Former national security adviser Susan Rice on Tuesday issued a stinging rebuke of President Donald Trump’s slow, sloppy and widely criticized response to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Obama White House official ― in a searing editorial for The New York Times headlined “Trump Is the Wartime President We Have (Not the One We Need)” ― listed the ways Trump’s botched handling of the crisis may unnecessarily cost the lives of “many thousands more Americans.”
Among a litany of errors, the Trump administration previously shelved its pandemic playbook, ignored initial warnings of the public health threat posed by the outbreak and failed to act quickly to combat the spread of the virus, Rice wrote.
“It’s in our common interest that Mr. Trump stop trash-talking and start leading with the decency and resolve that we deserve,” Rice concluded. “But let’s not kid ourselves: Until America changes command, we are condemned to fight with the leader we have.”
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