CNN’s Don Lemon is taking aim at President Donald Trump’s leadership amid the coronavirus outbreak.
On Thursday night, Lemon expressed concern about Trump’s coronavirus response efforts, noting the handling of New York, in particular.
The CNN host recalled a statement made by the president’s son-in-law and Senior Advisor Jared Kushner during Thursday’s White House coronavirus task force briefing.
Kushner claimed Trump heard from “friends” that medical supplies in New York hospitals were running low.
“I got a call from the president,” Kushner said. “He told me he was hearing from friends of his in New York that the New York public hospital system was running low on critical supply.”
After receiving the call from Trump, Kushner contacted Dr. Mitchell Katz, president and CEO of NYC Health and Hospitals, who also expressed concern about critically low supplies — namely N95 masks, Kushner says.
As Kusher noted during the briefing, Katz informed Kushner of the daily “burn rate.” Provisions were then made for more medical supplies to be sent to New York.
See Lemon’s full segment below:
Lemon offered his reaction to Kushner’s claims and criticized Trump for failing to listen to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D). Lemon noted the daily press conferences where Cuomo has repeatedly expressed concern about the low medical supply in his state.
“He was hearing from friends in New York? That’s what it takes to get action from this president? A tip from a friend that things are actually bad right now?” Lemon asked.
From N95 masks to hospital beds and ventilators, Cuomo has offered projections and estimates to support his claims of supply shortages. Lemon is criticizing the president, insisting his administration initially did not take the requests seriously.
“That is a perfect example of a complete lack of seriousness from this administration, from this president,” he continued. “We’ve all heard New York’s governor Andrew Cuomo day after day on live TV begging for supplies.”
Overall, Lemon suggests the White House’s coronavirus response efforts is “a complete lack of seriousness — from the beginning.”
“Catastrophic unemployment numbers, the economy on life support, doctors, nurses, hospitals begging for equipment to save our lives and their own,” Lemon said. “Like I said, America needs leadership.”
As of Friday morning, there were more than 250,000 confirmed coronavirus cases in the United States.