Trump falsely blamed Obama and attacked his own CDC as he shows zero presidential leadership in the face of a coronavirus pandemic.
Trump lied about Obama making “changes:”
For decades the @CDCgov looked at, and studied, its testing system, but did nothing about it. It would always be inadequate and slow for a large scale pandemic, but a pandemic would never happen, they hoped. President Obama made changes that only complicated things further…..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 13, 2020
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…. Their response to H1N1 Swine Flu was a full scale disaster, with thousands dying, and nothing meaningful done to fix the testing problem, until now. The changes have been made and testing will soon happen on a very large scale basis. All Red Tape has been cut, ready to go!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 13, 2020
Trump lied about Obama making changes to the CDC. The Obama administration proposed rule changes that were never finalized, which means that they were never implemented.
Here is what Trump didn’t say about the swine flu epidemic. The swine flu was detected in the US in April 2009. By October 2009, vaccinations were being administered. The estimate for the coronavirus is that there will be no vaccine for a year and a half.
The bungled coronavirus response is all of Trump’s creation. The foundation was laid for this kind of disaster when Trump failed to fully staff his administration, and those he did appoint and mostly unqualified for the positions that they hold.
Trump is still searching for a political excuse to absolve himself of the blame for his mishandling of the coronavirus, but this pandemic isn’t Obama’s fault. The bungled US response belongs to Trump.
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Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association