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Tommy Thompson: “I had a plan laid out for Congress to invest in these…”

Featuring: Tommy Thompson, Conservative | Former Candidate, U.S. Senate Wisconsin

Exclusive: Tommy Thompson on coronavirus outbreak, response

Published April 2, 2020 | Video Starts at 02:48

And that's exactly what's happened today. And we didn't have the surge capacity. We don't have the surge capacity. We don't have the ventilators. We don't have the mask. And I had a plan laid out for Congress to invest in these things, and they didn't do it. They didn't listen to you. They didn't listen to me. But, you know, America has a great habit of just listening to what's happening right now, not looking forward to what might happen. (02:48–02:54)

CLAIM

Asserts that he proposed a plan to Congress for pandemic preparedness that was not implemented.

This is an excerpt from a raw transcript. The assertions have not been audited or verified. Tap the video to view the source footage and understand the context.

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Tommy Thompson

“We went from 8 to 12 [medical depots] under my leadership when I was secretary.”
Exclusive: Tommy Thompson on coronavirus outbreak, response | Uploaded April 2, 2020 | 01:42-01:47
“We didn't take the WHO test, and we wanted to develop our own test, and we thought we had enough time.”
Exclusive: Tommy Thompson on coronavirus outbreak, response | Uploaded April 2, 2020 | 06:53-07:00
“There are over 200,000 people now in America that's got this terrible virus or has had this virus.”
Exclusive: Tommy Thompson on coronavirus outbreak, response | Uploaded April 2, 2020 | 07:04-07:10
“The government is doing everything they possibly can [in response to the coronavirus].”
Exclusive: Tommy Thompson on coronavirus outbreak, response | Uploaded April 2, 2020 | 00:18-00:21
“When I came in as Secretary of Health and Human Services, we were not prepared [for pandemics].”
Exclusive: Tommy Thompson on coronavirus outbreak, response | Uploaded April 2, 2020 | 00:56-01:02
“We don't have the surge capacity. We don't have the ventilators. We don't have the mask.”
Exclusive: Tommy Thompson on coronavirus outbreak, response | Uploaded April 2, 2020 | 02:44-02:48
“After 9/11, I realized that the eight medical depots we had with medical equipment, medical supplies, was not enough.”
Exclusive: Tommy Thompson on coronavirus outbreak, response | Uploaded April 2, 2020 | 03:31-03:41
“We should have those ventilators in our 12 medical depots, and there should be enough there to take care of this emergency.”
Exclusive: Tommy Thompson on coronavirus outbreak, response | Uploaded April 2, 2020 | 04:22-04:31
“If you would have taken my plan back in 2005, we wouldn't be in the situation we are today.”
Exclusive: Tommy Thompson on coronavirus outbreak, response | Uploaded April 2, 2020 | 04:48-04:55
“I think we're doing as well as any state [Wisconsin].”
Exclusive: Tommy Thompson on coronavirus outbreak, response | Uploaded April 2, 2020 | 05:24-05:27
“With testing, our testing, that was the biggest problem from the beginning.”
Exclusive: Tommy Thompson on coronavirus outbreak, response | Uploaded April 2, 2020 | 06:48-06:53
“We still got to do the testing, and we're still trying to catch up. We're not ahead of it.”
Exclusive: Tommy Thompson on coronavirus outbreak, response | Uploaded April 2, 2020 | 07:16-07:22
“We will get better prepared for future viruses, future epidemics, pandemics, because they're going to come.”
Exclusive: Tommy Thompson on coronavirus outbreak, response | Uploaded April 2, 2020 | 07:29-07:36
“The only way to get prepared is to invest in our medical supplies and medical equipment, which we didn't do before.”
Exclusive: Tommy Thompson on coronavirus outbreak, response | Uploaded April 2, 2020 | 07:43-07:51
“We did terribly [in pandemic preparedness].”
Exclusive: Tommy Thompson on coronavirus outbreak, response | Uploaded April 2, 2020 | 08:32-08:36