Pelosi: Trump coronavirus missteps 'caused unnecessary death and economic disaster'

David Knowles
·Senior Editor
Updated ·2 min read
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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi released to the public a letter to her Democratic colleagues Tuesday in which she charged President Trump with missteps in handling the coronavirus pandemic that “caused unnecessary death and economic disaster” in the United States.

Pelosi’s letter contained a bullet-pointed list of what she said was “the truth of what has put us in this position.” It included the following items:

  • The truth is that Donald Trump dismantled the infrastructure handed to him which was meant to plan for and overcome a pandemic, resulting in unnecessary deaths and economic disaster.

  • The truth is that in January Donald Trump was warned about this pandemic, ignored those warnings, took insufficient action and caused unnecessary death and economic disaster.

  • The truth is that Donald Trump told his most loyal followers that the pandemic was a hoax and that it would magically disappear, thus endangering lives and paving the way for economic disaster.

  • The truth is that we did not have proper testing available in March despite Trump repeatedly claiming that we did; and even now, we do not have adequate tests, masks, PPE, and necessary equipment, which creates unnecessary death and suffering.

  • The truth is because of an incompetent reaction to this health crisis, the strong economy handed to Donald Trump is now a disaster, causing the suffering of countless Americans and endangering lives.

  • The truth is a weak person, a poor leader, takes no responsibility. A weak person blames others.

Pelosi’s letter came as Trump presided over a Rose Garden briefing of his coronavirus task force, at which he announced a halt to U.S. funding for the World Health Organization, asserting the U.S. pays more than its fair share to support the body, which he said failed to provide adequate warning about the coronavirus. Trump, who the day before had asserted his “total” authority over reopening the economy, said he would “work with the governors” on lifting social distancing orders in the coming months.

“The governors are going to do a job and if they don’t do a good job we’re going to come down on them very hard. We’ll have no other choice,” he said.

To date, more than 605,000 Americans have tested positive for COVID-19, and more than 25,000 have died from the disease.

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Click here for the latest coronavirus news and updates. According to experts, people over 60 and those who are immunocompromised continue to be the most at risk. If you have questions, please refer to the CDC’s and WHO’s resource guides.

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