In response to Ivanka Trump, Sonny Perdue, and Larry Hogan’s photo op in Laurel, Maryland today, Democratic National Committee spokesperson John Weber released the following statement:

“A photo op can’t spin Trump’s failure to prepare for and respond to the harshest national challenge we’ve faced in a generation. Instead of getting tests and personal protective equipment into the hands of Marylanders, he wasted time, ignored the experts, and promised that the virus would go away on its own. Now, nearly 2,000 Marylanders are dead and more than half a million have lost work. We can’t afford four more years of this chaos.”

BACKGROUND ON TRUMP’S FAILED CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE

Promise: In January, Trump claimed the coronavirus was “totally under control” and later suggested that the outbreak would be limited to 15 U.S. cases.

• Reality: Trump spent weeks ignoring warnings and downplaying the crisis. The United States now leads the world with more than 1.4 million confirmed cases. More than 86,000 Americans are dead and 36 million are out of work—including more than 556,000 Marylanders.

Promise: On March 6, Trump told reporters, “Anybody that wants a test can get a test.”

• Reality: More than two months later, everybody who wants a test still can’t get a test even according to Trump’s own task force.

• Reality: Trump’s testing “strategy” would provide tests for just 2% of Marylanders.

Promise: In a televised Oval Office address, Trump promised to marshal “the full power of the federal government and the private sector to protect the American people.”

• Reality: After Maryland was forced to acquire tests from overseas suppliers, the Maryland National Guard was mobilized to protect the equipment from being seized by the Trump administration.

• Reality: While experts warned of a coming pandemic, the Trump administration shipped nearly 18 tons of personal protective equipment (PPE) to China even as U.S. hospitals ran out.