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The Trump administration’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic has been an “absolute chaotic disaster,” former President Barack Obama said Friday.
President Trump’s predecessor blamed the current occupant of the Oval Office and his allies for exacerbating “tribal” tensions across the country, which he said has hampered the effort to reduce the total number of cases across the country.
Yahoo News obtained the audio of the web call in which Obama spoke.
“What we are fighting against is against these long-term trends where being selfish, being tribal, being divided, and seeing others as enemies has become a stronger drive in American life,” the president said.
‘And by the way, we are also seeing it internationally.
Part It is part of the reason why the response to this global crisis has been so anemic and irregular.
Former President Barack Obama (left) criticized President Trump’s (right) handling of the COVID-19 pandemic as an “absolute chaotic disaster”
‘It would have been bad even with the best governments.
“It has been an absolutely chaotic mess when that mindset – of” what’s in it for me “and” to screw everyone else “- when that mindset becomes operational in our government.”
Obama added: “So I, by the way, am going to spend as much time as necessary and campaign for Joe Biden as much as possible.”
There are currently more than 1.3 million coronavirus cases and 78,000 deaths in the US. USA
Except for campaign speeches during the 2018 midterm elections, the former president has remained silent since Trump took office and replaced him after defeating Hillary Clinton in 2016.
Obama’s comments about the Trump administration’s handling of the pandemic were a much sharper attack on his successor.
Last month, Obama offered veiled criticism of Trump about the COVID-19 crisis, alleging that there was no “coherent national plan” to address the outbreak.
“As we continue to wait for a coherent national plan to navigate this pandemic, states like Massachusetts are beginning to adopt their own public health plans to combat this virus, before it is too late,” the former president tweeted.
Obama used the tweet to launch an attack on the president, but he also praised Massachusetts for its response to the pandemic with a New York article titled: It is not too late to commit an offense against the coronavirus.
As various states continue to regret that they do not have the supplies to administer enough tests, some have taken matters into their own hands.
On April 22, Obama launched a veiled attack on Trump without using the president’s name, alleging that there is no ‘coherent national plan’ for the coronavirus response
Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker launched a plan for large-scale testing across the state, which will be used to implement effective quarantine and treatment systems.
The state was able to increase the number of tests administered from just 41 on March 9 to more than 8,000 before April 17.
Obama also attacked his successor in late March when Trump signed the CARES Act to provide $ 2.2 trillion in economic stimulus and relief for Americans and small businesses.
“We have seen horribly the consequences of those who denied warnings of a pandemic,” the two-term Democrat tweeted last month.
Obama also praised Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker’s (left) response to the virus, and in his tweet linked to an article about the state that dramatically increases its testing capabilities.
‘We cannot afford more consequences of climate denial. All of us, especially young people, have to better demand our government at all levels and vote this fall, ” he continued at the time.
This electoral year has been changed by the pandemic. With no vaccine in sight and increasing the number of cases, some states have gradually reopened their economies, while others have maintained a blockade.
The Trump administration has been scrutinized for its response to the pandemic.
Reports in various media outlets indicated that Trump downplayed the severity of the coronavirus even when his own experts urged him to take it seriously.
Senior Trump administration officials such as Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and trade adviser Peter Navarro reportedly raised the alarm about a pandemic that hit the U.S. coast in late January, but the president He ignored the warnings.
Critics said the valuable time lost could have been used to scale up tests and provide medical professionals with adequate supplies of personal protective equipment to better cope with the pandemic.
Trump has also been criticized for mixed messages: promoting social distancing and preventive measures, on the one hand, but then urging his supporters to ‘liberate’ the states through mass protests on the other.
The President has also made comments that have provoked ridicule and contempt from the public, including his suggestion that cleaning disinfectants could be ingested into the body to treat COVID-19.
Trump, for his part, has claimed that his decision to close travel from China saved lives, although the administration has allowed flights from China that carry U.S. citizens and legal residents to continue to land in the country.
Island Harvest Food Bank workers working in conjunction with the Nourish New York initiative distribute locally produced products to people in need of food assistance in Massapequa, New York on Friday
The record unemployment rate reported on Friday captured the grief of a nation where tens of millions of jobs suddenly disappeared, devastating the economy and forcing Trump to overcome historic headwinds to win a second term.
Just a few months ago, Trump planned to campaign for reelection in the wake of a robust economy.
That’s a distant memory after more than 20 million jobs were lost in April, leading to an unemployment rate of 14.7 percent, the highest since the Great Depression.
