Day 1,165: Trump pushes conspiracy theory that hospitals are to blame for ventilator and mask shortages: hoarding and ‘going out the back door’

The coronavirus pandemic is stretching medical facilities to their brink and beyond already. And the worst of the virus hasn’t even hit yet, thanks to a laissez-faire response by the Trump administration.

Lately, Donald Trump has actively pitted states against each other for federal aid and effectively told governors that they must be nice to him or their residents will die.

With all of that going on, medical supplies are in dangerously short supply. Those include masks and other personal protective equipment that medical professionals rely on to treat the sick. The gear is needed to protect both themselves and patients.

And yet Trump, during a Sunday briefing, forwarded a conspiracy theory related to mask shortages. He suggested that hospitals were sending masks “out the back door[.]”

Trump also accused hospitals of “hoarding” ventilators. (Trump has flip-flopped on the need for thousands of ventilators numerous times.)

Trump’s response to this crises has been wholly insufficient. He has been reduced to panic-tweeting a response, as the U.S. struggles to play catch-up on the supply front. Rather than take any blame for his own wrongdoing — which he’ll never do — Trump is blaming medical workers on the front lines. These are heroic men and women, fighting the pandemic with their health and safety at risk, being accused of stealing by Trump.

1,165 days in, 297 to go

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