Washington Sen. Patty Murray: White House ‘recklessly interfering’ with COVID response
Sep 16, 2020, 9:43 AM | Updated: 11:22 am
WA Sen. Patty Murray. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
(Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Washington Senator Patty Murray spoke Wednesday morning during a Congressional hearing focused on efforts to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
WA Sen. Patty Murray: White House not taking coronavirus response seriously
Sen. Murray questioned federal health experts about whether the White House has been influencing their guidance, while criticizing the Trump administration’s response to the pandemic.
“Since the beginning of this crisis, President Trump has been spreading inaccuracies and outright lies, and recklessly interfering with the work of our public health agencies for political benefit, showing a dangerous disregard for truth, facts, science, and people’s lives,” Murray said.
Speaking at a Senate committee hearing with @CDCDirector, @HHS_ASH, and @PHEGov about President Trump's failed leadership and damaging political interference in the COVID-19 pandemic response. https://t.co/RxBUAycN3r
— Senator Patty Murray (@PattyMurray) September 16, 2020
“You all deserve leaders who take this crisis seriously, who take action to support and protect you, who arm you with the facts to stay safe. Unfortunately we have yet to see that leadership from the president,” she added.
She went on to call out her Republican colleagues in the Senate, claiming that they “haven’t engaged in serious negotiating or offered serious proposals for additional COVID-19 aid.”
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“This crisis is deadly serious,” Murray said. “It’s long past time (Republicans) work with Democrats to support our communities and stop the Trump Administration’s political meddling.”
This comes in the wake of revelations from a series of interviews reporter Bob Woodward recorded with President Trump, which saw the president admit that he had intentionally played down the threat of COVID-19 in the early days of the pandemic. According to Woodward, “Trump never did seem willing to fully mobilize the federal government and continually seemed to push problems off on the states.”
The president tried to walk back his statements to Woodward on Tuesday during an ABC town hall, claiming that he had instead “up-played” the pandemic.
