As new reporting paints a grim picture of the U.S.’s coronavirus testing capacity marred by “disarray, shortages, [and] backlogs,” Republican incumbent senators have failed to call out President Trump for his role in the testing crisis. While Trump continued to downplay the virus’ threat to the U.S., his administration’s “failure to quickly scale up testing” has “cripple[d]” our response — and after Trump “waited for weeks” to invoke the Defense Production Act to procure more testing swabs, “testing remains a key challenge” to reopening the economy.
As Trump pushes to prematurely roll back social distancing guidelines and “falsely blames” state governors for the testing shortage, he continues to ignore warnings from experts who say testing “needs to triple” before safely easing social distancing measures. But instead of facing the facts about how the Trump administration’s fumbles created woefully inadequate testing, Republicans are shifting blame onto China, defending Trump’s early actions as the virus began to spread unchecked throughout the country, and joining the president’s dangerous call to prematurely roll back safety guidelines.
“Republican senators have made it clear that they’re unwilling to hold Trump accountable even as his reckless actions put American lives at further risk during a public health crisis,” said DSCC spokesperson Helen Kalla. “Their silence is yet another failure of Republican senators to put the wellbeing of their constituents over toeing the party line.”
Read more about how Trump’s early testing blunders have failed the U.S.’s pandemic response and left states “flying blind”:
Wall Street Journal: Coronavirus Testing Hampered by Disarray, Shortages, Backlogs
New York Times: Coronavirus Testing Needs to Triple Before the U.S. Can Reopen, Experts Say
Washington Post: Contamination at CDC lab delayed rollout of coronavirus tests
CNN: How coronavirus testing fumbles squandered valuable time
POLITICO: Trump invokes DPA for testing swabs, weeks after reported shortages
AP: No plan in sight: Test troubles cloud Trump recovery effort
AP: AP FACT CHECK: Trump falsely blames governors for virus test
Washington Post: Governors urge more federal help on coronavirus testing; protesters draw Trump’s praise
Maine Public: How A Lack Of Tests Has Hamstrung Maine’s Efforts To Curb COVID-19 And Reopen The Economy
AP: North Carolina governor: More COVID-19 test supplies needed
Missoula Current: Scientists: Montana, U.S. need testing strategy, supplies before dropping social distancing
Detroit News: Michigan ‘flying blind’ into virus surge as testing lags, experts say
Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Return to normal demands unprecedented surge in testing, experts warn
Arizona Republic: Arizona has done 51,000 COVID-19 tests. The state needs double that each month to safely reopen, expert says
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