Click for Joe Biden on other issues.
Source: CNN "Senate stimulus" analysis of 2021 Biden Promises
Joe Biden on COVID:
(Jobs Mar 6, 2021)
Extended unemployment benefits for COVID, to contractors too
PROMISE MADE: (2020 campaign website JoeBiden.com): Biden will provide further immediate relief to working families, small businesses, and communities. Biden will extend COVID crisis unemployment insurance to help those who are out of work.
PROMISE KEPT: (CNN March 6, 2021): The Senate version calls for providing a $300 federal boost to weekly jobless payments and extending two key pandemic unemployment benefits programs through September 6.
The agreement would also make the first $10,200 worth of benefits payments tax-free for households with annual incomes less than $150,000.
OnTheIssues ANALYSIS: The extended unemployment benefits under previous legislation was scheduled
to end in mid-March [and may get extended again beyond September 6]. The unemployment benefit applies to independent contractors, who are normally ineligible for unemployment.
Click for Joe Biden on other issues.
Source: CNN "Senate stimulus" analysis of 2021 Biden Promises
Lloyd Austin on COVID:
(Health Care Mar 4, 2021)
COVID: greatest proximate challenge to national security
The greatest proximate challenge to our Nation's security is the threat of COVID-19. The Department will continue to act boldly and quickly to support Federal Government efforts to defeat the disease, defend the force against it, and work with our
domestic and international partners to protect our Nation from potential novel and deadly viruses of the future. We will continue to provide direct support to the Federal Government's vaccination efforts.
Click for Lloyd Austin on other issues.
Source: USNI News on 2021 Biden Administration
Antony Blinken on COVID:
(Health Care Mar 3, 2021)
COVID: Ensure that a crisis like this won't happen again
The pandemic has defined lives--our lives--for more than a year. To beat it back, we need governments, scientists, businesses, and communities around the world working together. At the same time, we need to make sure we learn
the right lessons and make the right investments in global health security, including tools to predict, prevent, and stop pandemics, and a firm global commitment to share accurate and timely information, so that a crisis like this never happens again.
Click for Antony Blinken on other issues.
Source: State Department speech: 2021 Biden Administration
Ron DeSantis on COVID:
(Education Mar 2, 2021)
COVID: other states not opening schools a policy blunder
The failure of so many places outside of Florida to open schools at the beginning of the school year will go down as one of the biggest policy blunders of our time. Florida did not make that mistake. We followed the data and stood by our parents and
students. We ignored the political posturing and fear-mongering and did what was right for Floridians. Florida has succeeded where so many other states have failed in providing opportunities for its students.
Click for Ron DeSantis on other issues.
Source: 2021 State of the State Address to the Florida legislature
Ron DeSantis on COVID:
(Health Care Mar 2, 2021)
COVID: We will not close schools, jobs, businesses
Friends, legislators, Floridians, lend me your ears: We will not let anybody close your schools, we will not let anybody take your jobs and we will not let anybody close your businesses!Our efforts saved lives. In fact, 40 states have suffered higher
COVID mortality for seniors aged 65+ on a per capita basis than Florida. The cases and hospitalizations for seniors in Florida have plummeted as vaccinations have increased. Florida was right to prioritize the elderly. Seniors First works.
Click for Ron DeSantis on other issues.
Source: 2021 State of the State Address to the Florida legislature
Joe Biden on COVID:
(Budget & Economy Mar 1, 2021)
ARPA tackles urgent public health and economic crises
ARPA provides the tools and support critical to tackle the urgent public health and economic crises the Nation faces as a result of COVID-19. This includes funding to set up community vaccination sites nationwide, scale up testing and tracing, eliminate
supply shortage problems, invest in high quality treatments, address health disparities, and ensure workplace health and safety protections.The bill also delivers immediate relief to workers and families bearing the brunt of the public health and
economic crises, by providing eligible Americans with a $1,400 payment in addition to the $600 payment provided in December of 2020.
The bill also expands the Child Tax Credit and Earned Income Tax Credit on an emergency basis, extends key emergency
unemployment benefits, raises the minimum wage to $15 per hour, and stabilizes pensions for Americans who participate in multi-employer pension plans. [See details of ARPA]
Click for Joe Biden on other issues.
Source: Statement of 2021 Biden Administration Policy on H.R. 1280
Ron DeSantis on COVID:
(Health Care Feb 26, 2021)
COVID: We got it right and the lock down states got it wrong
In Florida the schools are open. Every Floridian has a right to earn a living and all businesses have the right to operate. Florida has lower per-capita COVID mortality than a national average and lower than 27 other states. Our unemployment
rate is lower than the national average. Tourism is fully back. Our budget is in great shape. We have not touched one red cent from our rainy day fund throughout this whole time. Florida got it right and the lock down states got it wrong.
Click for Ron DeSantis on other issues.
Source: Remarks by Senator DeSantis at the 2021 CPAC Conference
Janet Yellen on COVID:
(Health Care Feb 25, 2021)
IMF & World Bank must help poor countries recover from COVID
Low-income countries have been particularly hard hit. Without further international action to support low-income countries, we risk a dangerous and permanent divergence in the global economy. International financial institutions, like the
IMF and World Bank Group, have provided much-needed emergency support. They must continue to play a role in financing the global health response, supporting a green recovery, and addressing the debt vulnerabilities exposed by the crisis.
Click for Janet Yellen on other issues.
Source: Treasury letter to G20: 2021 Biden Administration
Joe Biden on COVID:
(Health Care Feb 2, 2021)
Re-open ACA enrollment; restore ObamaCare to pre-Trump level
PROMISE MADE: (Biden-Sanders debate 3/15/20): Pass the Biden healthcare plan, which takes ObamaCare, restores all the cuts made to it [under Trump]. Subsidize it further. PROMISE KEPT:(Executive Order on Medicare 1/28/21):
It is the policy of my Administration to protect and strengthen Medicaid and the ACA and to make high-quality healthcare accessible and affordable for every American. In light of the exceptional circumstances caused by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic,
establish a Special Enrollment Period for uninsured and under-insured Americans to seek coverage through the Federally Facilitated Marketplace.
OnTheIssues ANALYSIS: Biden made his promise at the beginning of the pandemic, and all
healthcare policy in 2021 is tied up with the pandemic. Biden has largely restored ObamaCare cuts--by reopening ACA enrollment--and largely subsidized ObamaCare--via pandemic spending and pandemic justification.
Click for Joe Biden on other issues.
