Trump dismissed a government report — based on surveys from more than 300 hospitals — detailing 'severe' shortages in COVID-19 tests and protective equipment

It details a "severe" shortage of COVID-19 testing supplies and a "widespread" lack of personal protective equipment.
President Donald Trump dismissed the findings and suggested, without evidence, that the report was politically biased while also blaming state and local governments for the problems it describes.
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President Donald Trump on Monday responded to the critical shortage of medical supplies at many US hospitals by dismissing a new inspector general report based on testimony from hundreds of the nation's front-line medical facilities as "wrong."

According to the report, released earlier Monday by the inspector general for the Department of Health and Human Services, hospitals are reporting a "severe" shortage of testing supplies and a "widespread" lack of N95 masks and other personal protective equipment. The inspector general, an independent oversight official within HHS, issued the findings after interviewing staff at 323 hospitals.

Trump was asked about the findings at a press briefing on Monday afternoon.

"Did I hear the word 'inspector general'? Really? It's wrong," the president responded. "Give me the name of the inspector general. Could politics be entered into that?"

Last week, Trump fired another inspector general, Michael Atkinson , who lost the president's confidence by revealing the existence of a whistleblower concerned about the White House's dealings with Ukraine, as required by law.

"We're the federal government. We're not supposed to stand on street corners doing testing," he said. State and local governments, "They do the testing," he asserted.

A month ago, March 6, Trump himself touted the federal government's role in testing. "Anybody that wants a test can get a test," the president said while on a visit to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. "That's what the bottom line is."

As the inspector general noted, hospitals have been " unable to keep up with COVID-19 testing demands " due to a lack of kits and other supplies.

Trump ended Monday's exchange by berating the reporter who asked about the report.

"You should say, 'Congratulations, great job,' instead of being so horrid in the way you ask a question," he told the reporter, an employee of Fox News.

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Trump dismissed a government report — based on surveys from more than 300 hospitals — detailing 'severe' shortages in COVID-19 tests and protective equipment

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