MSNBC host Joe Scarborough said President Trump was “ill-prepared” to respond to the outbreak of the virus that causes COVID-19.
“Donald Trump knew this was coming,” Scarborough said Monday. “He could have called out the National Guard if he had to. He could have done anything.”
Trump placed travel restrictions on much of Europe last week and added the United Kingdom and Ireland to the list on Saturday after placing restrictions on China in January and Iran in February. He declared a national state of emergency on Friday.
His administration has been criticized for a lack of coronavirus testing kits across the country amid the outbreak, which the World Health Organization has dubbed a pandemic.
Trump blamed the slow rollout of the testing kits on former President Barack Obama’s administration and has assured the public that his administration has the outbreak under control.
Over the weekend, videos and photos showed people waiting for hours at major airports across the country, where health officials have set up testing sites for people who have returned from foreign countries.
Trump has also faced questions about the administration cutting its global health security team back in 2018.
“Once again, so ill-prepared. And look how close everybody is. Jam-packed in there,” Scarborough said.
As of Monday at noon, there were more than 3,800 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the United States and 69 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker.