Source: White House press release on Biden Promises
Antony Blinken on COVID:
(Foreign Policy Jan 29, 2021)
Reaffirmed US/India ties; important to work together
Blinken spoke with Indian Minister of External Affairs Dr. S. Jaishankar to reaffirm the growing U.S.-India partnership and discuss issues of mutual concern, including COVID-19 vaccination efforts, regional developments, and next steps in
expanding bilateral ties. The Secretary underscored India's role as a preeminent U.S. partner in the Indo-Pacific and the importance of working together to expand regional cooperation.
Click for Antony Blinken on other issues.
Source: Biden Administration Press Release from state.gov
Joe Biden on COVID:
(Health Care Jan 20, 2021)
Mandate COVID masks in all federal buildings
PROMISE MADE: (WPTV-5 coverage of NBC News Town Hall, 10/6/20): On coronavirus: "As president of the United States, I would make a federal mandate on federal property buildings; you must wear a mask. Period. And you must socially
distance," Biden said.PROMISE KEPT: (Executive Order on Mask-Wearing, 1/20/21): The heads of executive departments and agencies (agencies) shall immediately take action, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, to require
compliance with CDC guidelines with respect to wearing masks, maintaining physical distance, & other public health measures by: on-duty or on-site Federal employees; on-site Federal contractors; and all persons in Federal buildings or on Federal lands.
OnTheIssues ANALYSIS: "Mask mandates" are a core political issue at the state level: whether to mandate masks for state employees (as Biden has done for federal employees), versus for the public at-large (which Biden has not done).
Click for Joe Biden on other issues.
Source: White House press release on Biden Promises
Joe Biden on COVID:
(Budget & Economy Jan 14, 2021)
COVID relief: 478 million stimulus check payments
PROMISE MADE: (Lorie Konish on CNBC, Jan 14, 2021): President-elect Joe Biden unveiled his stimulus plan that includes sending additional $1,400 payments to Americans following the $600 second stimulus checks that were recently
deployed. "We will finish the job of getting a total of $2,000 in cash relief to people who need it the most," Biden said. "The $600 already appropriated is simply not enough."PROMISE KEPT: (CNN March 6, 2021): The Senate bill amends
the House bill on the $1,400-per-person stimulus payments to tighten eligibility. Individuals earning less than $75,000 a year and married couples earning less than $150,000 will receive $1,400 per person, including children. That will get money to
about 90% of households.
ANALYSIS by en.as.com: (July 23, 2021): In total, an enormous 478 million stimulus check payments have been sent out since the start of the pandemic [with the third round underway] at $1,400 per person.
Click for Joe Biden on other issues.
Source: CNBC and CNN analysis of Biden Promises
Jay Inslee on COVID:
(Civil Rights Jan 12, 2021)
We have work ahead to undo racial inequities
The pandemic has had disproportionate impacts on people of color. If we can't help more people, fewer of us will enjoy the blessings of freedom. Our Latino communities were disproportionately exposed to COVID-19. Our Black communities
have demanded equal justice for generations, yet our systems still haven't addressed it. We have work ahead of us to undo the racial inequities that remain in our economy, in our democracy and in our system of law and justice.
Click for Jay Inslee on other issues.
Source: 2021 State of the State Address to Washington legislature
Pope Francis on COVID:
(Health Care Dec 25, 2020)
Coronavirus vaccine morally ok even if from fetal research
Italy is set to deliver the first doses of a COVID-19 vaccine [this week. As in other countries, health care workers and nursing home residents will be first to receive it. Seniors and others at high risk of exposure would be next.
The Vatican earlier this month said the use of coronavirus vaccines is "morally acceptable," even if some vaccines are manufactured using "cell lines from aborted fetuses in their research and production process."
Francis, who turned 84 earlier this
month, urged that everyone who needs a vaccine have access to it. "I cannot place myself ahead of others, letting the law of the marketplace and patents take precedence over the law of love and the health of humanity," Francis said. "I ask everyone--
government leaders, businesses, international organizations--to foster cooperation and not competition, and to seek a solution for everyone: vaccines for all, especially for the most vulnerable and needy of all regions of the planet."
Click for Pope Francis on other issues.
Source: National Public Radio on "Urbi et Orbi"
Xavier Becerra on COVID:
(Jobs Dec 14, 2020)
Sued Amazon to comply with COVID subpoenas at warehouses
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra petitioned a court to force Amazon.com Inc to comply with outstanding subpoenas over a state investigation into its handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
The subpoenas seek information about Amazon's sick-leave policies, sanitation measures and data about the spread of the virus at the company's California warehouses, the petition said.
Click for Xavier Becerra on other issues.
Source: Reuters news service on Biden Cabinet
Cedric Richmond on COVID:
(Education Dec 13, 2020)
COVID: Reopening schools is one of our top priorities
One of the priorities for President-elect Biden is to get schools back open and get kids into schools, and that means we're going to have to put resources in it, which is why a deal from
Congress to help education facilities and schools open up is important. Making sure the vaccine gets to those teachers and students is important. And so it's one of our top priorities.
Click for Cedric Richmond on other issues.
Source: Face the Nation on 2021 O.P.E. Confirmation Hearings
Marcia Fudge on COVID:
(Welfare & Poverty Dec 13, 2020)
Introduced a Poverty Bill of Rights
She has introduced legislation urging Congress to enact a "Poverty Bill of Rights," to reaffirm the right of all Americans to live a life free from poverty and its impacts.
Several of the bills she introduced to make food more available to low-income people during the COVID-19 pandemic became part of relief packages that were signed into law.
Click for Marcia Fudge on other issues.
Source: The Cleveland Plain-Dealer on Biden Cabinet
Marcia Fudge on COVID:
(Budget & Economy Dec 10, 2020)
COVID: protect homeowners, renters, small landlords
Q: What are your plans for what you want to do at HUD?A: I think the pressing thing is to deal with the adverse impacts of the COVID crisis. We've got to make sure that people can stay in their homes, or if they're renters, to stay in their
apartments. The first thing is keep people in their homes, as well as to assist some of these landlords, who are not these mega apartment owners but just a small landlords who are who are struggling as well.
Click for Marcia Fudge on other issues.
Source: The Cleveland Plain-Dealer on Biden Cabinet
Pope Francis on COVID:
(Health Care Dec 10, 2020)
COVID: Midnight Mass at 7:30 to comply with curfew
Pope Francis will celebrate Midnight Mass earlier than usual to comply with Italy's anti-coronavirus curfew and will deliver his Christmas Day blessing indoors to prevent crowds from forming in St. Peter's Square. The Vatican on Thursday released the
pope's COVID-19 Christmas liturgical schedule. It said the pope's Dec. 24 Mass--which for years hasn't been celebrated at midnight at all but at 9:30 p.m. to spare pontiffs from the late hour--would begin at 7:30 p.m. this year.
