Sen. Bernard Sanders of Vermont on Friday suggested that President Trump is going to steer federal coronavirus response resources toward states that are key to Mr. Trump’s re-election prospects.
“If you think that during a campaign you’re not going to see a lot of money from the Trump administration going to battleground states, to Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Florida, you would be grossly underestimating the venality of this president,” Mr. Sanders said on HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher.”
Mr. Sanders said he remains concerned about the approximately $500 billion for distressed companies in the recent $2.2 trillion economic rescue package, saying there isn’t enough oversight over the money.
“And now, he is saying hey, I don’t really care about accountability at all. I’ll do what I want,” he said. “His actions or inactions [in] not listening to the scientists and spouting off ridiculous ideas is in fact going to cost the lives of many thousands of Americans.”
The White House late Friday announced that Mr. Trump was tapping Brian D. Miller, a senior associate counsel at the White House, to be special inspector general for pandemic recovery.
Mr. Sanders is soldiering on in the 2020 race even as he faces an almost insurmountable delegate deficit to former Vice President Joseph R. Biden in the Democratic presidential contest.
The COVID-19 outbreak has effectively paused traditional political campaigning, with Mr. Biden and Mr. Sanders generally limited to participating in virtual events and media appearances.
