Trump contradicts nurse in testy Oval Office exchange over coronavirus protective gear
A nurse found out Wednesday what happens when you contradict President Donald Trump on how well coronavirus response efforts are going while standing near him in the Oval Office.
Trump clapped back at that nurse, Sophia Thomas, who said that access to sufficient supplies of personal protective equipment “has been sporadic.” Her comments came during a National Nurses Day event at the White House meant to honor those first responders.
Trump upon hearing a less-than-glowing description of the front lines, quickly shot back, “Sporadic for you, but not sporadic for a lot of other people.”
The exchange underscored how sensitive Trump has been to suggestions that the United States has lagged in preparedness for the coronavirus outbreak under his watch.
Thomas, who is president of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, had told reporters in the Oval Office that there are “certainly pockets of areas where PPE is not ideal but this is an unprecedented time.”
“I’ve been reusing my N95 masks for a few weeks now,” she said.
“PPE has been sporadic but it’s been manageable, and we do what we have to do, we’re nurses,” said Thomas, who works at the Daughters of Charity Health System in New Orleans.
“And we learn to adapt and do whatever the best thing we can do for our patients to get the job done and get the care provided, and that’s what we’re going to continue to do as Covid-19 continues.”
After Trump’s testy response, Thomas said, “Oh, no, I agree Mr. President.”
But Trump continued, folding his arms, “Because I’ve heard the opposite.”
“I’ve heard that they are loaded up with gowns now.”
“And initially we had nothing, we had empty cupboards, we had empty shelves, we had nothing, because it wasn’t put there by the last administration,” he said, referring to former President Barack Obama.
Trump then noted that he had traveled to a Honeywell factory in Phoenix a day earlier, to tour a production line that is making “millions of masks a month.”
“We have other factories being built now for masks, and for the most part I mean, that was fine,” Trump said, referring to the nurse.
‘”But I’ve heard that we have tremendous supply to almost all places,” he said.
“Tremendous supply.”
Article source: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/06/coronavirus-equipment-trump-rebukes-nurse-in-white-house-exchange.html