Click for Pope Francis on other issues.
Source: Omaha World-Herald on COVID midnight mass
Gina Raimondo on COVID:
(Health Care Dec 2, 2020)
COVID: civil liability immunity for hospitals, nursing homes
On April 9, top officials from Rhode Island's nursing home lobbying groups sent a letter to Raimondo's office requesting immunity from civil liability if their residents faced injury or death from COVID-19. One day later, the governor's office issued an
executive order granting the lobbyists what they had asked for: hospitals and nursing homes were classified as emergency management facilities and granted immunity from civil liability, except in cases of gross negligence or willful misconduct.
Click for Gina Raimondo on other issues.
Source: Jacobin magazine on 2021 Biden Cabinet
Rand Paul on COVID:
(Education Dec 1, 2020)
COVID: Opening schools doesn't lead to a surge
Sen. Rand Paul blasted [coronavirus task force member] Dr. Anthony Fauci after the nation's leading infectious disease specialist reversed his position on keeping schools closed because of the novel coronavirus. The Kentucky Republican said, "When
one person is so wrong as Dr. Fauci has been, it has grave effects for school children. The evidence is clear for six months. From countries in Europe and Asia that schools don't lead to a surge. Kids are poor transmitters of this."
Click for Rand Paul on other issues.
Source: NewsMax, "Paul Blasts Fauci", on 2022 Kentucky Senate race
John Hickenlooper on COVID:
(Technology Nov 3, 2020)
Provide ample funding for scientific research
Hickenlooper supports ample funding for scientific research to help create evidence-based policy to tackle some of the biggest challenges of our time, including addressing the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, gun violence, inequity, and more.
Hickenlooper believes strongly in protecting the integrity of scientific research, including the accuracy and transparency in its communication; and as a former geologist in the U.S. Senate, he will be a strong and knowledgeable voice in support.
Click for John Hickenlooper on other issues.
Source: ScienceDebate.org on 2020 Colorado Senate race
Donald Trump on COVID:
(Budget & Economy Oct 22, 2020)
House stimulus was bailout of badly run Democratic states
TRUMP: The bill that was passed in the House was a bailout of badly run, high crime, all run by Democrat cities and states. It was a way of getting a lot of money, billions and billions of dollars, to these guys. It was also a way of getting a lot of
money from our people's pockets to people that come into our country illegally. This was a way of spending on things that had nothing to do with COVID, as per your question. But it was really a big bailout for badly run Democrat cities and states.
BIDEN: This HEROES Act has been sitting there. And look at what's happening. When I was in charge of the recovery act with $800 billion, I was able to get $145 billion to local and communities that have to balance their budgets. [If they cannot], then
they have to fire firefighters, teachers, first responders, law enforcement officers, so they could keep their cities and counties running. They have not done a thing for them. And Mitch McConnell said, "Let them go bankrupt. Let them go bankrupt."
Click for Donald Trump on other issues.
Source: Third 2020 Presidential Debate, moderated by Kristen Welker
Joe Biden on COVID:
(Health Care Oct 22, 2020)
A dark winter pandemic: People are learning to die with it
Q: The CDC has said young people can get sick with COVID-19 and can pass it.TRUMP: 99.9% of young people recover. We have to recover. We can't close up our nation. We have to open our schools and we can't close up our nation, or you're not going to
have a nation.
BIDEN: We're about to go into a dark winter, and he has no clear plan. He says that we're learning to live with it. People are learning to die with it. You folks home will have an empty chair at the kitchen table this morning.
That man or wife going to bed tonight and reaching over to try to touch, there out of habit, where their wife or husband was, is gone. Learning to live with it. Come on. We're dying with it, because he's never said. See, you said, "It's dangerous."
When's the last time? Is it really dangerous still? Are we dangerous. You tell the people it's dangerous now. What should they do about the danger? And you say, "I take no responsibility."
Click for Joe Biden on other issues.
Source: Third 2020 Presidential Debate, moderated by Kristen Welker
Joe Biden on COVID:
(Health Care Oct 22, 2020)
Re-open businesses, restaurants, & schools with COVID safety
TRUMP: We can't close up our nation. We have to open our schools and we can't close up our nation, or you're not going to have a nation.Q: What do you say to Americans who are fearful that the cost of shutdowns, the impact on the economy outweighs
the risk of exposure to the virus?
BIDEN: What I would say is, I'm going to shut down the virus, not the country. It's [President Trump's] ineptitude that caused the country to have to shut down in large part, why businesses have gone under, why
schools are closed.
Q: But you haven't ruled out more shut downs?
BIDEN: I'm not shutting down today, but you need standards. If you have a community that's above a certain level, everybody says, "Slow up. More social distancing. Do not open bars
and do not open gymnasiums." But when you do open, give the people the capacity to open safely. For example, schools. They need a lot of money to be open. They need to deal with ventilation systems. They need to deal with smaller classes, more teachers.
Click for Joe Biden on other issues.
Source: Third 2020 Presidential Debate, moderated by Kristen Welker
Donald Trump on COVID:
(Health Care Oct 22, 2020)
Need to re-open country during pandemic, to have a country
Q: The CDC has said young people can get sick with COVID-19 and can pass it.TRUMP: 99.9% of young people recover. We have to recover. We can't close up our nation. We have to open our schools and we can't close up our nation, or you're not going
to have a nation.
BIDEN: He says that we're learning to live with it. People are learning to die with it. And you say, "I take no responsibility."
TRUMP: I take full responsibility. It's not my fault that it came here. It's China's fault.
They kept it from going into the rest of China for the most part, but they didn't keep it from coming out to the world, including Europe and ourselves. But when I closed, he said, "This is a terrible thing, you're xenophobic." I think [Biden] called me
racist even, because I was closing it to China. Now he says I should have closed it earlier.
Q: What do you say to Americans who are fearful that the cost of shutdowns?
BIDEN: What I would say is, I'm going to shut down the virus, not the country.
Click for Donald Trump on other issues.
Source: Third 2020 Presidential Debate, moderated by Kristen Welker
Donald Trump on COVID:
(Health Care Oct 22, 2020)
If H1N1 were as lethal as COVID, we'd have 700,000 dead
TRUMP: Biden ran the H1N1 swine flu and it was a total disaster. Had that had this kind of numbers, 700,000 people would be dead right now, but it was a far less lethal disease. Look, his own chief of staff said, "It was catastrophic. We didn't know
what we were doing." Now he comes up and he tells us how to do this.BIDEN: If you're going to open a business, have social distancing. If you have a restaurant, you need to have plexiglass dividers. You need to take testing rapidly. You need to be
able to trace. You need to be able to provide all the resources that are needed to do this. That is going to make sure that we're going to open safely.
