Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has admitted he was ‘wrong’ to say the Obama administration failed to leave a plan for a pandemic.
His admission comes just days after McConnell told the President Donald Trump’s daughter in law Lara Trump that ‘the Obama administration did not leave to this administration any kind of game plan for something like this’.
But the former president’s officials struck back, stating they left a 69-page Pandemic Playbook for the Trump administration ‘that they ignored’.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (pictured) has admitted he was ‘wrong’ to say the Obama administration failed to leave a ‘game plan’ for a pandemic
The document listed the novel coronaviruses as ones to watch that could require a major government response and addressed issues such as PPE, testing and funding.
The US is the worst-hit country in the coronavirus pandemic with more than 1.4 million infected and upwards of 85,900 dead.
Speaking to Fox News, McConnell said: ‘I was wrong. They did leave behind a plan, so I clearly made a mistake in that regard.’
In an online conversation for the Trump campaign last week, McConnell said: ‘They claim pandemics only happen once every hundred years but what if that’s no longer true?
McConnell told the President’s daughter in law Lara Trump that ‘the Obama administration did not leave to this administration any kind of game plan for something like this’
Obama (pictured) officials struck back, stating they left a 69-page Pandemic Playbook for the Trump administration ‘that they ignored’
‘We want to be early, ready for the next one because clearly the Obama administration did not leave to this administration any kind of game plan for something like this.’
After his claims, Ronald Klain, a campaign adviser to Biden and the former Obama administration Ebola response coordinator, responded via Twitter.
He wrote: ‘We literally left them a 69-page Pandemic Playbook…. that they ignored.
Speaking to Fox News, McConnell (pictured) said: ‘I was wrong. They did leave behind a plan, so I clearly made a mistake in that regard’
‘And an office called the Pandemic Preparedness Office… that they abolished.
‘And a global monitoring system called PREDICT .. that they cut by 75%.’
The Obama playbook, which was 40 pages plus appendices, contained advice on questions to put forward, decisions to make, and which federal agencies are responsible for what, CNN reported.
Trump had his press secretary Kayleigh McEnany wave a pandemic ‘plan’ at reporters on Thursday to show the president was in control of the outbreak
She also carried the 2019 after-action report from the Crimson Contagion wargame, which harshly criticized the federal government’s pandemic preparedness
The color-coded book addressed a number of issues, including testing, funding, personal protective equipment, emergency declarations, border control measures, diplomacy, the use of the military, public communication, and even mortuary services.
Trump had his press secretary Kayleigh McEnany wave a pandemic ‘plan’ at reporters on Thursday to show the president was in control of the outbreak.
But she was also holding an after-action report from the ‘Crimson Contagion’ simulation exercise which took place in 2019.
This harshly criticized the federal government’s pandemic preparedness plan.
The simulated scenario tested the capacity of the U.S. federal government and 12 states to handle a severe influenza outbreak originating in China, and warned of a disorganized response, funding shortfalls, and dangerous shortages of ventilators and medical masks.
The plan was brought out after a whistleblower testified on Capitol Hill that a ‘dark winter’ was ahead because of a lack of ‘standard, centralized, coordinated plan.’