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With Speaker Nancy Pelosi having already canceled the House’s return from break due to COVID-19, President Donald Trump offered speedy coronavirus testing at the Capitol to entice Democrats to get back to work.
When the California Democrat rejected the offer, in a rare joint statement with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Trump fired back in a tweet, referring to his House adversary as “Crazy Nancy.”
“No reason to turn it down, except politics. We have plenty of testing. Maybe you need a new Doctor over there. Crazy Nancy will use it as an excuse not to show up to work!” he tweeted.
No reason to turn it down, except politics. We have plenty of testing. Maybe you need a new Doctor over there. Crazy Nancy will use it as an excuse not to show up to work! https://t.co/NucH4dbKBL
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 2, 2020
Not lost in mix is that the president’s remarks were part of a retweet of a McConnell post from March 10 saying that “the time is now for all Americans to engage in basic common-sense measures.”
Citing House Attending Physician Dr. Brian P. Monahan, who said the risk posed by returning was not worth taking, Pelosi declared last week she had “no choice” but to cancel the session — a move that helps prolong a focus on the crisis at hand, slowing any efforts to reopen the country and get the U.S. economy going again.
The GOP-led Senate is set to return to work on Monday, distributing guidelines that are being put in place to safely hold session, and there is a testing process in place for Congress that takes two or more days to come back.
(There are 67 senators who are 60 or older, with six in their 80s — the elderly are at a greater risk with COVID-19.)
But Dr. Monahan reportedly told top Republican officials in a conference call there is not sufficient testing capacity for senators — a concern addressed with Trump’s offer of the “5 minute Abbott Test,” which rapidly delivers results.
An offer rejected under the guise of putting the interests of others before them, in part by deferring to front-line facilities.
“Congress is grateful for the Administration’s generous offer to deploy rapid COVID-19 testing capabilities to Capitol Hill, but we respectfully decline the offer at this time,” McConnell and Pelosi said in the joint statement. “Our country’s testing capacities are continuing to scale up nationwide and Congress wants to keep directing resources to the front-line facilities where they can do the most good the most quickly.”
The leaders said they will continue using the slower testing process currently in place for Congress.
“Consistent with CDC guidelines, Congress will use the current testing protocols that the Office of the Attending Physician has put in place until these speedier technologies become more widely available,” the statement said.
In a tweet earlier Saturday, the president let it be known that the quicker test would be made available, slamming Pelosi again as “Crazy Nancy.”
“There is tremendous CoronaVirus testing capacity in Washington for the Senators returning to Capital Hill on Monday,” Trump said. “Likewise the House, which should return but isn’t because of Crazy Nancy P. The 5 minute Abbott Test will be used. Please inform Dr. Brian P. Monahan.”
There is tremendous CoronaVirus testing capacity in Washington for the Senators returning to Capital Hill on Monday. Likewise the House, which should return but isn’t because of Crazy Nancy P. The 5 minute Abbott Test will be used. Please inform Dr. Brian P. Monahan. @MarkMeadows
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 2, 2020
Trump has been calling attention to the Democrat leader for not getting back to work to help bring relief to the American people during an unprecedented national crisis.
“The Democrats, they don’t want to come back, they don’t want to come back. I think they should be back here, but they don’t,” the president told reporters last week. “They are enjoying their vacation… if you look at Nancy Pelosi eating ice cream on late-night television. They’re having a good time.”
In yet another tweet Saturday, the president slammed “Crazy Nancy” for not getting back to work.
The dig coming as he responded to a One America News (OANN) tweet promoting a program focused on the Ukraine controversy House Democrats exploited in a failed attempt to remove Trump from office.
Trump tweeted: “The Impeachment Hoax will be exposed. Crazy Nancy gets Nothing Done, that’s why she got thrown out as Speaker the first time. Also, she should come back to Washington now!”
The Impeachment Hoax will be exposed. Crazy Nancy gets Nothing Done, that’s why she got thrown out as Speaker the first time. Also, she should come back to Washington now! https://t.co/stKjtzPJNZ
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 2, 2020
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The longest-tenured writer at BizPac Review, Tom grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills.
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