TRUMP: We have to open our country. We can't keep this country closed. This is a massive country
with a massive economy. People are losing their jobs. They're committing suicide. There's depression, alcohol, drugs at a level that nobody's ever seen before. He'll close down the country if one person in our bureaucracy says we should close it down.
Click for Donald Trump on other issues.
Source: Third 2020 Presidential Debate, moderated by Kristen Welker
Jay Inslee on COVID:
(Health Care Oct 22, 2020)
COVID: Lower infections with masks, distancing, not Trump
On coronavirus: "Because Washingtonians are not listening to Donald Trump, and frankly, Chief Culp, they are wearing masks, they are social distancing, and as a result of that we have lowered our infection rate dramatically," Inslee says in a recent
debate against Culp. "We have saved lives."Culp argues that many of these restrictions, most notably a mask mandate, shouldn't be dictated by the governor.
Wearing a mask, he says, should be a personal choice. "The problem is when we have one person sitting in the
governor's office telling everyone what they are going to wear," Culp says.
Click for Jay Inslee on other issues.
Source: Inlander.com on 2020 Washington Gubernatorial debate
Donald Trump on COVID:
(Health Care Oct 15, 2020)
I put in travel ban to China very early, and Europe too
Q: Why did you only put in place a travel ban from China, and not put in place other measures mitigating the spread of COVID-19?TRUMP: I did put it in very early. Joe Biden was two months behind me, and he called me xenophobic and racist, because
I put it in. And it turned out that I was 100% right. I also put it on Europe, very early, because I saw there was a lot of infection in Europe. The news doesn't get out the right answer, because I put on a travel ban far earlier than Dr.
Fauci thought it was necessary. I was actually the only one that wanted to put it on. I put it on at the end of January. When I put on the travel ban Joe Biden, and others, said, "This is ridiculous. You don't do that." Well, Dr. Fauci said, I saved
thousands and thousands of lives.
BIDEN: All the way back in the beginning of February, I argued that we should be keeping people in China.In February, I did a piece for USA Today saying, "This is a serious problem." Trump denied it. He said it wasn't.
Click for Donald Trump on other issues.
Source: Second 2020 Presidential Debate/NBC Town Hall Miami
Joe Biden on COVID:
(Health Care Oct 15, 2020)
I wanted to keep people in China in early 2020 pandemic
Q: When this country first became aware of COVID-19, what would you8 have done in terms of actual policy?BIDEN: I suggested that we should be seeking access to the source of the problem. Trump never pushed that.
Q [to TRUMP]: Why did you only put
in place a travel ban from China?
TRUMP: I put it in very early. Joe Biden was two months behind me, and he called me xenophobic and racist.
BIDEN: All the way back in the beginning of February, I argued that we should be keeping people in China.
There were 44 people on the ground [in China]. All those 44 people came home [as US citizens despite the ban on non-citizens]. In addition to that, I pointed out that I thought in February, I did a piece for USA Today saying, "This is a serious problem."
Trump denied it. He said it wasn't. He missed enormous opportunities and kept saying things that weren't true. "It's going to go away by Easter"; "When the summer comes, it's all going to go away like a miracle." He's still saying those things.
Click for Joe Biden on other issues.
Source: Second 2020 Presidential Debate/ABC Town Hall Philadelphia
Ron DeSantis on COVID:
(Health Care Oct 13, 2020)
New Yorkers were bringing COVID to Florida
In late March, the number of cases in New York was spiking but remained low in most of the country. Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida complained that New Yorkers were bringing the virus to Florida. Florida is a key electoral state for President Trump, and
DeSantis is very much a Trump supporter. In fact, to secure a political advantage, Trump had just changed his residency from New York to Florida. After DeSantis's statements , the president's aids started to talk about limiting
New Yorkers' ability to travel. At first, we didn't take them seriously, but within a Trump White House you have to be constantly on guard because they were capable of anything. There was also a White House driven theme emerging that COVID was a
Democratic state problem, not a Republican state problem. DeSantis's remark was another manifestation of this theme, and it was conceivable that targeting New York would be advancing his political narrative.
Click for Ron DeSantis on other issues.
Source: American Crisis, by Andrew Cuomo, p.186-187
Donald Trump on COVID:
(Health Care Oct 13, 2020)
OpEd: Trump believed COVID was just public relations matter
Given the consistent irrationality of the Trump administration, why would anyone think this federal government would act responsibly or competently? I had deep philosophical differences with Trump before COVID began.
I believed he was a salesman who adopted hyper-conservative positions to win as a Republican. I knew Trump from earlier days in New York and was aware of his lifestyle. He was anything but hyper-conservative.
Trump had no government experience when he took office, and he was rarely involved in substantive policy once he did.
Most qualified officials in the Trump administration came and left before their dinner got cold. Trump, from all evidence, believed the pandemic was just another public relations matter.
Click for Donald Trump on other issues.
Source: American Crisis, by Andrew Cuomo, p.8-9
Ron DeSantis on COVID:
(Health Care Oct 13, 2020)
OpEd: FL did nothing to mitigate COVID in nursing homes
COVID patients are being transferred from hospitals into Florida nursing homes with the express blessing of the DeSantis administration. Florida was having the problem we prepared for but avoided.
Their hospitals were over capacity and had no choice but to send seniors back to nursing homes. They did not reduce the viral transmission rate the way New York State did, nor did they build the additional beds we did.
For New York, it was the worst case scenario plan that never materialized. For Florida, it was reality. Unsurprisingly, neither Donald Trump nor
Fox News maligns Republican governor DeSantis for actually doing what they incorrectly accused New York of doing.
Click for Ron DeSantis on other issues.
Source: American Crisis, by Andrew Cuomo, p.309
John Hickenlooper on COVID:
(Health Care Oct 10, 2020)
COVID: Need capacity test or vaccinate every American
Q: COVID-19: Support administration's response to coronavirus pandemic?John Hickenlooper: No. "Only way to regain our confidence and restart our economy is having the capacity to either test or vaccinate every American."
Corey Gardner: Yes. "HHS, through a number of its agencies, is actively leading critical prevention, containment, and supply-chain stability."
Click for John Hickenlooper on other issues.
Source: CampusElect on 2020 Colorado Senate race
Joe Biden on COVID:
(Health Care Oct 6, 2020)
COVID: Would mandate mask use in federal buildings
On coronavirus: "As president of the United States, I would make a federal mandate on federal property buildings; you must wear a mask.
Period. And you must socially distance -- No. 1. No. 2, I would make sure we move very rapidly to get testing available to everyone," Biden said.
