Trump Blasted for Rebuking Nurse For Saying PPE Availability Has Been ‘Sporadic’
CNN: Nurse “has been reusing a single N95 mask for ‘a few weeks now.’”
Yesterday at the White House, at a gathering celebrating National Nurses Day that was meant to honor nurses for their work combatting coronavirus, Trump shut down and contradicted a nurse with first-hand knowledge who said that PPE has been “sporadic.”
The nurse, Sophia L. Thomas, said she has been reusing a single N95 mask for “a few weeks now.”
It was yet another attempt by Trump to silence the first responders on the ground pleading with him to fix the dramatic shortages of masks he caused.
Pushback to Trump’s contradiction was swift:
President Of SEIU Mary Kay Henry Emphasized She Talked To Health Care Workers Every Day Who Still Don’t Have Enough Masks Or PPE.
- “Reality check: I talk to RNs, hospital workers, nursing home workers, home care workers every day who say they still don’t have enough masks and other PPE” [Twitter, Mary Kay Henry, 5/6/20]
- “Unbelievable (and infuriating!) that we’re weeks into this and the president and his administration have just decided to walk away from the problem. Time to get serious about getting PPE to #ProtectAllWorkers” [Twitter, Mary Kay Henry, 5/6/20]
Executive Director of the New York State Nurses Association Pat Kane said:
- “Thomas had it right when she said access to personal protective equipment had been “sporadic. Here in New York, the epicenter of the coronavirus, supplies continue to be sporadic in some facilities. In fact, half of our nurses surveyed say their PPE is inadequate to this day.” [New York Daily News, 5/6/20]
New Jersey Representative Bill Pascrell said:
- “On #NationalNursesDay this nurse courageously says in the Oval Office that doctors and nurses are having a hard time obtaining supplies and trump replies by snapping at her and lying about his failures that have killed people.” [Twitter, Bill Pascrell, Jr, 05/06/20]
And CNN’s Chris Cuomo blasted Trump on air for contradicting the nurse:
- “But it is not just sporadic for her, it’s not even what the word means. In pockets all over this country, they don’t have what they need. And for a guy who believes his fate is tied to making this pandemic end, let me ask you: why does he keep denying what it will take to make it go away? Why does he hide from the needs instead of providing for them? Why doesn’t he unite this country behind that desperation of fact instead of dividing?” [CNN, 5/6/20]
The bottom line is that no matter what Trump says, the reality is that he dropped the ball on preparing hospitals with protective equipment and other supplies:
- Trump ignored a 69 page National Security Council playbook that said the Administration should have begun procuring personal protective equipment at least four months ago.
- Trump cut the budget request to buy respirator masks and other supplies for the national stockpile by 75%. On February 5, HHS Secretary Alex Azar requested $2 billion — but Trump slashed that to only $500 million.
- Federal contract records show that Trump waited until mid-March — after hospitals were already out of N95 masks and ventilators — to start bulk ordering crucial medical supplies.
- For three months, Trump allowed US medical supplies to be exported to other countries as our national stockpile became depleted. By March 11, twenty-four other governments had placed restrictions preventing masks and ventilators from leaving their borders.
- As governors pleaded for help securing medical supplies and FEMA poached states’ orders, Trump derided governors when he thought they were asking for too much or not praising him enough.
- Despite well-known shortages of swabs, Trump refused to invoke the Defense Production Act to increase production of testing swabs until April 19th, weeks after shortages were first reported.