Maxine Waters Lights Up HHS Sec. Azar for Ducking Questions on Trump Flouting Covid Protocols: How Are You Not Being ‘Very, Very Open?’

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) tore into Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar on Friday after President Donald Trump tested positive for Covid-19, accusing the secretary of delivering testimony that wasn’t “credible” and refusing to share any information on the state of the pandemic.

After asking Azar whether he thinks Trump’s campaign rallies have contributed to an increase in coronavirus cases, Azar replied, “We have consistent advice, which is to practice three W’s for all individuals. Wash your hands, watch your distance, wear face coverings, avoid settings where you can’t, and that applies to any setting, and people need to suss their individual circumstances.”

Waters responded, “So what you are saying is that these rallies where the president is… the people are not wearing masks and they are not socially distancing themselves to six feet certainly adds to the increase in the possibility of these infections, is that correct?”

Azar repeated his response: “Our advice is always the same. The three W’s, whether in any type of activity, to engage in those protective activities, but always to evaluate your individual circumstances.”

“Have you ever talked to the president about that and given him any advice?” Waters questioned. “Have you ever interacted with the president about him being a possible role model in this country and being one that could either help us to decrease the deaths and the infections by being a role model himself wearing the mask and having social distancing? Have you ever had that conversation with him?”

Azar declared that he would not discuss his conversations with the president, but reiterated that “the president’s guidelines since April have said wear face coverings, wash your hands… practice social distancing.”

Waters then became more confrontational, asking, “Mr. Secretary, are you proud of the job that you have done?”

“I don’t like to speak in those terms, 206,000 people have died,” Azar shot back, prompting Waters to say, “So you don’t like to speak in those terms about what you are doing. You don’t like to talk about what you were saying to the president, who should be a role model to the people of this country. You can’t give me any numbers about the increases that have taken place.”

“You don’t even know where those increases are taking place and you come here today and testify with this paltry testimony that you’re giving us and you expect us to be happy?” she continued. “We are very unhappy about what’s going on and we feel sorry that the president and his wife and others are now experiencing a positive test, et cetera.”

“How can you as the secretary, with the responsibilities that you have, come here and not be very, very open with us about what is happening in this country?” Waters snapped. “The increases and the deaths and what we need to do and the role modeling that we need to have. How can you come here without being prepared to do that?”

Azar replied, “I’m happy to do that if you would actually ask questions that elicit on that point. I would gladly talk to you about the state of the diseases of the United States and the steps being taken.”

After a brief back-and-forth, Waters yielded her time, and concluded, “The secretary is not here with credible testimony today answering the questions that need to be asked. All that we hear is basically a defense, basically of the president of the United States, and a lack of openness and information about what is happening in this country.”

Watch above via C-SPAN.