Click for Joe Biden on other issues.
Source: WPTV-5 West Palm TV coverage of 2020 NBC News Town Hall
Joe Biden on COVID:
(Health Care Oct 5, 2020)
COVID: maskless people responsible for their actions
On coronavirus: "Look, anybody who contracts the virus by essentially saying, 'masks don't matter, social distancing doesn't matter'--I think is responsible for what happens to them," Biden said. "They're taking responsibility that, in fact, they should
be held responsible for, because every major scientist and doctor and immunologist has said that's a very dangerous thing to do. The particles and droplets can stay in the air for a long time, longer than they thought."
Click for Joe Biden on other issues.
Source: CNBC coverage of 2020 NBC News Town Hall
John Hickenlooper on COVID:
(Health Care Oct 2, 2020)
COVID: Trump ignored the risk, that was negligent
In his opening statement, Hickenlooper took aim at Trump. Hickenlooper offered prayers for the president, who was hospitalized with COVID-19 hours before the debate. But he criticized Trump's response to the pandemic. "He ignored the risk.
That was negligent," Hickenlooper said. "We're in a crisis and the stakes couldn't be higher.
Click for John Hickenlooper on other issues.
Source: KUNC-BBC radio on 2020 Colorado Senate debate
Joe Biden on COVID:
(Civil Rights Sep 29, 2020)
Suburbs are by and large integrated
I was raised in the suburbs. This is not 1950. All these dog whistles and racism don't work anymore. Suburbs are by-and-large integrated. More people today drive their kids to soccer practice--black & white & Hispanic in the same car--as any time in the
past.What really is a threat to the suburbs is [Trump's] failure to deal with COVID. His failure to deal with the environment; they're being flooded, & burned out, because his refusal to do anything. That's why the suburbs are in trouble.
Click for Joe Biden on other issues.
Source: First 2020 Presidential Debate, moderated by Chris Wallace
Joe Biden on COVID:
(Government Reform Sep 29, 2020)
Vote, vote, vote; then Trump can't stop you
His own Homeland Security director, and as well as the FBI director, says that there is no evidence that mail-in ballots are a source of being manipulated and cheating. There are going to be millions of people because of COVID that are going to be
voting by mail-in ballots like he does. This is all about trying to dissuade people from voting because he's trying to scare people into thinking that it's not going to be legitimate.Show up and vote. You will determine the outcome of this election.
Vote, vote, vote. Vote whatever way is the best way for you. He cannot stop you from being able to determine the outcome of this election. When the votes are all counted, that will be accepted. If I win, that will be accepted. If I lose, that'll be
accepted. If in fact he says, he's not sure what he's going to accept, let me tell you something, it doesn't matter, because if we get the votes, it's going to be all over. He's going to go. He can't stay in power. It won't happen.
Click for Joe Biden on other issues.
Source: First 2020 Presidential Debate, moderated by Chris Wallace
Donald Trump on COVID:
(Health Care Sep 29, 2020)
COVID: We don't know how many died in China, Russia, India
If we would've listened to [Biden and the Democrats], the country would have been left wide open, millions of people would have died, not 200,000. And one person is too much. It's China's fault.
It should have never happened. They stopped it from going in, but it was China's fault.
And, by the way, when you talk about numbers, you don't know how many people died in China.
You don't know how many people died in Russia. You don't know how many people died in India. They don't exactly give you a straight count, just so you understand.
Click for Donald Trump on other issues.
Source: First 2020 Presidential Debate, moderated by Chris Wallace
Joe Biden on COVID:
(Health Care Sep 29, 2020)
We didn't shut down economy; Trump shut down his economy
BIDEN: We didn't shut down the economy [for coronavirus]. This is his economy he shut down. The reason it's shut down is because, look, you folks at home. How many of you got up this morning and had an empty chair
at the kitchen table because someone died of COVID?
How many of you are in a situation where you lost your mom or dad and you couldn't even speak to them, you had a nurse holding a phone up so you could in fact say goodbye?TRUMP: We would have lost far more people,
far more people.
BIDEN: His own CDC Director says we could lose as many as another 200,000 people between now and the end of the year. And he said, if we just wear a mask, we can save half those numbers. Just a mask.
Click for Joe Biden on other issues.
Source: First 2020 Presidential Debate, moderated by Chris Wallace
Donald Trump on COVID:
(Homeland Security Sep 29, 2020)
I created the Space Force and fixed the VA
There has never been an administration or president who has done more than I've done in a period of three and a half years. The greatest, before COVID came in, the greatest economy in history, lowest unemployment numbers, everything was good.
Everything was going. There was unity going to happen. People were calling me for the first time in years and they were saying it's time and then what happened? We got hit. But now we're building it back up again.
A rebuilding of the military, including Space Force and all of the other things. A fixing of the VA which was a mess under him, 308,000 people died because they didn't have proper health care.
It was a mess. And we now got a 91% approval rating at the VA, our vets. We take care of our vets. But we've rebuilt our military.
Click for Donald Trump on other issues.
Source: First 2020 Presidential Debate, moderated by Chris Wallace
Joe Biden on COVID:
(Families & Children Sep 28, 2020)
Invest $450 billion so people needing care can stay at home
Q: How would you provide support for the nation's army of unpaid family caregivers?BIDEN: COVID-19 proves how vital it is to give people who want to live at home a chance to stay there. I'm going to invest $450 billion so more Americans can choose
to live at home if they want to. We're going to give family caregivers, the really quiet heroes out there, the support they deserve. We're going to create a $5,000 tax credit for informal [family] caregivers.
Q: And for seniors?
BIDEN: Medicare is a lifeline for around 60 million Americans. Under the Affordable Care Act, we strengthened Medicare. We extended the life of the trust fund by bending the cost curve. We expanded free preventative services like mammograms and
colonoscopies, and we closed the doughnut hole so more seniors could afford their prescriptions. We've got to give Medicare the power, for example, to negotiate drug prices.
Click for Joe Biden on other issues.
Source: AARP Survey on 2020 Presidential hopefuls
Steve Bullock on COVID:
(Health Care Sep 28, 2020)
COVID: don't like masks but need to let science drive this
The two drew clear lines on the contentious subject of masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Bullock instituted a mask mandate for all counties with more than four cases. Daines said masking should be a matter of personal responsibility, "not
a federal or state mandate." Bullock responded that, "I don't like these masks any more than anyone else. "But we need to let science drive this . this shouldn't be about politics, Senator, this should be about public health," Bullock said.
Click for Steve Bullock on other issues.