There is no parallel in US history. USA For the sudden or severe economic collapse, which is devastating some states that are crucial to Trump’s victory.
The President is now tasked with convincing voters that the catastrophic job losses were the result of the pandemic, not his management of the public health crisis.
He also argues that he deserves another chance to rebuild what the virus destroyed.
“What I can do: I will bring him back,” Trump told Fox News on Friday.
‘It is completely expected. No surprise Everyone knows that.
“Even Democrats don’t blame me for that.”
Recovering jobs quickly won’t be easy.
Previous statistics show that unemployment reached 25% in 1933 during the Great Depression.
A broader estimate of unemployment from the April jobs report suggests the rate could be almost as high now, as the 14.7 percent rate does not include people who left the workforce or still consider themselves employees despite not to work.
But the efforts necessary to contain the spread of the coronavirus have caused a much faster job loss than during the 1930s.
The decision to bury the CDC’s reopening report in the United States “came from the highest levels of the White House,” which then ordered its approval be approved quickly after the report emerged.
The decision to archive detailed advice from the nation’s top disease control experts to reopen communities during the coronavirus pandemic came from the highest levels of the White House, according to internal government emails obtained by The Associated Press.
Experts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention spent weeks working on a report titled ‘Guidance for Implementing the Opening Up America Again Framework’, which was researched and written to assist religious leaders, business owners, educators and state and local officials as they begin to reopen
The report included detailed ‘decision trees’ or flow charts intended to help people determine whether they should reopen their business locations or continue to keep them closed.
Experts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention spent weeks working on a report titled ‘Guidance on Implementing the Opening Up America Again Framework’. Emails obtained by The Associated Press show that CDC Director Robert Redfield (right) signed the report, but was still buried by “the highest levels of the White House.”
The report (part of which is shown above) was designed to assist religious leaders, business owners, educators, and state and local officials as they begin to reopen. The CDC repeatedly chased the White House to sign the report, but appeared to be blocked for weeks.
White House spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany said Friday that parts of the report had not been approved by CDC Director Robert Redfield. The new emails, however, show that Redfield deleted the guide.
Despite this, the administration filed the report on April 30.
As early as April 10, Redfield, who is also a member of the White House coronavirus task force, e-mailed the guidance and decision trees with President Donald Trump’s inner circle, including his son-in-law Jared Kushner, the chief advisor Kellyanne Conway. and Joseph Grogan, assistant to the president of internal politics.
Dr Deborah Birx, Dr Anthony Fauci and other members of the working group were also included.
Three days later, CDC’s top management sent the 60-plus page report with attached flowcharts to the White House Office of Management and Budget, a step usually taken only when agencies seek final approval from the White House for documents they have already approved.
The 17-page version later published by The Associated Press and other media was only part of the actual document presented by the CDC, and was directed at specific facilities such as bars and restaurants.
The Associated Press obtained a copy Friday of the entire document. That version is a more universal series of tiered guidelines, ‘Steps for All Americans in All Communities,’ aimed at advising communities as a whole on testing, contact tracing, and other critical infection control measures.
On April 24, Redfield e-mailed the guidance documents to Birx and Grogan, according to a copy seen by The Associated Press.
Redfield asked Birx and Grogan for their review so that the CDC could publish the guide publicly.
Guidance documents and associated decision trees, including one for meat packing plants, were attached to the Redfield email.
President Donald Trump talks about the coronavirus in the James Brady Press Press Room of the White House in Washington, while Dr. Deborah Birx, coordinator of response to the coronavirus of the White House, listens (file photo)
“We plan to post them on the CDC website once they are approved,” Redfield wrote.
Redfield’s e-mailed comments contradict the White House’s claim Thursday that it had not yet approved the guidelines because the CDC leadership itself had not yet given them the green light.
Two days later, on April 26, the CDC had not yet received a word from the administration, according to internal communications.
Robert McGowan, the CDC chief of staff who was guiding the orientation through the White House Office of Management and Budget, emailed for an update.
“We need them as soon as possible so we can publish them,” he wrote to Nancy Beck, an OMB staff member.
Beck said he was awaiting review by the White House Directors Committee, a group of senior White House officials.
‘They must be approved before they can move forward. WH directors are in contact with the working group, so the working group should know the status, ‘Beck wrote to McGowan.
President Trump and Robert Redfield appear together at the White House on April 22. At the same time, CDC employees repeatedly asked the White House to approve its 60-page report on the reopening of the United States.
