(Tucson, A.Z.) – Today, Congresswoman Kirkpatrick released the following statement regarding President Trump’s trip to Phoenix, AZ during an unprecedented health crisis. The President is scheduled to visit an Arizona factory that has expanded into production of N95 face masks in the wake of the pandemic.
In February, during a visit to Arizona on behalf of his campaign, the President downplayed the effects of coronavirus entirely. In an interview, he told a reporter that he thought it was “going to work out fine.” The United States now leads the world in cases and has had approximately 68,000 deaths to date, 400 of which were in Arizona.
“From constantly needing to readjust death toll estimates, to minimizing the importance of CDC guidelines, the President is floundering and has failed to acknowledge this health crisis,” said Congresswoman Kirkpatrick. “Americans deserve a President who takes swift action to prioritize their health and safety. Instead, Americans currently have a President who not only refuses to take responsibility for a failed response to the crisis, but uses his platform as an egocentric campaign booster. We need less partisan campaigning and more widespread testing.”
In light of President Trump’s shortcoming, Ann Kirkpatrick submitted an op-ed to the Tucson Sentinel endorsing Joe Biden. She wrote, “This moment requires true presidential leadership to help coordinate an integrated, national response to this pandemic. It is not a “strategy” to leave a global pandemic response up to the states. Our president needs to possess the understanding of the importance of working with our states to beat this pandemic, as well as a sense of empathy to understand the far-reaching toll COVID-19 is placing on families across the country.”