Source: The Missoulian on 2020 Montana Senate debate
Mike Pence on COVID:
(Education Sep 22, 2020)
COVID: Don't want CDC guidance on school reopenings
CDC's guidelines for schools to consider encourage teachers and students to stay home when possible, mitigating the contact between students and teachers who might be at a higher risk from COVID-19.
Pence was blunt in dismissing those guidelines in favor of a quick reopening. 'To be very clear, we don't want CDC guidance to be a reason why people don't reopen their schools,' he said." [4WWL-TV, 7/14/20]
Click for Mike Pence on other issues.
Source: Trump Research Book on Mike Pence
Joe Biden on COVID:
(Civil Rights Sep 17, 2020)
People have the right to protest peacefully
Q: You've called the President's rallies irresponsible. Yet you praised peaceful protesting this summer? What is the difference when it comes to COVID safety?BIDEN: I think COVID safety is a problem no matter where people are if they don't
have masks on. The context of praising people who protest peacefully, is--there was a question of right to speak, not to loot, not to burn, not to do anything that causes damage.
The right to speak out makes sense, but there is a big difference between people walking, moving along, and people sitting down cheek to jowl,
shoulder to shoulder, a thousand of them breathing on one another indoors.
Click for Joe Biden on other issues.
Source: CNN Town Hall 2020 drive-in with Anderson Cooper
Joe Biden on COVID:
(Health Care Sep 17, 2020)
Protect workers and schools from COVID with funding & PPE
Q: What plan do you have to keep us from contracting COVID-19 virus in our workplace?BIDEN: We should have national standards laid so people can go to work safely. That requires us to have rapid testing, the protective gear, some
Federal funding, particularly kids going back to school, making sure there's testing and tracing. There's a whole range of things we should have done. The President disregarded it. So there's a lot of empty chairs, and it's got to stop.
Q: Could you see a scenario where you downplayed critical information so as not to cause panic?
BIDEN: Not at all. If he had just acted one month, one week earlier, he would have saved 37,000 lives. But he knew it. He knew it and did nothing. It is close to criminal.
Click for Joe Biden on other issues.
Source: CNN Town Hall 2020 drive-in with Anderson Cooper
Donald Trump on COVID:
(Health Care Sep 15, 2020)
Coronavirus was China's fault; I tried to close border
Q: What has been the most difficult part of your presidency?TRUMP: Without question, I would say, because things were going so well, the whole COVID, the China virus, as I call it, because it comes from China, I think it's a much more accurate term.
It's been very difficult; it's been so sad. We will get there, it's going to happen. But nobody's seen anything like probably since 1917.
Q: What did you learn from it?
TRUMP: I learned that life is very fragile, because [even with] strong
people, all of a sudden they were dead. And it wasn't their fault. It was the fault of a country that could have stopped it. And I made a great deal with China. I feel so differently about that [China trade] deal. I don't view it the same way because of
the horror of this disease, that could have been stopped at the border.
Q: Could you have done more to stop it?
TRUMP: I don't think so. I think what I did by closing up the country, I saved lives. I think we did a very good job.
Click for Donald Trump on other issues.
Source: ABC This Week: special edition 2020 Town Hall interview
Donald Trump on COVID:
(Health Care Sep 15, 2020)
COVID: We're very close to having vaccine
Frankly, we're very close to having the vaccine. If you want to know the truth, the previous administration would have taken perhaps years to have a vaccine because of the FDA and all the approvals, and we're within weeks of getting it. You know,
could be three weeks, four weeks, but we think we have it. Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, we have great companies and they're very, very close. So I feel that we've done a tremendous job actually, and I don't think it's been recognized like it should.
Click for Donald Trump on other issues.
Source: ABC This Week: special edition 2020 Town Hall interview
Donald Trump on COVID:
(Health Care Sep 15, 2020)
COVID: If we wouldn't do testing you wouldn't have cases
Q: What could have been done differently on coronavirus?TRUMP: We're very proud of the job we've done, and we've saved a lot of lives, a tremendous number of lives.
Q: We have 4% of the world's population, more than 20% of the cases, more
than 20% of the deaths.
TRUMP: We have 20% of the cases because of the fact that we do much more testing. If we wouldn't do testing you wouldn't have cases. You would have very few cases.
Click for Donald Trump on other issues.
Source: ABC This Week: special edition 2020 Town Hall interview
Donald Trump on COVID:
(Health Care Sep 15, 2020)
COVID-19 is going to disappear; I still say it
Q: You said early in the pandemic hat coronavirus was going to disappear.TRUMP: It is going to disappear. It's going to disappear, I still say it.
Q: But not if we don't take action, correct?
TRUMP: No, I still say it. It's going to disappear.
I want to see people, and you want to see people. I want to see football games. I'm pushing very hard for Big Ten, I want to see Big Ten open. Let them play sports.
Click for Donald Trump on other issues.
Source: ABC This Week: special edition 2020 Town Hall interview
Donald Trump on COVID:
(Health Care Sep 15, 2020)
COVID: If we wouldn't do testing you wouldn't have cases
Q: What about a coronavirus vaccine?TRUMP: Frankly, we're very close to having the vaccine. If you want to know the truth, the previous administration would have taken perhaps years to have a vaccine because of the FDA and all the approvals, and
we're within weeks of getting it. You know, could be three weeks, four weeks, but we think we have it. Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, we have great companies and they're very, very close. So I feel that we've done a tremendous job actually, and
I don't think it's been recognized like it should.
Q: What the next step in fighting the virus?
TRUMP: We're very proud of the job we've done, and we've saved a lot of lives, a tremendous number of lives.
Q: We have 4% of the world's population,
more than 20% of the cases, more than 20% of the deaths.
TRUMP: We have 20% of the cases because of the fact that we do much more testing. If we wouldn't do testing you wouldn't have cases. You would have very few cases.
Click for Donald Trump on other issues.
Source: ABC This Week: special edition 2020 Town Hall interview
Donald Trump on COVID:
(Health Care Sep 15, 2020)
COVID: Why didn't Biden have national mask mandate?
Q: What about wearing facemasks for coronavirus?TRUMP: They said at the Democrat convention they're going to do a national mandate. They never did it, because they've checked out and they didn't do it.
And a good question is, you ask why Joe Biden--they said we're going to do a national mandate on masks. But he didn't do it. He never did it.
Q: You were saying it was going to disappear.
TRUMP: It is going to disappear. It's going to disappear, I still say it.
Q: But not if we don't take action, correct?
TRUMP: No, I still say it. It's going to disappear, George. I want to see people, and you want to see people. I want to see football games. I'm pushing very hard for Big Ten, I want to see Big Ten open. Let them play sports.
Click for Donald Trump on other issues.
