Chuck Todd went right to the crux of the Trump Administration’s most glaring inadequacy with this question.
CHUCK TODD:
Do you believe governors are not activating their testing capacity? I mean, these governors have said they'd love to enhance their capacity but they're missing swabs or they're missing the reagents. Or, you know, in one case, Governor DeWine has told me that they've been rationed. That is what -- you know, I guess the question is this, why haven't you used the Defense Production Act to basically get swabs and reagents prioritized?
VICE PRES. MIKE PENCE:
What we've done through FEMA and through U.S. public health service is literally marshal the full resources of the American economy. We've been bringing medical supplies including, testing supplies, in from all over the world and will continue to do that. But, look, as you said, Chuck, I've been working almost daily over the last two months with Republican and Democrat governors across the country. And this vast and complex system of testing, using the commercial labs around the country and using hospital and public labs is a new concept. And so we've been working with governors around the country to make sure that they and their health officials know about all the resources in their states. And we also have deployed a team from Walter Reed that over the last two weeks has been calling every single laboratory in the country that can do coronavirus testing. And tomorrow we'll be presenting all of those details to governors so that they can activate those tests in their state.
Pontius Pilate officiously washes his hands, shrugs, and says “tomorrow we'll be presenting all of those details to governors” (because it’s not our problem).
Here’s the follow up:
CHUCK TODD:
Mr. Vice President, aren't you making the case of why this needs to be nationally coordinated? I mean, you just said you've identified this capacity, you've identified this. This is why, I think, a lot of governors have said the federal government has to play point on testing. Is there even a single person whose sole focus is on what is happening with our testing strategy in this country and how are we going to expand it?
VICE PRES. MIKE PENCE:
Chuck, we actually have coordinated it at the federal level. Admiral Brett Giroir of the U.S. Public Health Service spends all of his time coordinating testing deployment and resources deployment from FEMA. And what we're making clear to governors, and I want the American people to know, is that we will continue to do that.
Our “Leaders” take no responsibility. None at all. Using the Defense Production Act to get swabs and reagents prioritized is clearly too daunting a task for a man as lazy and irresponsible as Donald Trump is.
Pence’s whole sales pitch rang hollow. It was excruciating to watch.
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UPDATE:
President Trump announced Sunday that he will use the Defense Production Act to direct a company to increase production of badly-needed swabs for coronavirus testing.