Trump Testing Czar Walks Back Promise Of Tests For All

Brett Giroir Contradicts Trump and Experts on Right-Wing Radio, Says Not Everyone Will Get COVID-19 Test 

Watchdog Again Asks: President Trump, Where Are The Tests?

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Trump’s assistant secretary for health and human services and designated testing czar Brett Giroir hit the right-wing radio circuit to join Sergio Sanchez and Erick Erickson’s radio shows, where he tried his best to walk back the president’s claim that “anybody who wants a test gets a test.”

Giroir told Sanchez that not everyone will get tested for COVID-19 because the “priority is for the hospitalized, sick, first responders, people 65+ who are sick. […] if you are healthy, don’t worry about it,” despite experts’ support for widespread testing and evidence indicating its success in other pandemic hubs including South Korea. His comment follows the continued difficulty states face in obtaining the necessary number of tests needed to mitigate the worsening public health crisis.

“President Trump said that everyone who wants a COVID-19 test can get a test. Experts agree that we need widespread testing to get this virus under control. So why is Brett Giroir telling right-wing radio audiences that it’s acceptable not to test Americans who might be sick?” asked Kyle Herrig, president of Accountable.US. “Trump promised that COVID-19 tests would be widely accessible, and his administration has continually failed to deliver. Now the man he put in charge of testing is trying to downplay that failure by spreading misinformation that contradicts the best advice of public health experts.”

Accountable.US launched WhereAreTheTests.com nearly two weeks ago, and the Trump administration still has not answered that question for the country.

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