Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton wants to know if President Donald Trump has utilized the Defense Production Act to speed up the production of medical equipment.
âLetâs try this again,â Clinton said in a tweet on Thursday night.
She continued, âHospitals are already running out of ventilators and beds. Nurses are using bandanas as masks. If youâve already ordered more with the Defense Production Act, tell us now.â
âIf you havenât, youâre failing to lead and failing Americans,â she added.Â
Trump announced that he was invoking the Defense Production Act to speed up the production of ventilators and other much needed medical equipment to help healthcare workers battling the coronavirus outbreak.
Earlier on Thursday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) called on Trump to âimmediately use the powers of the Defense Production Act to mass-produce and coordinate distribution of these critical supplies,â as IJR has previously reported.
Clinton, who ran against Trump in 2016, has previously criticized Trumpâs actions and behavior when it comes to his handling of the coronavirus outbreak.
On Wednesday, she accused Trump of âturning to racist rhetoric to distract from his failures to take the coronavirus seriously.â
Clintonâs comments appear to refer to Trumpâs decision to refer to the coronavirus as the âChinese Virusâ â which he has defended and suggested was not racist.
After signing the Defense Production Act, Trump said he only did so to use in a âworst-case scenario in the future.â