President Donald Trump's decision to "empty out" an office that had been in place to fight pandemics and to order cuts might prove the "chickens are coming home to roost" when it comes to fighting the spread of coronavirus in the United States, Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., said Thursday.
"We all know that President Trump, in the course of his service, has disrespected science and scientists, [and] has told an awful lot of untruths," the Delaware Democrat told MSNBC's "Morning Joe." "I hope the administration, and President Trump, in particular, will respect the scientific leaders, the very capable leaders at the NIH [National Institute of Health] and the CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]. His budget proposed deep cuts to those vital organizations."
He further pointed out that during the Ebola outbreak during President Barack Obama's administration, Trump "stood on the sidelines and helped with the fearmongering and the spread of disinformation."
The office closures are particularly troubling, Coons said, because "it may sound like a short-term savings to empty out an office that isn't actively used to fight pandemics, but when something comes up like this, it will show that we're not well-prepared."
Congress must also work "well and quickly" to approve financial support for the effort against the virus, Coons said.
"We ultimately appropriated roughly $5 billion in response to Ebola, an outbreak largely contained in three west African countries," Coons said. "Preparedness and research and response here in the United States cost quite a bit. This is an epidemic now, a pandemic that has hit."
The CDC has reported the first case of transmission in the United States with a patient that had no connections with anyone returning from China, he added.
"I have great confidence in the folks at NIH and CDC," Coons said. "We need to listen to them and the public health officials in every state and community for their direction."