CDC Officials Expose How Trump Administration Has Put Politics Over Science in Coronavirus Response

CDC officials speak out about Trump’s historic mismanagement of the coronavirus crisis: “If we would have acted earlier on what we knew and recommended, we would have saved lives and money.”

A jaw-dropping new report from CNN today finds experts and officials within the CDC criticizing the Trump administration for its incompetent and politically-driven response to the coronavirus — a response that has left more than 90,000 Americans dead, over 1.5 million infected, and 36 million newly out of work.

In the report, a half-dozen CDC employees outline how Trump and the White House have sidelined scientists and let political considerations outweigh the opinions of experts — exacerbating an already chaotic, unprepared, and dysfunctional response by this administration to the greatest public health crisis in a century.

In response to this story, Biden for President Deputy Campaign Manager and Communications Director Kate Bedingfield released the following statement:

From the very beginning of this crisis, Vice President Biden has been adamant that we need to listen to the scientists and experts and that their judgement should inform our response to the coronavirus. Sadly, this report is further proof that Donald Trump has failed to heed Vice President Biden’s warnings and has put politics ahead of the health and financial security of the American people.

We’re in the middle of the greatest public health crisis in a century, but instead of strong and steady leadership from the White House, Trump’s chaotic and erratic response has weakened our ability to stop the spread of this virus and safely re-open our economy.

The bottom line is this: Donald Trump ignored and attacked the experts when they told him to act fast, and now more than 90,000 Americans have already died and we’re facing the highest unemployment levels since the Great Depression. What’s it going to take for Trump to learn to listen to anyone other than his own gut? The American people can’t risk a president who is going to let politics dictate life-or-death decisions, and we can’t afford someone whose whims are allowed to supersede the vital steps we need to take to get our country back to work.