Obama Cabinet Tried To Warn Trump About Pandemic Preparations Nearly 4 Years Ago

Former DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson said that the Obama cabinet tried to warn the incoming Trump cabinet about preparing for a pandemic nearly 4 years ago.

Johnson said on MSNBC:

This pandemic we’re facing right now is a once in a century, unprecedented crisis, but not unpredictable. And we’ve got a taste of the future with the ebola crisis in the fall of 2014. And so the risk of a lethal virus spreading globally like this has been something that has been and should be uppermost on the minds of DHS officials, health officials across the U.S. Government.

And, in fact, when the outgoing Obama administration cabinet sat down and met with the incoming Trump administration cabinet on Friday, January 13th, one of the very few things we discussed was how to respond to a lethal pandemic like this.

Trump ignored warnings about the coronavirus from the nation’s intelligence agencies for months. He and his administration ignored the warnings about a potential pandemic from the outgoing Obama administration years ago.

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The coronavirus wasn’t something that happened out of the blue. The Trump administration had ample warning and did nothing. The economy is in a state of collapse. The nation is dealing with a once in a century public health crisis because Trump and his administration ignored the warnings that could have lessened the illness and pain that is being inflicted on the nation.

Jason Easley

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