Nolte: Reports of Mask Theft Were Not Controversial Until Trump Brought It Up

Another shift of medical staff prepare to start woking at a drive-through testing center f
Seth Wenig/AP Photo

There are tons of reports about people stealing medical masks, but the media only turned it into something controversial after President Trump brought it up.

During his Sunday night press briefing, Trump remarked on the incredible news that at some hospitals, orders for masks have jumped from 10,000 and 20,000 to 300,000.

“How do you go from 10 to 20 to 300,000? 10 to 20,000 masks to 300,000 — even though this is different. Something’s going on. And you ought to look into it as reporters. Where are the masks going?” he wondered. “So somebody should probably look into that.”

“I think people should check that because there’s something going on. I don’t think it’s hoarding. I think it’s maybe worse than hoarding,” he said. “Check it out. I don’t know. I think that’s for other people to figure out.”

“Are they going out the back door?” he added.

If these numbers are correct, and during the briefing, a mask manufacturer backed them up, something is obviously amiss. But because the national political media are unserious and pretty much useless, instead of looking into what could be a growing black market at the expense of human lives, they decided to freak out like the babies they are.

The far-left Washington Post shrieked (without evidence): “No, Mr. President, healthcare workers aren’t stealing masks. You failed them.”

The far-left MSN harrumphed: “President Trump … insinuated that staff may be stealing face masks amid the coronavirus pandemic.”

Naturally, Twitter’s Blue Checkmark Cult melted down into a puddle of their own sanctimony:

Slow Joe Biden also chimed in, accusing Trump of “conspiracy mongering.”

“Today’s conspiracy mongering from our President is among the most reckless and ignorant moves he has made during the crisis, and there have been many,” China Joe’s statement read.

Except…

In the vernacular of the times, Trump has the receipts…

To begin with, and without the media freaking out even a little bit, New York’s very own governor, one Andrew Cuomo, said the exact same thing more than three weeks ago:

As fear over the new coronavirus in New York spreads faster than the outbreak, people have started to steal masks and other medical equipment from local hospitals,  Gov. Andrew Cuomo told reporters Friday.

“Not just people taking a couple or three, I mean just actual thefts of those products,” Cuomo said at a press conference from the state capital in Albany. “I’ve asked the state police to do an investigation, look at places that are selling masks, medical equipment, protective wear, feeding the anxiety.”

There are also all kinds of new reports, including in the far-left New York Times, about masks and other equipment slipping out the back door…

News & Observer, March 19:

Hospitals across the Triangle say thieves are stealing masks, gloves and hand sanitizer by the box due to anxiety over the nationwide shortage of medical supplies.

Across UNC Health in Raleigh and Chapel Hill, the problem goes beyond grabbing supplies off a shelf. Some patients and visitors have brought in empty containers and filled them from sanitizer dispensers mounted on the walls, spokesman Alan Wolf said.

Business Insider, March 7:

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Friday that his administration had directed state police to investigate cases of the theft of masks and other equipment from hospitals and medical facilities, putting healthcare workers at risk.

New York Times, March 19:

“We’ve experienced outright theft, with the general public walking into our building and walking right out,” said Bruno Petinaux, the hospital’s chief medical officer.

And on and on and on, and not just in America…

Are we no longer allowed to use our brains?

Of course, there’s a black market for this stuff. Things that used to look as disposable as a straw or plastic fork, now look like gold, and, of course, I’m talking about hand sanitizer, gloves, masks… The temptation is everywhere, and it is patently absurd for the media — especially with all this reporting to back Trump up — to pretend this is not an issue worth looking into, especially when a hospital that can only handle so many patients blows up its order times ten.

Sadly, we also know, from various news reports, that doctors themselves are “hoarding” the malaria drugs that look promising to treat the coronavirus. So how big of a leap is it to imagine those who work in hospitals, including the janitors and secretaries and floor waxers, loading up for their own families and loved ones on masks and sanitizer?

It’s like that stupid question that stupid PBS woman asked at the briefing, something like Name your sources, Orange Bad Man, about deaths increasing during an economic downturn!

Again, this is just common sense if you understand human nature.

Oh, and all kinds of studies back up the president on the economic death toll, but rather than Google, these dreadful fake reporters would rather play gotcha games in the middle of a pandemic.

Follow John Nolte on Twitter @NolteNC. Follow his Facebook Page here.

 

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