- The Washington Times - Thursday, July 16, 2020

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan on Thursday ripped President Trump for dropping the ball on a national coronavirus testing strategy, saying people expected more than “constant heckling” from the president during the pandemic.

Mr. Hogan, a Republican, said that in the early days of the pandemic, the Trump administration “bungled” the effort as other countries were racing ahead with organizing testing regimes.

“Meanwhile, instead of listening to his own public health experts, the president was talking and tweeting like a man more concerned about boosting the stock market or his reelection plans,” Mr. Hogan said in an opinion piece for the Washington Post.

He said governors always do the hard work and make the tough decisions, but a national testing program needed Washington, D.C.’s help.

“We expected something more than constant heckling from the man who was supposed to be our leader,” he said.

He recounted a phone call with Dr. Francis Collins, the head of the National Institutes of Health, in which Mr. Hogan was planning to make a pitch to conduct joint testing at NIH.

But it was Dr. Collins who said he was going to ask Mr. Hogan for help, saying they didn’t have enough tests for his “immune-compromised patients” or staff.

“I could only shake my head at that,” Mr. Hogan said. “The federal government - a much bigger and better-funded institution, with tens of thousands of scientists and physicians in the civil service - wanted my help!”

Mr. Hogan also recounted how, with the help of his wife, Yumi, he managed to procure 500,000 test kits from South Korea only to be met with criticism from Mr. Trump.

“The president’s comments that day seemed to confuse test kits with testing labs, but whatever. It was a great day for Maryland,” he said.

• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.

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