Trump contradicts nurse he’s honoring over PPE availability

He’s not listening

Commentary

But wait, there’s more: In reversal, Trump says task force will continue ‘indefinitely’

Around the Block dedicates its space to CNN’s coverage of National Nurse Day in the Oval Office yesterday.

(CNN) President Donald Trump contradicted a nurse he was honoring in the Oval Office on Wednesday, insisting there are no personal protective equipment shortages in the US despite her account that availability could be “sporadic.”

A reporter asked the nurses attending the National Nurse Day event if their PPE supplies are where they need to be amid the coronavirus pandemic, and many of them nodded in agreement or answered affirmatively.

“I think it’s sporadic,” answered Sophia L. Thomas, president of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners. “I mean, I talk to my colleagues around the country. Certainly there are pockets around the country where PPE is not ideal, but this is an unprecedented time.”

Thomas said she works at a community health center in New Orleans, and that her youngest Covid-19 patient was 4 days old.

“The infection control measures that we learned back when we went to school, one gown and one mask for one patient per day — this is a different time,” she said, adding that she has been reusing a single N95 mask for “a few weeks now.”

“PPE has been sporadic, but it’s been manageable. And we do what we have to do,” Thomas said. “We are nurses and we learn to adapt and do whatever we can do for our patients to get the job done and the care provided, and that’s what we will continue to do as Covid-19 continues.”

Despite her firsthand experience, Trump disputed Thomas’ account.

“Sporadic for you but not sporadic for a lot of other people,” the President told her.

“Oh no, I agree, Mr. President,” she answered.

“Because I’ve heard the opposite,” Trump said. “I have heard that they are loaded up with gowns now. We had empty shelves and empty nothing because it wasn’t put there by the last administration.”

Of course, the full effect of Trump’s rude, discourteous and downright insolent response to Ms. Thomas, not to mention the lack of empathy he showed for the Covid-19 death of a 4-day old infant, is only experienced by watching the video.

I couldn’t sign off without a few words about the most recent “policy” shift coming also out of the White House on National Nurse Day, and again from CNN:

(CNN) President Donald Trump declared Wednesday his coronavirus task force would continue “indefinitely” a day after he and Vice President Mike Pence said they were phasing out the health-focused panel in favor of a group focused on reopening the economy.

“I thought we could wind it down sooner. But I had no idea how popular the task force is until, actually, yesterday when I started talking about winding it down,” Trump said in the Oval Office, where he was meeting with nurses. “I get calls from very respected people saying, ‘I think it would be better to keep it going, it’s done such a good job.’ “

“It’s a respected task force. I know it myself,” he added. “I didn’t know whether or not it was appreciated by the public but it is appreciated by the public.”

You know, Trump is always complaining about the rude, nasty questions he gets from the White House press corp. I think it’s time for them to actually live up to their reputation.

Jim Acosta (CNN) Mr. President: So, coronavirus policy, and whether to have a task force of experts in place to fight the pandemic, is done on a whim, based on whether the task force was “popular” or not.? What does that mean? Does it mean that the task force briefings get high ratings? That it’s popular because the American people want to see if Dr. Birx ever runs out of scarves? Or that there are over/under pools for how many times Vice President Pence can praise you in one briefing?

Yamiche Alcindor (PBS News Hour) Mr. President : I have two questions today: 1) Who are those very respected people who keep calling you? Since I assume that only calls from people you know get through to you, and you don’t know any respected people, who are these people and why do they think the task force has done such a “good job;” and 2) What exactly did you mean when you said “I don’t whether or not it (the task force) was appreciated by the public but it is appreciated by the public.” You know, of course, that sentence makes no sense, so could you expand on it?