'Incompetent and incoherent': Fox News guest slams Trump official for dodging coronavirus questions
‘Having heard that conversation you just had scares me terribly’
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A doctor and former Trump administration official on Fox News has slammed a White House coronavirus task force official for refusing to answer whether the US health system will have enough ventilators to respond to the growing threat of the epidemic in coming weeks and months as the virus spreads.
The doctor, Michael Osterholm, had just watched a clip with the cable network’s host Tucker Carlson, who had asked Seema Verma about the ventilators.
Ms Verma — who had likewise dodged questions like those in interviews on other news networks — did not provide a definitive answer to the question on American preparedness, even as concerns have been raised that the COVID-19 could overwhelm the American health system.
“Let me just make a comment that I’ve never made in a public interview before. I’ve served in the last five presidential administrations, just most recently as a science envoy for the State Department in the Trump administration,” Dr Osterholm said.
He continued: “And I have to say, having heard that conversation you just had scares me terribly. That was one of the most incompetent and absolutely incoherent responses to what’s going on right now. And I take no assurance from what I just heard that somebody is in charge in [Health and Human Services] right now in this level with this issue.”
Dr Osterholm said that the US is “terribly underprepared” for the virus outbreak, which has infected at least 2,177 people across the country.
“We’re in a fight against this virus. We don’t have time for double talk. We need straight talk,” he said.
Donald Trump on Friday declared a national emergency to address the outbreak, and has implemented a ban on Europeans travelling to the United States for the coming month.
In response to criticism that the US has failed to provide adequate testing for the virus while other countries have implemented widespread efforts to identify it, Mr Trump also announced that Americans in the hardest hit areas would have access to drive-thru testing in the coming weeks.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments