Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: Wealthy, Powerful Getting More Access to Coronavirus Tests

Thursday on Fox News Channel’s Special Report, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) argued “the more wealthy and powerful” had better access to the testing kits for coronavirus.

Ocasio-Cortez said, “I think it’s imperative that we pass the bill that has been presented today, which includes paid sick leave. It includes extended unemployment benefits, protections for Medicaid, and also making sure that we are taking action to protect doctors and nurses and hospital workers on the front line.”

Host Bret Baier played a clip of President Donald Trump saying, “We have the best economy, the most advanced health care, and the most talented doctors, scientists, and researchers anywhere in the world. We are all in this together. We must put politics aside, stop the partisanship, and unify together as one nation and one family,”

Ocasio-Cortez said, “One thing we need to do is put politics aside, and that’s exactly what Democrats have agreed with President Trump on his goals of paid sick leave and his goals of free coronavirus testing. All of those things have been included in our package. We pump it up a little bit more, but when you have a Democratic House and Republican Senate, compromise is the name of the game. The president is going to have to accept the fact we are fighting for people who are going to be potentially unemployed. He’s going to have to accept the fact we are going to push on doctor and nurse protection. When you look at the best healthcare system in the world, that’s something that’s up for debate. South Korea has 10,000 tests per day. They have been able to provide tests to any single person who wants it, and here, people are scrambling.”

She added, “It almost seems like the more wealthy and powerful you are, the more able you are to access a test, but the more — the rougher road you got here, it’s going to be a lot more difficult to access health care. That is exactly the recipe for disaster in a pandemic.”

Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN

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