Joe Biden to NY Health Care Professionals That Blew the Whistle on Masks Being Stolen: I Don’t Believe You!
After President Trump raised the issue of people stealing medical equipment and supplies from hospitals, the Biden campaign pounced at the opportunity to further politicize a global pandemic. No one is stealing masks, they insisted, despite news reports to the contrary. "This is ridiculous and completely false," said Joe Biden in a statement calling it "conspiracy mongering."
But that is at odds with what New York's Democrat Governor Andrew Cuomo said earlier this month. "One of the things we've heard from health care professionals, there have been thefts of medical equipment and masks from hospitals, believe it or not," said Cuomo. "Not just people taking a couple or three, I mean just actual thefts of those products. I've asked the state police to do an investigation, look at marketplaces that are selling masks, et cetera, medical equipment, protective wear, playing into this, exploiting the anxiety."
So health care professionals told Governor Cuomo that people are stealing equipment and masks in bulk from hospitals, and Joe Biden doesn't believe them? What happened to "listen to the experts"?
Speaking of the lack of masks, let's not forget Biden's failure to restock the nation's stockpile while he was Vice President. He left America unprepared:
- In 2009, the H1N1 swine flu pandemic "triggered the largest deployment in U.S. history of the Strategic National Stockpile," which "distributed 85 million N95 respirators — fitted face masks that block most airborne particles — along with millions of other masks, gowns and gloves." But while Joe Biden was Vice President, no effort was made to replenish the stockpile of masks, despite warnings from multiple experts and a 2010 report funded by the federal government recommending the repository of masks be restocked for a future pandemic. "In hindsight, it appears to be shortsighted," said the senior director of public health preparedness for the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.