Gen. Russel Honore, the official who led the federal effort after Hurricane Katrina, described Trump’s coronavirus response slow and indecisive.
Gen. Honore said on MSNBC, “I don’t know if it’s a rating, but it’s a description. Slow and not decisive. And it’s hard to get the speed you need to save lives if you’re slow at making decisions and you’re not decisive. That being said, we are facing an invisible enemy. That we’re not quite sure how bad it is. So in that regards, the things they have to do is going to be a little bit harder. But we’ve got models that we’ve been having for years that would show from day one, patient number one out in Washington, in 30 days, projected number of people that might be infected. I don’t know why they’re not using that information. But they also could have done better and can do better.”
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Gen. Russel Honoré characterized Trump's action on the coronavirus as slow and indecisive. pic.twitter.com/2rjbE3oKHt
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— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) March 17, 2020
The General said that he was offering observations, not leveling criticism, but he is the person who got the federal Katrina effort together after it was bungled by the Bush administration, so his insight and experience is valuable.
Honore was correct. The administration can’t get back the time that they lost. The federal government is not taking advantage of all of its resources in the face of a national pandemic.
Trump’s indecisive ways have left the country months behind the coronavirus. Stimulus packages can’t stop the damage to the economy, and it is too late to prevent the virus from spreading.
Trump and his Republicans are closing the barn door long after the pandemic has left the barn.
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