Sean Penn Dubs Trump’s Coronavirus Czar A “Flat-Out Liar And An Incompetent Pawn” In CNN Interview

Alexandra Del Rosario
·2 min read

Sean Penn, whose emergency relief organization CORE has provided additional COVID-19 testing through out Los Angeles, said he doesn’t see the value in giving Admiral Brett Giroir advice on how to improve testing capacity.

“I don’t have faith in giving advice to the White House testing czar or to the President of the United States,” Penn said to CNN’s Ana Cabrera. “The former is a flat-out liar and an incompetent pawn.”

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Penn sat down virtually with Cabrera to talk about his disaster response nonprofit. During the CNN Newsroom interview, the Oscar-winning actor said he finds inspiration in his CORE staff, volunteers and the frontline workers facing the coronavirus pandemic head-on. He continued to call out lack of leadership or clear information from government officials, including those in the White House.

“Where we do see leadership, it’s to be valued,” he said.

During the interview Penn went on to explain that Angelenos and other U.S. citizens should treat coronavirus as they would any other natural disaster. He explained that a person, upon receiving a positive COVID-19 test, should immediately reach out to contact tracers or head to a place where they can safely self-quarantine.

The conversation then moved to the topic of government funds allocation. Cabrera said that “that billions of federal dollars authorized by congress back in April for COVID testing and contact tracing” have not been spent.

“We’re killing ourselves,” Penn responded.

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has accounted for mover 800,000 deaths worldwide. The United States has seen more than 175,000 deaths due to the virus.

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