Don't entrust a failed real-estate developer with the federal government's response to a pandemic
As the number of postive COVID-19 cases in the United States continues to climb, states are struggling to get the assistance they need from the federal government. Jared Kusher, the failed real-estate developer President Trump has entrusted to coordinate much of government’s response to the pandemic, isn’t helping. During a press briefing on Thursday, the son-in-law-in-chief argued that the Strategic National Stockpile, which contains a cache emergency medical supplies, is not meant for the use of states.
This makes no sense, obviously, and journalists quickly pointed out that the stockpile’s own website makes clear that its contents are indeed for state use. The backlash presented an obvious solution for the Trump administration: edit the website to align with Kushner’s comments. As journalist Laura Bassett pointed out on Twitter, the official description of the stockpile was amended Friday morning, with before-and-after screenshots indicating that a paragraph about how the stockpile is meant for when “state, local, tribal, and territorial responders request federal assistance to support their response efforts” had been deleted.
Link to tweet
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The Department of Health and Human Services, which manages the stockpile, denied the description was edited in response to Kushner’s comments. “This is language we have been using in our messaging for weeks now,” HHS spokesperson Katherine McKeogh said in a statement provided to Politico, adding that the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response “first began working to update the text a week ago to more clearly explain to state and local agencies and members of the public the role of the [Strategic National Stockpile].”
The stockpile has been a subject of debate as hospitals around the country are running low on equipment necessary to treat COVID-19 patients, most notably breathing ventilators. Trump has insisted the federal government has provided states with all they need to combat the pandemic, while accusing some governors of being ungrateful.
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/national-stockpile-changed-description-jared-kushner-978236/
This shit is going to go down in infamy. They're trying to cover their collective asses but they're going to fail.
Unfortunately many innocent people will be victims of their incompetence.
