Kathleen Sebelius on the Trump Administration's 'Terrifying' Pandemic Response
As a former secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, serving under President Obama, and a former governor of Kansas, during the George W. Bush era, Kathleen Sebelius has a unique perspective on the challenges posed by a pandemic, the urgency of coordinating a federal response, and the rightful role of states in a moment of national crisis.
In describing the Trump administration’s reaction to the coronavirus outbreak, Sebelius leans on words like “terrifying,” “head-spinning,” and “total nightmare.”
I spoke to Sebelius in April in reporting Rolling Stone’s investigation into the deadly testing failures that have defined the administration’s COVID-19 response. What follows is an edited transcript of that conversation:
Rolling Stone: I wanted to first ask you about your experience as a governor. The administration seems to be putting governors into an impossible position, asking them to take on responsibilities that belong to the federal government, even as Trump picks fights with Democratic governors.
Kathleen Sebelius: My head is spinning. The entire time I was a governor, I was a Democrat with a Republican president. I’m used to having a partisan difference with the chief executive. The response in my day was very evenhanded. And the president’s brother was one of my colleagues; Jeb Bush was governor of Florida, but nothing in terms of policy from the the White House seemed to be tilted toward Florida, much less toward Republicans and away from Democrats. It was very transparent. I find the approach of this White House to be very difficult. For policymakers to be singled out as partisans, or called out by name because the president doesn’t like you? I’ve never seen anything like that.
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https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/kathleen-sebelius-trump-covid-coronavirus-pandemic-response-1000025/
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