Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) is accusing President Donald Trump and his administration of placing blame for the coronavirus pandemic on others.
“The president is engaging in, you know, sort of middle school grade deflection, trying to blame the WHO for something that he was responsible for,” Murphy said.
CNN’s Anderson Cooper asked Murphy what he makes of Trump focusing on the WHO and China even though he offered them praise in the past.
Murphy alluded to Trump’s decision to suspend funding to the WHO.
“Well, pulling money out of the WHO has nothing to do with keeping America safe. It’s all about the president’s attempt to try to find scapegoats,” Murphy said.
Watch his comments below:
“I walked out of that closed-door briefing just with chills running down my spine… It was just shocking how cavalier the administration was.”
— Anderson Cooper 360° (@AC360) April 15, 2020
Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy describes a WH briefing on coronavirus he attended back in February. https://t.co/kksZA8nnp3 pic.twitter.com/z2WzmrR5Zd
Trump decided to halt WHO funding over its approach to the coronavirus outbreak, as IJR previously reported.
The move garnered criticism from world leaders.
Murphy went on to claim Trump offered praise to China for its efforts to combat the coronavirus and for its transparency.
He acknowledged the WHO’s shortcomings but also argued it invested in testing early on.
Murphy pointed to the WHO’s investment in testing as an example of what the United States should have done and if it did the nation may be in a different place. (00:03:01)
Murphy believes the United States needs the WHO.
“We’ll be weaker as a nation if we pull out of the WHO,” Murphy said. “There’s no way to stand up an effective international anti-pandemic program without them. This is just about the president’s attempts to try to blame others for problems that he created.”
Murphy argued the president cost lives by failing to provide medical supplies, not implementing a plan to develop new tests, and refusing to push social distancing measures sooner.
The exchange began to come to a close as Murphy reiterated he believes the nation would be in a different place had Trump implemented a different plan.
“If the president had had a more effective national plan from the beginning, we would be in a very different position than we are today,” Murphy said.