TriggerPhoto/iStockBy ENJOLI FRANCIS AND ESTHER CASTILLEJO, ABC NEWS
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump told ABC News anchor David Muir in an exclusive interview that when his administration came into office in January 2017, there were no ventilators, medical equipment or testing to help it combat the COVID-19 pandemic currently gripping the U.S.
“The cupboard was bare. … The last administration left us nothing,” Trump told the “World News Tonight” anchor during an interview Tuesday, claiming that his administration had worked to build an “incredible” stockpile.
When Muir pressed Trump about what he’s done to “restock” the cupboard he said had been left “bare,” the president claimed he’s been busy.
“Well, I’ll be honest. I have a lot of things going on. We had a lot of people that refused to allow the country to be successful. They wasted a lot of time on Russia, Russia, Russia. That turned out to be a total hoax. Then they did Ukraine, Ukraine and that was a total hoax, then they impeached the president of the United States for absolutely no reason,” Trump said.
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In 2018, according to The Associated Press, the president disbanded the Obama administration’s National Security Council directorate for global health and security and bio-defense, which had been tasked with preparing for a future pandemic in the U.S.
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