State Sen. Douglas Mastriano, R-Pa., told Newsmax TV on Tuesday that President Joe Biden’s nominee for Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services, Rachel Levine, "has a terrible failed record," and should not be confirmed.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki defended Levine on Tuesday from criticism over senior deaths in Pennsylvania nursing homes from COVID-19, saying "it does not sound at all to me like her scenario is similar to the scenario in New York," where Gov. Andrew Cuomo. D-N.Y., is under fire over deaths in nursing homes during the pandemic.
Mastriano told "The National Report," "I'm not surprised Jen Psaki had a circle back, try to figure out a reason why Levine should be appointed because I can't think of a reason why Levine should be appointed to this position of trust at the U.S. government. You know, the bottom line is Levine was a failed secretary of health, and this double standard we see here, I can't imagine what would happen if this was a Republican governor, they crucified. But since this is a Democrat governor, Democrat of secretary health, you know, it is very similar to New York state."
He added, "We still don't have the data from 100 homes in the state. You wonder why they're concealing that from us, and you see the hypocrisy and duplicity when Levine knew the dangers, snuck mommy out of the home to keep mom alive. But what about the rest of Pennsylvania's moms and dads? It's just absolutely travesty."
Mastriano said later that despite opposition from Republicans, Levine will likely be confirmed by the Senate.
"Sadly, I do believe that the unity of the Democrat Party will blow the bean right through this whole process here, but we gotta put aside this partisan politics nonsense because Levin is not qualified. Levine has a terrible, failed record, more than half of all of the deaths, 12,600 deaths of our elderly in the homes, as a result of this failed policy, and this is somebody unfit for office," he said.
"We could care less who the person is, or what they want to do, but we have to look at the record, and the record [shows] Levin here has been dangerous. Levine's boss, of course, will be Xavier Beccera, who likewise is unfit for office, has no experience in health and human services, and was a failed attorney general of California. So what we're seeing here clearly is political payback rather than confidence."
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Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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