Former President Trump and other White House officials were “distracted” by the 2020 election and prioritized campaigning over any COVID-19 mitigation strategies, the administration’s former coronavirus adviser Deborah Birx told House investigators earlier this month.
In excerpts from closed-door testimony conducted Oct. 12-13 by the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis shared with The Hill, Birx said she felt the White House focus on campaigning took people’s time away and distracted them from focusing on the pandemic.
“I felt like the White House had gotten somewhat complacent through the campaign season, and I wanted to make sure that as soon as everyone was back the day after the election, that people would comprehensively reengage,” Birx told the panel.
Birx said the administration’s resistance to promoting basic public health mitigation resulted in more than 100,000 avoidable deaths. She said former President Trump did not do everything he could to try to stop the spread of the virus and save lives.
“I believe if we had fully implemented the mask mandates, the reduction in indoor dining, the getting friends and family to understand the risk of gathering in private homes, and we had increased testing, that we probably could have decreased fatalities into the 30 percent less to 40 percent less range,” Birx said.
More than 735,000 Americans have died from COVID-19, including more than 300,000 since President Biden took office.
Administration officials were not present at the White House, and nobody was holding consistent COVID-19 meetings, Birx said. Instead, they were traveling across the country to campaign.
“They were actively campaigning and not as present in the White House as previously,” Birx said.
During the summer of 2020, Birx left Washington and began meeting with state and local leaders to discuss mask-wearing, physical distancing and other mitigation measures she said Trump did not want her speaking about to the American public from the White House podium.
Birx told the House panel that the White House was not in sync with its messaging, and she was frustrated that her warnings continued to be ignored.
“Do I think that we could have done more on unified messaging coming out of the White House? Do I think we could have done more on — very early on showing the efficacy of masks? Yes. And I think that would have decreased the confusion,” Birx said.
……..
- Discussion
-
Birx tells Congress Trump White House prioritized election over pandemic response https://t.co/KUAwFZRR29 pic.twitter.com/ApU8FQFwAs
— The Hill (@thehill) October 26, 2021
I think we all knew this. Trump was desperate to be re-elected, lest one or more of the criminal proceedings would result in conviction. Trump did not want to go to prison and he still doesn’t, which is why he is eager to run in 2024.
The pandemic was crippling his once robust economy, which he touted as the primary achievement of his presidency. Hence, his rush to return to normal as quickly as possible. This, coupled with his refusal to listen to sound medical advice from real experts, his lies about the virus, his promotion of fake cures and his refusal to get the vaccines to the people all caused or contributed to his re-election defeat last November and the deaths of hundreds of thousands from COVID.
It’s now 2021 and Trump is still trying to kill more people with the virus. He has embraced COVID as a way to destroy the Biden presidency, setting the stage for Trump’s triumphant return as savior of America. Alas, like the January 6 coup attempt or any of the other criminal matters against him, I doubt Trump will ever be convicted of genocide and it’s still possible he could be president again. The failure of congress, courts and prosecutors to protect us from this evil man is astounding.
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.