Mark Meadows Admits White House Will Not Control The COVID-19 Outbreak

White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows says the Trump administration is not going to control the pandemic

Stefani Reynolds / Getty Images

“We’re not going to control the pandemic,” Meadows told CNN’s Jake Tapper, Sunday. “We are going to control the fact that we get vaccines, therapeutics, and other mitigations.

“What we need to do is make sure that we have the proper mitigation factors, whether it’s therapies or vaccines or treatments to make sure that people don’t die from this.”

Earlier this week, at least five of Vice President Mike Pence’s aids tested positive for the coronavirus.

Presidential candidate Joe Biden released a statement responding to Meadows: “Mark Meadows stunningly admitted this morning that the administration has given up on even trying to control this pandemic, that they’ve given up on their basic duty to protect the American people.

“This wasn’t a slip by Meadows, it was a candid acknowledgment of what President Trump’s strategy has clearly been from the beginning of this crisis: to wave the white flag of defeat and hope that by ignoring it, the virus would simply go away. It hasn’t, and it won’t.”

As of Sunday, over 224,800 Americans have died from the virus, according to Johns Hopkins University. Just under 84,000 Americans tested positive for COVID-19, Saturday.

[Via]