DNC Seniors Council Chair Steve Regenstreif released the following statement: 

Health experts have consistently stated that the risk for severe illness from COVID-19 increases for older Americans. Trump is putting our seniors at risk because he has failed to prepare, ignored warnings, downplayed the crisis, and still refuses to act. 

Seniors are paying the price. A record number of new cases were reported three days in a row, but Trump claims the virus is “going away.” We have surpassed 125,000 deaths and 2.5 million infected, but Trump is tweeting threats and stoking division. Trump failed on testing and tracing, and he has admitted he ordered officials to “slow the testing down” — putting his political interests ahead of Americans’ lives, especially our seniors.

As cases surge, Trump is slowing testing by ending federal support for testing sites around the country. Trump still doesn’t have a national testing strategy and has failed to spend the $14 billion allocated to expand testing and tracing, leaving states without the supplies they need. We cannot continue to put seniors at risk because the President is unwilling to protect them.