Former advisor to VP Harris slams Biden admin’s Covid protocols: ‘If this were the Trump administration’
Dani Repass
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A former adviser to Vice President Kamala Harris slammed the White House’s internal Covid-19 protocols and insisted that the Trump administration would have faced heavy backlash over the issue.
“If this were the Trump administration, we would be talking about how they were putting staff and the health of their potentially unvaccinated household members in jeopardy,” said Kavita Patel, who was instrumental in developing Harris’s healthcare plan during her 2020 presidential campaign.
Some staffers have voiced their displeasure at the White House’s contact tracing protocols. As of now, the staff is only told about cases if the White House’s contact tracing team determines they might have been exposed. Additionally, the staff is not always provided with testing, even if they believe they may have been exposed to the virus.
“Information is shared exclusively with those who may be at risk in order to support individual employee privacy, while still effectively keeping all members of our campus community safe,” a White House official told Politico reporters. “White House staff with questions about our testing program are always encouraged to ask them to the operations team.”
The official’s comments come after Press Secretary Jen Psaki refused to disclose information on breakthrough cases within the White House.
“I think first we’re in a very different place than we were six to seven months as it relates to the virus,” Psaki said at a press conference in late July.
“Why not just provide the number,” a reporter said. “Are you trying to hide something?”
“No, but why do you need to have that information?” Psaki retorted.
“Transparency…” replied the reporter.
Psaki never provided the public with statistics on breakthrough cases, and neither she nor Kavita Patel responded to the Independent Chronicle’s request for comment.