WASHINGTON (US) – A former White House aide who contributed in coordinating the Trump administration’s response to the pandemic criticised President Donald Trump in a video released on Thursday. She said she has plans to vote for Democrat Joe Biden.
Olivia Troye, an aide to Vice President Mike Pence, has been in the forefront organiser for the White House Coronavirus Task Force that Pence has been leading.
Troye said that the administration was well aware of the fact that COVID would become a big pandemic around mid-February in the United States.
She said, “But the president didn’t want to hear that because his biggest concern was that we were in an election year and how was this going to affect what he considered to be his record of success.”
Troye said it was shocking to see Trump, undermining the virus in its early stages.
She said in the video, “The truth is he doesn’t actually care about anyone else but himself. If the president had taken this virus seriously …. he would have slowed the virus spread, he would have saved lives.”
Trump told reporters he had never met Troye. He added that as she was allowed to go, she penned a “beautiful letter” in praise of the administration.
In that letter, released by the White House, Troye has neither praised Trump or Pence.
Pence, in comments to reporters, said Troye’s words sounded like that of a dissatisfied employee trying to play politics during an election year.
White House spokesman Judd Deere said there was no direct interaction of Troye with Trump or she was not directly involved in the coronavirus task force. He called her statements “flat out inaccurate.”
Troye said whether what she said would have made a difference because the president’s actions were hampering the administration’s efforts on the virus.
She said, “It was awful. It was terrifying.”