CNN’s John Harwood Calls Out Trump For Naming Mike Pence as Coronavirus Task Force Leader, Cites Disastrous Past Handling HIV Outbreak

CNN White House Correspondent John Harwood criticized President Donald Trump’s decision to place Vice President Mike Pence at the helm of the coronavirus task force, Wednesday, noting Pence’s disastrous decisions as governor of Indiana which led to an HIV outbreak.

“I think what we saw last night at the news conference was the president in front of all of us — we could all see it — struggling to accept the reality of the situation,” Harwood claimed. “Maybe we’ll take another $2.5 billion, maybe we’ll take 4, maybe we’ll take 8. Maybe it is like the flu, maybe it is easier, maybe it is harder.”

“Not accepting the mortality numbers that Sanjay correctly pointed out. Maybe we’ll have community spread, maybe we won’t, it is not inevitable. Well, that was shown right after the news conference that we are going to have community spread. We have community spread,” he continued. “And what you have seen today and last night, when Dow futures fell while that press conference was going on, is a no-confidence vote from financial markets who have got a lot of money on the line in what the administration is doing.”

“You also have the president appointing Mike Pence, saying he’s really good on health,” Harwood noted, before saying, “We all remember that as governor of Indiana he struggled to cope with a public health crisis on HIV by delaying needle exchanges.”

Harwood pointed out that Pence’s decisions during the HIV crisis “had real consequences in terms of lives lost,” adding, “So the administration has not gotten its act together.”

“Alex Azar was struggling openly with Mike Pence at that news conference, saying, ‘I’m still in charge of the task force.’ This afternoon, they’re going to have a meeting of the task force at HHS on Azar’s turf,” Harwood concluded. “How is Mike Pence going to handle that? That’s another test for the administration.”

President Trump announced Pence’s role on the coronavirus task force during a press conference, Wednesday.

“I’m going to be announcing exactly right now that I’m going to be putting our Vice President Mike Pence in charge and Mike will be working with the professionals and doctors and everybody else that’s working,” President Trump announced. “Mike is going to be in charge and Mike will report back to me, but he’s got a certain talent for this.”

Watch above via CNN.