10/20/2020 03:29 pm ET Updated 1
hour ago
Leaked Reports Show
White House Knew Of COVID-19 Spike As Trump Downplayed Crisis
The president falsely claimed the coronavirus “affects
virtually nobody” while the White House watched cases skyrocket nationwide.
The White House has been aware for more than a
month that coronavirus cases have been surging nationwide as President
Donald Trump has publicly downplayed the virus and held
crowded events, according to private documents obtained and released Tuesday by
a key House committee.
Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), chair of the House
Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, released six weekly White House
coronavirus task force reports showing that the White House has known since
just after Labor Day that COVID-19 cases are skyrocketing and that there is a
serious need for more testing and mask mandates.
But the White House chose to hide these reports,
according to Clyburn, as Trump publicly claimed in September the coronavirus “affects virtually nobody” and hosted potential superspreader events in
states the task force warned had spikes in cases, including Wisconsin,
Minnesota and North Carolina.
Until now, the task force reports were shared
privately with state governments but were not disclosed to the public.
The reports show that White House officials
watched as the number of states in the “red zone” ― a region with newly
diagnosed COVID-19 case rates above 100 per 100,000 people over the previous
week, and lab test positivity results above 10% ― jumped from 18 to 31 between
Sept. 13 and Oct. 18.
The reports also show a dangerous disconnect
between the task force’s findings and Trump’s actions. In its Sept. 20 report,
the task force warned the number of states in the “red zone” had ticked up to
18. Wisconsin was seeing a particularly high increase in positive cases, at
145%. Yet, on Oct. 1, Trump held two more rallies in the state.
By Oct. 18, the task force reported that 31
states were in the “red zone.” A day later, Trump told campaign staffers
on a call, “People are tired of
COVID. ... People are saying, ‘Whatever. Just leave us alone.’ They’re tired of
it. People are tired of hearing Fauci and all these idiots,” referring to
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci.
The task force calls for more testing in all 50
states, contradicting Trump’s claim that he has “done too good a job” on testing. It also urges “red zone” states to
put mask mandates in place, as governors in some of those states ignore the
recommendations and embrace Trump’s false claims that “there’s a lot of problems with masks” and “85% of the
people that wear masks catch it.”
“The White House reports released today show
that President Trump’s contempt for science and refusal to lead during this
crisis have allowed the coronavirus to surge,” Clyburn said in a statement.
“Contrary to his empty claims that the country is ‘rounding the turn,’ more
states are now in the ‘red zone’ than ever before. ... It is long past time
that the Administration implement a national plan to contain this crisis, which
is still killing hundreds of Americans each day and could get even worse in the
months ahead.”
You can read the six task force reports, dated
Aug. 16 through Sept. 20, at the links below:
Aug. 16, 2020
White House spokesperson Judd Deere accused
Clyburn of misrepresenting Trump’s response to the coronavirus crisis.
“In the midst of an ongoing pandemic, some
members of Congress have chosen to irresponsibly issue a partisan statements
[sic] completely for the purpose of falsely distorting the President’s record
to protect the health and safety of the American people and save millions of
lives,” Deere said in a statement. “The Coronavirus Task Force has been
providing tailored recommendations to individual states for months encouraging
Governors and local health officials to act immediately while at the same time
President Trump and the entire administration has reminded Americans to follow
CDC recommendations and best practices to slow the spread as we work to
reopen.”
A spokeswoman for Vice President Mike Pence, who
leads the White House coronavirus task force, did not respond to a request for
comment.
But a White House aide who would only speak
without being named said Pence has told state leaders to “feel free to share
[the reports] as widely as you want to.”
More than 220,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 and more than 8.2 million have tested positive,
according to Johns Hopkins’ Coronavirus Resource Center.
Renowned infectious disease expert Michael
Osterholm said Sunday that “the next six to 12 weeks are going to be the
darkest of the entire pandemic” and raised concerns about the lack of
leadership on the issue.
“When I was on this show last on Sept. 13, we
had 33,000 cases reported that day,” Osterholm said on NBC’s “Meet the
Press.” “Friday, we had
70,000 cases, matching the largest number we had seen back during the really
serious peak in July. That number, we’re going to blow right through that.”
“This is more than just science,” he added.
“This is bringing people together to understand, why are we doing this? This is
an FDR fireside chat approach. And we’re just not doing that.”
