Trump Ties Obama to C.D.C.’s ‘Inadequate’ Testing System

President Trump on Friday again claimed that his response to the coronavirus was hindered by the Obama administration, which left office three years ago.

Mr. Trump attacked Mr. Obama, who served with Mr. Trump’s likely Democratic challenger, Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., in two posts on Twitter.

“For decades the @CDCgov looked at, and studied, its testing system, but did nothing about it,” Mr. Trump wrote. “It would always be inadequate and slow for a large scale pandemic, but a pandemic would never happen, they hoped. President Obama made changes that only complicated things further.

“Their response to H1N1 Swine Flu was a full scale disaster, with thousands dying, and nothing meaningful done to fix the testing problem, until now,” he continued. “The changes have been made and testing will soon happen on a very large scale basis. All Red Tape has been cut, ready to go!” he wrote.

Mr. Trump was not specific about what changes President Barack Obama made to “complicate things further,” but at least one regulatory change previously discussed by Mr. Trump and his C.D.C. director was never put into effect. Mr. Trump had leveled that criticism last week.

Meanwhile, an Australian official who posed with Ivanka Trump and Attorney General William P. Barr on March 6 has tested positive for the coronavirus, officials said. Peter Dutton, the home affairs minister, said in a statement that he woke up with a fever and a sore throat, and later a test confirmed the diagnosis.

Mr. Trump and Vice President Mike Pence met over the weekend with a Brazilian official at the president’s private club, Mar-a-Lago, who later tested positive for the virus. After the revelation on Thursday, White House officials said the president would not be tested.



Source link