Redfield’s e-mailed comments contradict the White House’s claim Thursday that it had not yet approved the guidelines because the CDC leadership itself had not yet given them the green light. Redfield is shown in a file photo
The following day, April 27, OMB’s Satya Thallam sent the CDC a similar response: ‘The guidance document for the reopening and the decision tree documents were sent to a committee of directors in the west wing on Sunday. We have received no news about specific times for your consideration.
“ However, I am conveying your message: they have given strict and explicit instructions that these documents have not yet been erased and cannot be released at this time, this includes related press statements or other communications that may preview content or timing. of the orientations. ‘
According to the documents, the CDC continued to ask for days about the guidance officials expected to publish before Friday, May 1, the day Trump had targeted to reopen some businesses, according to a source who was granted anonymity because he did not they were allowed to speak. to the press.
On April 30, CDC documents were killed forever.
The agency had not heard any specific criticism from either the White House Directors Committee or the coronavirus task force in days, so officials requested an update.
‘The guide should be more cross-cutting and say when they should reopen and how to keep people safe. Fundamentally, the Task Force clarified this for further development, but not for its release, ‘Quinn Hirsch, a staff member in the White House Office of Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), wrote in an email to the parent agency of CDC, the Department of Health and Human Services.
The White House has now asked CDC to resubmit the report after The Associated Press released a report alleging that the White House had blocked the 60-page document.
The CDC staff working at the orientation decided to try again.
The administration had already launched its Opening Up America Again Plan, and time was ticking. CDC staff thought that if they could get their reopening advice, it would help communities do so with detailed expert help.
But hours later, on April 30, CDC Chief of Staff McGowan told CDC staff that neither the guidance documents nor decision trees “would see the light of day,” according to three officials who declined to be named. because they were not authorized. to talk to journalists.
The next day, May 1, the emails showed, a CDC staff member was told, ‘We weren’t even allowed to publish decision trees. We had the team (exhausted as they are) retired. ”
The CDC’s guidance was archived until May 7.
That morning, The Associated Press reported that the Trump administration had buried the guide, even as many states had begun allowing companies to reopen.
After the story was released, the White House called the CDC and ordered them to re-file all decision trees except one that pointed to churches. An email obtained by the AP confirmed that the agency forwarded the documents Thursday night, hours after the news.
“Attached to today’s earlier application are decision trees previously submitted to both OIRA and WH Task Force, minus faith tree communities,” the email reads.
The CDC report provided information for business owners on when it was safe to reopen. Photo Shows: Tennessee barber Greg Smith is pictured at work on Wednesday.
Two pages of 60 pages are shown ‘Guidance for Implementing the Opening Up America Again Framework’
White House spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany said Friday that parts of the report had not been approved by CDC Director Robert Redfield. However, new emails obtained by The Associated Press contradict his claim.
‘Please let us know if / when / how we can proceed from here.
The United States has the highest number of coronavirus cases in the world with 1.31 million, as well as the highest number of deaths.
CDC listens daily to state and county health departments for scientifically valid information with which to make informed decisions. Behind the scenes, CDC scientists are working to bring information to local governments.
The agency employs hundreds of the world’s most respected epidemiologists and doctors, who in times of crisis are wanted for their expertise, said former CDC director Tom Frieden. People have clicked on the CDC coronavirus website more than 1.2 billion times.
States that communicate directly with CDC can access the guidance that has been prepared, but has not yet been published by the White House.
“I don’t think any state feels the CDC is lacking. It’s just the process of taking things out, ” Plescia said.
The news comes when it is revealed that 11 members of the United States Secret Service recently tested positive for COVID-19, while another 23 recovered from the disease.
According to the Department of Homeland Security document obtained by Yahoo News, some 60 employees of the agency tasked with protecting President Trump and other top government officials are currently in quarantine due to the outbreak.
Meanwhile, Mike Pence’s press secretary Katie Miller tested positive for the virus on Friday. She had been in recent contact with the vice president. Miller is married Stephen Miller, one of Trump’s top advisers.
The positive test for Katie Miller came a day after White House officials confirmed that a member of the military serving as one of Trump’s valets had tested positive for COVID-19.
The Trump valet case marked the first known case in which a person who has approached the president has tested positive since several people present at his private Florida club were diagnosed with COVID-19 in early March.
The valet tested positive on Wednesday.
The White House was moving to shore up its protection protocols to protect the nation’s political leaders.
Trump said some employees who interact closely with him would now be evaluated daily.
Pence told reporters on Thursday that he and Trump would also be screened daily.
