have done,” he added.
Trump himself told journalist Bob Woodward in recorded interviews that he intentionally downplayed the virus in public comments even though he was fully aware of the danger it posed. He also describes himself as germophobic and denounced the practice of shaking hands before running for office.
Republican Voters Against Trump is one of several groups trying to persuade Republicans and others who once supported the president to vote for Biden.
“Never before have so many high-ranking staff members of a sitting president opposed his reelection and supported his opponent,” Sarah Longwell, strategic director of Republican Voters Against Trump, said in a statement.
