Former National Security Adviser Susan Rice, who served in former President Barack Obama’s administration, is slamming the Trump administration’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Rice is pointing out a pandemic playbook “for dummies” was left behind for the incoming administration, adding that a pandemic was “inevitable.”
“We prepared the [Trump] administration with a pandemic for dummies playbook and a tabletop exercise,” Rice said during an appearance on ABC’s “The View.”
She added, “So the fault here, the tragic loss of 150,000 Americans and counting, is on Donald Trump and his gross mishandling of this pandemic.”
Rice — who is speculated to be considered for Joe Biden’s running mate in 2020 — tore into President Donald Trump for saying COVID-19 would “go away,” pushing for states to reopen, and urging children to go back to school in the fall.
“Every step of the way, Donald Trump has put his own personal political interests ahead of the health and wellbeing and the economic security of America,” Rice continued. “That is why this tragedy has been as bad as it has been.”
Watch the video below:
Former Obama national security adviser @AmbassadorRice to @TheView: "We prepared the [Trump] administration with a pandemic for dummies playbook… So the fault here, the tragic loss of 150,000 Americans and counting, is on Donald Trump and his gross mishandling of this pandemic." pic.twitter.com/4pK0zHTwww
— The View (@TheView) July 29, 2020
Following reports that the Trump administration threw out a pandemic response playbook from the Obama administration, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said that the current administration instead “exchanged” the playbook.
“Some have erroneously suggested that the Trump administration threw out the pandemic response playbook left by the Obama-Biden administration,” McEnany previously said at a briefing. “What the critics failed to note, however, is that this thin packet of paper was replaced by two detailed, robust pandemic response reports commissioned by the Trump administration.”
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) previously suggested the Obama administration “did not leave to this administration any kind of game plan.” He, however, later admitted that he was wrong.
The Obama administration did leave a pandemic playbook for the incoming administration. The playbook reads, “While each emerging infectious disease threat will present itself in a unique way, a consistent, capabilities-based approach to addressing these threats will allow for faster decisions with more targeted expert subject matter input from federal departments and agencies,” according to CNN.