Hillary Clinton: Trump Withdrawing from W.H.O. a ‘Self-Inflicted Disaster’

Hillary Clinton declared on Tuesday that the Trump administration’s formal withdrawal from the World Health Organization (W.H.O) is a “self-inflicted disaster.”

“This is the very last thing we need, so of course the Trump administration is doing it,” said the failed Trump challenger. “What a self-inflicted disaster”:

This is the very last thing we need, so of course the Trump administration is doing it. What a self-inflicted disaster. https://t.co/US0KyvLHRa

— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) July 7, 2020

Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ), the ranking member on the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, made the announcement on social media Tuesday afternoon, writing that Congress “received notification that POTUS officially withdrew the U.S. from the @WHO in the midst of a pandemic.”

“To call Trump’s response to COVID chaotic & incoherent doesn’t do it justice. This won’t protect American lives or interests—it leaves Americans sick & America alone,” he added:

Congress received notification that POTUS officially withdrew the U.S. from the @WHO in the midst of a pandemic.

To call Trump’s response to COVID chaotic & incoherent doesn't do it justice. This won't protect American lives or interests—it leaves Americans sick & America alone.

— Senator Bob Menendez (@SenatorMenendez) July 7, 2020

President Trump announced in May that the U.S. would officially sever ties with the organization due to its purported role in assisting China in attempts to cover up the severity of the coronavirus outbreak.

“The world is now suffering as a result of the malfeasance of the Chinese government,” Trump said in the May 29 address.

“China’s cover-up of the Wuhan virus allowed the disease to spread all over the world, instigating a global pandemic that has cost more than 100,000 American lives and over a million lives worldwide,” he said.

“Chinese officials ignored their reporting obligations to the World Health Organization and pressured the World Health Organization to mislead the world when the virus was first discovered by Chinese authorities,” the president continued, explaining China’s influence and grip on W.H.O.

“China has total control over the World Health Organization, despite only paying $40 million per year compared to what the United States has been paying, which is approximately $450 million a year,” he said, noting that the U.S. provided detailed reforms for the organization — reforms which it dismissed.

“Because they have failed to make the requested and greatly needed reforms, we will be today terminating our relationship with the World Health Organization and redirecting those funds to other worldwide and deserving, urgent, global public health needs,” Trump said.