WASHINGTON (SPECTRUM NEWS) — Wisconsin Democrats are dismissing a pop-up in the state from the vice president.
“I think it’s just simply a campaign ploy that we’re not going to fall for,” said Rep. Gwen Moore, D-Milwaukee.
They say Mike Pence’s tour of a ventilator production facility in Madison comes as Governor Tony Evers’ calls for federal help have seemingly gone unanswered.
“Where the hell are the supplies for the state of Wisconsin and the people who live here,” said Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Madison.
Congressman Pocan called out the federal government for not fulfilling the governor’s several requests for resources in a conference call ahead of the vice president’s visit.
The Madison representative says that state has received only a fraction of what it told Trump’s administration it needed months ago.
“We got 2,800 swabs when they had the quantity of three that came but we asked for 10’s of thousands of swabs,” said Rep. Pocan. “You can compare what we’ve gotten and what we’ve requested and it’s been a pathetic pale comparison of what we’ve asked for.”
But the White House is saying the federal government has sent a considerable amount of resources to Wisconsin through Project Air Bridge.
It’s a public-private partnership aimed at expediting the shipment of goods from other countries to the US.
“I talked to the director of FEMA. What they’re telling you are things we got really early on from the National Stockpile and things we bought from the private market that they’re taking credit for getting. That’s completely unacceptable,” said Rep. Pocan.
A White House spokesperson suggested the congressman is the one not being honest.
"Any suggestion that President Trump and the federal government has not responded to requests for support from states like Wisconsin are patently false,” said Meghan Burris, White House Director of Media Affairs. “Even so, the President will continue to work with Governors to support state and local efforts to respond to COVID-19 and ultimately save American lives.”