Source: ABC This Week: special edition 2020 Town Hall interview
Donald Trump on COVID:
(Health Care Sep 8, 2020)
COVID: Supported China travel ban and national emergency
The president said in the State of the Union [on Feb. 5, 2020], "protecting Americans' health also means fighting infectious diseases. We are coordinating with the Chinese government and working closely together on the coronavirus outbreak in China. My
administration will take all necessary steps to safeguard our citizens from this threat." On Jan. 31, President Trump had declared the coronavirus a public health emergency and announced travel restrictions for China. While the president and his team
were starting preparations in the event of an outbreak in the US, many leading Democrats in Washington were too distracted by impeachment to care about the emerging threat.
Despite criticism from Democrats and the media, the president made the right
call with the travel ban. He was also right to declare a national emergency and implement social distancing guidelines--not forever, but until we flattened the curve--which likely prevented the failure of hospitals and prevented many American deaths.
Click for Donald Trump on other issues.
Source: Speaking for Myself, by Sarah Huckabee Sanders, p.247
Joe Biden on COVID:
(Civil Rights Aug 23, 2020)
COVID: Mask mandate is about saving lives
Q: Are you going to force people to wear a mask for coronavirus?BIDEN: I'm going to ask every governor to step up. This isn't about freedom; it's about freedom for your neighbors. It's about a patriotic responsibility to protect your neighbors.
The only way you can do that is to be socially distanced and wearing a mask when you're in public, when you're outside. This is the first time I've ever heard people say that doing something patriotic you can save other people's lives, impacts on
their freedom. Give me a break; this is about saving lives.
Q: Would you be prepared to shut this country down again?
BIDEN: I will be prepared to do whatever it takes to save lives because we cannot get the country moving until we control the
virus. That is the fundamental flaw of this administration's thinking. In order to keep the economy growing, and people employed, you have to fix the virus, you have to deal with the virus. I would shut it down, I would listen to the scientists.
Click for Joe Biden on other issues.
Source: ABC This Week 2020 National Convention David Muir Q&A
Kamala Harris on COVID:
(Health Care Aug 23, 2020)
COVID: track racial disparities; get vaccines to neediest
Q: Would you be prepared to shut this country down again [for the coronavirus pandemic]?BIDEN: I will be prepared to do whatever it takes to save lives because we cannot get the country moving until we control the virus. That is the fundamental flaw
of this administration's thinking to begin with. In order to keep the country running and moving and the economy growing, and people employed, you have to fix the virus, you have to deal with the virus. I would shut it down, I would listen to the
scientists.
HARRIS: There are different needs based on different communities and that's why we talk about the need to track actually racial disparities -- disparities based on region, geographic region and do that now. So that when we have a vaccine,
those communities that are most in need, will get them. That policy and that approach will be guided by the public health experts, unlike what we have seen now which are the politics guiding a public health crisis.
Click for Kamala Harris on other issues.
Source: ABC This Week 2020 National Convention David Muir Q&A
Joe Biden on COVID:
(Health Care Aug 23, 2020)
Coronavirus: Listen to science; step out of the way
Q: Do you blame President Trump for lives lost?BIDEN: I don't blame him for the COVID crisis. I blame him for walking away and not dealing with the solutions. Columbia University Medical School said if he had acted just one week earlier, he would
have saved over 37,000 lives, 37,000 fewer people would have not passed away. Two weeks earlier over 50,000 people. This is about telling the American people the truth, letting the scientists speak, listening to the science and stepping out of the way.
Click for Joe Biden on other issues.
Source: ABC This Week 2020 National Convention David Muir Q&A
Joe Biden on COVID:
(Health Care Aug 21, 2020)
Trump's looking for coronavirus miracle; no miracle coming
Biden said, "Just judge this president on the facts. Five million Americans infected by COVID-19. More than 170,000 Americans have died. By far the worst performance of any nation on earth." Biden said the president had been "looking for a miracle" when
he could have helped stem the tide of the virus. "The tragedy that we face today is that it didn't have to be this bad. The president keeps waiting around, looking for a miracle. Well, I have news for him: Mr. President, no miracle is coming."
Click for Joe Biden on other issues.
Source: B.Shepherd on Yahoo.com: 2020 Democratic National Convention
Bill Nelson on COVID:
(Health Care Aug 2, 2020)
COVID: wearing a mask must not be a partisan issue
I am a Democrat, but this must not be a partisan issue. Republican Gov. Jeb Bush recently encouraged Floridians to follow CDC guidelines by wearing a mask, washing your hands, and social distancing in public. Jeb and I are
united on this singular priority matter--to support common-sense mitigation of this deadly disease. So, my beloved Florida, let's show the rest of America that wearing a mask isn't a political symbol. It's a sign of solidarity with our fellow humans.
Click for Bill Nelson on other issues.
Source: Orlando Sentinel on 2021 Biden Cabinet
Donald Trump on COVID:
(Health Care Jul 14, 2020)
OpEd: COVID response was to minimize negativity at all costs
On his watch, "Nobody could have predicted" a pandemic that his own Department of Health and Human Services was running simulations for just a few months before COVID-19 struck in Washington State. Why does he do this? Fear. Donald didn't drag his
feet in December 2019, in January, in February, in March because of his narcissism; he did it because of his fear of appearing weak or failing to project the message that everything was "great", "beautiful", and "perfect."
The irony is that his failure to face the truth has inevitability led to massive failure anyway. In this case, the lives of potentially hundreds of thousands of people will be lost, and the economy of the richest country in history may be destroyed.
Donald will acknowledge none of this, moving the goal posts to hide the evidence and convincing himself in the process that he's done a better job than anybody else could have if only a few hundred thousand die instead of two million.
Click for Donald Trump on other issues.
Source: Too Much and Never Enough, by Mary Trump, p.207-8
Donald Trump on COVID:
(Health Care Jul 14, 2020)
OpEd:COVID non-response because no immediate personal effect
If he'd simply had somebody take the pandemic preparedness manual down from the shelf where it was put after the Obama administration gave it to him. If he'd alerted the appropriate agencies at the first evidence the virus was highly contagious.
If he'd invoked the Defense Protection Act of 1950 to being production of PPE, ventilators, and other necessary equipment to prepare the country. If he'd allowed medical and scientific experts to give press conferences during which facts were presented
clear and honestly.Most of those paths would have required no effort on his part. All he would have had to do was make a couple of phone calls, give a speech or two, then delegate everything else.
Why did it take so long for Donald to act? In
part, because like my grandfather, he has no imagination. The pandemic didn't have to immediately do with him, and managing the crisis in every moment doesn't help him promote his preferred narrative that no one has ever done a better job than he has.
