Yesterday, Reuters reported that the Trump administration appointed a former Labradoodle breeder to lead the task force responsible for responding to the rise of coronavirus cases in the United States.
In response, Coronavirus War Room Director Zac Petkanas issued the following statement:
“We now have a much clearer picture of why the United States fell behind other nations in the fight against coronavirus, especially in regards to testing. During the crucial month of February, Trump just didn’t take the virus seriously enough to put a qualified medical or logistics expert in charge of the response.
“Instead, President Trump’s team appointed a former Labradoodle dog breeder with no public health experience to lead the coronavirus task force during what we now call the ‘lost month of February’.
“During this period, the United States significantly lagged behind other nations like South Korea in testing which allowed the virus to get out of control. The result is tens of thousands of Americans who have lost their lives and at least 26 million people who have lost their jobs.
“It didn’t need to be this way. Instead of downplaying the crisis and misleading the public, Trump could have sought out the top experts in the world to help prepare our nation and take decisive action to stop the virus from spreading more rapidly.
“Unfortunately, nothing indicates that Trump has learned from his past failures. All we see today is the same impulsive, erratic and chaotic decision-making that got us into this mess instead of the steady, clear-headed leadership we need.”
BACKGROUND:
January 21st: HHS Secretary Alex Azar Picked Brian Harrison, A Former Dog Breeder, To Lead The Day-To-Day Response To COVID-19. “While coronavirus in Wuhan, China, was ‘potentially serious,’ Azar assured viewers in America, it ‘was one for which we have a playbook.’ Azar’s initial comments misfired on two fronts. Like many U.S. officials, from President Donald Trump on down, he underestimated the pandemic’s severity. He also overestimated his agency’s preparedness. As is now widely known, two agencies Azar oversaw as HHS secretary, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration, wouldn’t come up with viable tests for five and half weeks, even as other countries and the World Health Organization had already prepared their own. Shortly after his televised comments, Azar tapped a trusted aide with minimal public health experience to lead the agency’s day-to-day response to COVID-19. The aide, Brian Harrison, had joined the department after running a dog-breeding business for six years. Five sources say some officials in the White House derisively called him ‘the dog breeder.’” [Reuters, 4/21/20]
The Department Of Health And Human Services Under Azar Was Slow To Alert The Public About Threat Of COVID-19, Failed To Produce Testing And Ignored Pleas For Personal Protective Equipment. “Azar’s optimistic public pronouncement and choice of an inexperienced manager are emblematic of his agency’s oft-troubled response to the crisis. His HHS is a behemoth department, overseeing almost every federal public health agency in the country, with a $1.3 trillion budget that exceeds the gross national product of most countries. Azar and his top deputies oversaw health agencies that were slow to alert the public to the magnitude of the crisis, to produce a test to tell patients if they were sick, and to provide protective masks to hospitals even as physicians pleaded for them.” [Reuters, 4/21/20]
Azar’s And Harrison’s Inability To Produce Testing And Medical Supplies Put Hospitals At Greater Risk. “The first test created by the CDC, meant to be used by other labs, was plagued by a glitch that rendered it useless and wasn’t fixed for weeks. It wasn’t until March that tests by other labs went into production. The lack of tests ‘limited hospitals’ ability to monitor the health of patients and staff,’ the HHS Inspector General said in a report this month. The equipment shortage ‘put staff and patients at risk.’” [Reuters, 4/21/20]
Brian Harrison Has No Formal Education In Public Health, Management Or Medicine. “Harrison, 37, was an unusual choice, with no formal education in public health, management, or medicine and with only limited experience in the fields. In 2006, he joined HHS in a one-year stint as a ‘Confidential Assistant’ to Azar, who was then deputy secretary. He also had posts working for Vice President Dick Cheney, the Department of Defense and a Washington public relations company. Before joining the Trump Administration in January 2018, Harrison’s official HHS biography says, he ‘ran a small business in Texas.’ The biography does not disclose the name or nature of that business, but his personal financial disclosure forms show that from 2012 until 2018 he ran a company called Dallas Labradoodles.” [Reuters, 4/21/20]