Demand Trump the pandemic response team — he FIRED — before it's too late!

Over the past three years the Trump administration has systematically dismantled much of our nation’s defenses for responding to just such a pandemic, slashing staff and “disease-fighting operational budgets” at various critical agencies including the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the Department of Health and Human Services, (HHS), and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). In a particularly damning piece of reporting, Foreign Policy noted, “The global health section of the CDC was so drastically cut in 2018 that much of its staff was laid off and the number of countries it was working in was reduced from 49 to merely 10.”

Making matters far worse? The deeply irresponsible musings of Trump cheerleaders like Rush Limbaugh telling legions of followers that the coronavirus is nothing more than a “common cold.” Now, he’s even placed Vice President Mike Pence in charge of America’s response, an avowed science denier who made Indiana’s AIDS outbreak worse by denying reality.

The United States should be leading the charge in combating the coronavirus and coordinating a global response plan. Demand President Trump reconstitute the pandemic response team he needlessly disbanded and commit the necessary resources to fight the coming pandemic head on.