Trump now trashing an HHS official for reporting on testing shortages
A government report, based on phone interviews with administrators at 323 hospitals in 46 states, revealed numerous challenges hospitals face in treating those suffering from COVID-19.
Donald Trump escalated his attack on an official in his own administration Tuesday morning after publication of a government report that found hospitals across the nation are facing a severe shortage of COVID-19 testing kits.
At his Monday night press briefing, Trump said the report is “just wrong” and suggested that because it was prepared by an inspector general, it was suspect and suggested that “politics” was a factor in the report.
On Tuesday, Trump further targeted the inspector general who published the report, issued by the Department of Health and Human Services Inspector General’s office.
“Why didn’t the I.G., who spent 8 years with the Obama Administration (Did she Report on the failed H1N1 Swine Flu debacle where 17,000 people died?), want to talk to the Admirals, Generals, V.P. & others in charge, before doing her report,” Trump tweeted. “Another Fake Dossier!”
The HHS Inspector General’s office did in fact release a report on local plans for responding to a pandemic in September 2009, under Obama.
Christi A. Grimm, the inspector general Trump is attacking, was appointed to her position in January 2020. She did serve in the Obama administration. She also served in the George W. Bush administration.
In 2019, Grimm received an award for excellence in management from the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency, an independent body within the executive branch. She received the award, according to the citation, for her “outstanding management efforts to revolutionize HHS OIG’s work planning process.”
The HHS report Trump is now baselessly calling “fake” and “wrong” was based on phone interviews with administrators at 323 hospitals in 46 states and revealed numerous challenges hospitals are facing beyond testing shortages, including a lack of personal protective equipment for nurses and doctors to stay safe while treating COVID-19 patients.
Hospital staff told the IG’s office that the “lack of a robust supply chain was delaying or preventing them from restocking” such equipment.
The report also found that many administrators are worried about a lack of ventilators in the future as the number of cases continues to increase.
Trump has not provided any evidence for his claims that the report is wrong.
Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.
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