Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., ripped President Donald Trump, saying the “administration has been caught “flat-footed” by the outbreak of the coronavirus.
Schumer made his remarks while speaking on the Senate floor on Tuesday. A video of Schumer’s speech was posted on his Facebook page.
“The coronavirus has already spread to 30 countries, including South Korea, Italy, Iran, and 53 confirmed cases here in the United States,” he said. “Officials at the World Health Organization are now warning world governments to begin preparing for a “pandemic”— a pandemic.
“But here in the United States, the Trump administration has been caught flat-footed. The administration has no plan to deal with the coronavirus — no plan — and seemingly no urgency to develop one. Even now, after the virus has already become a worldwide health crisis with rapidly growing economic risk, the Trump administration is scrambling to respond."
“The harsh fact of the matter is the Trump administration has shown towering and dangerous incompetence when it comes to the coronavirus.”
He called the administration’s emergency budget request to deal with the outbreak “too little and too late.”
He outlined steps said the White House should take to combat the outbreak, including appointing a “czar” to implement “a real plan to manage the coronavirus. And he said delivery of diagnostic testing kits must be expedited to all 50 states.
“Mr. President, you need to get your act together now,” he said. “This is a crisis. We need you to act.”
Trump blasted the minority leader on Tuesday, calling him “cryin’ Chuck Schumer” and incompetent over his criticism.
The White House on Monday sent lawmakers a budget request for $2.5 billion to address the deadly outbreak.
Jeffrey Rodack ✉
Jeffrey Rodack, who has nearly a half century in news as a senior editor and city editor for national and local publications, has covered politics for Newsmax for nearly seven years.
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