Click for Donald Trump on other issues.
Source: Too Much and Never Enough, by Mary Trump, p.209
Donald Trump on COVID:
(Principles & Values Jul 14, 2020)
OpEd: in Trump family, fear is seen as weakness
On November 9, 2016, my despair was triggered in part by the certainty that Donald's cruelty and incompetence would get people killed. I couldn't have seen that a global pandemic would present itself, allowing him to display his grotesque indifference
to the lives of other people. Donald's initial response to COVID-19 underscores his need to minimize negativity at all cost. Fear--the equivalent of weakness in our family--is as unacceptable to him now as it was when he was three years old.
When Donald is in the most trouble, superlatives are no longer enough; both the situation and the reactions to it must be unique, even if absurd or nonsensical. On his watch, "Nobody could have predicted" a pandemic that his own
Department of Health and Human Services was running simulations for just a few months before COVID-19 struck in Washington State. Why does he do this? Fear.
Click for Donald Trump on other issues.
Source: Too Much and Never Enough, by Mary Trump, p.207-8
Steve Bullock on COVID:
(Health Care Jul 7, 2020)
Medicaid expansion has kept rural hospitals open
The governor will host a roundtable with health officials to discuss how COVID-19 has highlighted the importance of removing barriers towards getting needed health care. According to the governor's office, 10 times more services were delivered via
telehealth in April than in February for Medicaid expansion numbers. The governor's office also said Montana hasn't lost one rural hospital thanks to Medicaid expansion which covers the cost of COVID-19 related treatments.
Click for Steve Bullock on other issues.
Source: KULR-8 NBC-TV on 2020 Montana Senate race
Steve Bullock on COVID:
(Civil Rights Jun 26, 2020)
COVID-19: Gave counties option to switch to all-mail ballots
Because of concerns about COVID-19, Gov. Steve Bullock gave Montana counties the option to switch to all-mail ballots for the June
2 election--and all 56 counties took that option.
Click for Steve Bullock on other issues.
Source: KTVH NBC-TV-Helena on 2020 Montana Senate race
Donald Trump on COVID:
(Health Care Apr 30, 2020)
Claims to have seen evidence COVID19 was from Chinese lab
Fox News: Trump said he has seen evidence suggesting that the coronavirus originated from a laboratory in China, while continuing his criticism of the World Health Organization's ties to Beijing, comparing the group to a public relations agency. "This
is something that could have been contained at the original location and I think it could have been contained relatively easily," Trump said. "They were either unable to or they chose not to." Snopes 7/13/20: One of the conspiracy theories that have
plagued attempts to keep people informed during the pandemic is the idea that the coronavirus was created in a laboratory. Scientists who have studied the virus agree that it evolved naturally and crossed into humans from an animal species, most likely
a bat. How exactly do we know that this virus, SARS-CoV-2, has a zoonotic animal origin and not an artificial one? The answers lie in the genetic material and evolutionary history of the virus, and understanding the ecology of the bats in question.
Click for Donald Trump on other issues.
Source: Fox News and Snopes FactCheck on Trump Administration
Joe Biden on COVID:
(Health Care Apr 9, 2020)
COVID19: make sure there's free testing & free treatment
[The next recovery package] will have to provide health care coverage for millions who lose their insurance, by allowing them to stay on their health care plans and covering the cost, as well as reopening enrollment for ObamaCare and creating the public
option I've been calling for. And we must--must--make sure not only that every American can be tested for coronavirus free of cost, but also make sure every American can be treated for coronavirus free of cost. Period.
Click for Joe Biden on other issues.
Source: Medium.com blog on 2020 presidential hopefuls
Joe Biden on COVID:
(Tax Reform Apr 9, 2020)
Repeal high-income excess business losses tax cut
I would finance this new student debt proposal by repealing the high-income "excess business losses" tax cut in the CARES Act. That tax cut overwhelmingly benefits the richest
Americans and is unnecessary for addressing the current COVID-19 economic relief efforts.
Click for Joe Biden on other issues.
Source: Medium.com blog on 2020 presidential hopefuls
Gina Raimondo on COVID:
(Immigration Apr 7, 2020)
COVID: Get tested; no immigration officials at testing sites
[On COVID]: "I want to speak directly to Rhode Island's immigrant community. We want you to be safe and we want you to come forward, get tested and get healthcare," said Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo during her daily press briefing. "None of the
information that we take from you will ever get into the hands of an immigration authority. There are no immigration officials at any of these testing sites, even though they look official and there are people in uniforms."
Click for Gina Raimondo on other issues.
Source: Uprise RI on 2022 Rhode Island Gubernatorial race
Donald Trump on COVID:
(Health Care Apr 2, 2020)
Ended pandemic early-warning program in Wuhan, China
Two months before the novel coronavirus is thought to have begun in Wuhan, China, the Trump administration ended a $200-million pandemic early-warning program. The initiative, called PREDICT, trained and supported staff in 60 foreign laboratories--
including the Wuhan lab that identified COVID-19. The Wuhan lab received USAID funding for equipment, and PREDICT coordinators connected the scientists there with researchers in other countries in order to synchronize tracking of novel viruses.
Click for Donald Trump on other issues.
Source: The Los Angeles Times on Trump Administration
Susan Rice on COVID:
(Immigration Mar 13, 2020)
Viruses have no nationality and respect no borders
Consistent with his nationalistic, xenophobic orientation, Trump has portrayed the virus that causes Covid-19 as a "foreign virus." In reality, viruses know no nationality and respect no borders. Demonizing foreigners, denigrating people
of different religions and hues, building walls and restricting immigration are not effective ways to combat a pandemic. Nor do they solve our economic challenges or assuage those uncomfortable with our growing racial diversity.
Trump just announced a counterproductive and ineffectual suspension of travel from much of Europe. By refusing to consult or even warn our closest allies, the United States alienated partners whose cooperation we always need to confront global
challenges, including the coronavirus. Merely another feckless, if costly, way of blaming foreigners for our own problems, it does nothing to address the crisis already in our midst.
Click for Susan Rice on other issues.
Source: N. Y. Times 2020 analysis of coronavirus policy
Mike Pence on COVID:
(Health Care Feb 27, 2020)
COVID: February 2020--We're ready for anything
Allow me to address an issue that I know is on the hearts and minds of people all across this country: the potential impact of the coronavirus here in America. President Donald Trump has no higher priority than the health, safety, and wellbeing of the
American people. While the risk to the American public remains low, as the president said yesterday, we're ready. We're ready for anything.
Click for Mike Pence on other issues.
Source: Remarks by V.P. Pence at the 2020 CPAC Conference
Page last updated: Feb 28, 2022
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