With the world reopening in this latest stage of the pandemic and the holiday season looming, a stratospheric increase in demand has led to global supply chain issues.
While President Joe Biden's administration has taken action to combat these issues—such as expanding the Port of Los Angeles' hours to 24/7, securing commitments from top importers to expedite shipping container removal, and signing off on 100 day reviews of vulnerabilities in the supply chain—these issues will likely get worse before they get better.
The ex-counsellor to former President Donald Trump, Kellyanne Conway, recently appeared in a Fox News interview where she boasted that the Trump administration never saw a supply chain crisis in all the years she worked at the White House.
Watch below.
\u201cI worked in that White House for four years. We never even heard of a such of a thing. There was no supply chain crisis\u201dpic.twitter.com/UPmLRFoivJ— Acyn (@Acyn) 1636424525
Conway said:
"I worked in that White House for four years. We never even heard of a such of a thing. There was no supply chain crisis."
It should come as no surprise that the person who coined the term "alternative facts" wasn't being entirely accurate.
Trump had long called for an American divestment from the international supply chain and levied massive tariffs against countries like China in order to achieve that. However, as with Biden, the most severe supply chain crisis in Trump's administration was mostly pandemic-induced.
In the early stages of the pandemic that's upended daily life in the United States for nearly two years, there were massive medical and grocery supply chain shortages as Americans prepared to shelter in place and to slow the spread of the virus.
People were astonished that Conway didn't seem to remember this—so they soon reminded her.
Kellyanne Conway: There was no supply chain crisis when Trump was President.\n\nNurses:pic.twitter.com/b8WycGI4DQ— Richard Hine (@Richard Hine) 1636471119
Kellyanne Conway says there was no supply chain crisis under trump, but I have video receipts from April 14, 2020.\n\n#EmptyShelvesTrump couldn't keep the basics on the shelves.pic.twitter.com/BhJFkj199S— BrooklynDad_Defiant! (@BrooklynDad_Defiant!) 1636476424
My recollection is quite different than Kellyanne Conway\u2019s, especially when it comes to the 2020 crisis. I seem to recall being in the same room with her at A LOT of White House discussions w/ the former guy about supply chain shortages ranging from PPE all the way to TP\u2026https://twitter.com/acyn/status/1457896245259689988\u00a0\u2026— Olivia of Troye (@Olivia of Troye) 1636467991
Kellyanne Conway: \u201cWe never even heard of a such of a thing. There was no supply chain crisis\u201dpic.twitter.com/hRPZncNgEy— NeuroPsychoPhD (@NeuroPsychoPhD) 1636473499
Well Mrs Alternative Facts doesn\u2019t remember back to March,2020, during the pandemic my grocery store looked like this for days!pic.twitter.com/amQrer0Mn5— AuntBunny (@AuntBunny) 1636425675
Costco paper products aisle taken March 12, 2020.pic.twitter.com/a5TsfwXBki— ThanksInAdvanceForYourVituperation (@ThanksInAdvanceForYourVituperation) 1636425376
The alternate reality Conway presented wasn't well received.
It's not that they never heard of a supply chain crisis. It's that they actively ignored the supply chain crisis developing during their admin. Toilet paper, cleaning supplies, drinks & food problems. America went from a fast-food culture to grocery oriented culture overnight.https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1457896245259689988\u00a0\u2026— Russell Foster for Congress TX-04 (@Russell Foster for Congress TX-04) 1636426098
Except in Puerto Rico. No food, water or electricity post-Maria.\n\nLet\u2019s not forget the scarcity of toilet paper, paper-towels and vaccines that affected all Americans. 1st responders had no damn PPE or ventilators.\n\nOh, and a 4 year supply crisis of truth, morals, & decency.https://twitter.com/acyn/status/1457896245259689988\u00a0\u2026— Ana Navarro-C\u00e1rdenas (@Ana Navarro-C\u00e1rdenas) 1636469760
The lies, just stop with the lies.https://twitter.com/acyn/status/1457896245259689988\u00a0\u2026— RR \ud83c\udfca\u200d\u2640\ufe0f Edmonds! (@RR \ud83c\udfca\u200d\u2640\ufe0f Edmonds!) 1636433914
As supply chain issues plagued the Trump administration, the former President blamed Obama and accused hospitals of hoarding ventilators.
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