CNN complains Donald Trump coronavirus taskforce ‘mostly white men’

Donald Trump shared photos of a briefing from “the best experts” on the coronavirus outbreak – but one commentator says it highlights a huge problem.

Frank Chung

@franks_chung

2 min read

January 31, 2020 - 5:13PM

Coronavirus declared a 'global health emergency' as nine cases confirmed in Aus

Coronavirus cure needed – white men need not apply.

CNN has been widely mocked for an “analysis” piece complaining that experts advising Donald Trump on the coronavirus outbreak are largely “white men”.

The article by CNN national political writer Brandon Tensley was in response to photos tweeted out by the US President on Tuesday from a briefing he had received earlier that day.

Just received a briefing on the Coronavirus in China from all of our GREAT agencies, who are also working closely with China. We will continue to monitor the ongoing developments. We have the best experts anywhere in the world, and they are on top of it 24/7! pic.twitter.com/rrtF1Stk78
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 30, 2020

“Just received a briefing on the coronavirus in China from all of our GREAT agencies, who are also working closely with China,” Mr Trump wrote.

“We will continue to monitor the ongoing developments. We have the best experts anywhere in the world, and they are on top of it 24/7!”

Tensley’s piece, headlined “Coronavirus force another example of Trump administration’s lack of diversity”, whinged that the “experts” were “largely the same sort of white men (and a couple women on the sidelines) who’ve dominated the Trump administration from the very beginning”.

Coronavirus task force another example of Trump administration's lack of diversity | Analysis https://t.co/bs7L1rUZzc pic.twitter.com/MzzoslqZpT
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) January 30, 2020

The article included a side-by-side comparison of former president Barack Obama’s circle of advisers during the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa who were “hardly so monochromatic”.

“Neither was it so abysmal in terms of gender diversity,” Tensley wrote. “Of course, to contextualise, Obama’s administration, on the whole, was far more diverse than Trump’s.”

Tensley argued that the “recent photos of “the best experts’ telegraph the sorts of people the administration deems worthy of holding power – and even being in close proximity to it”.

“But the visuals that have come to define the Trump administration say something else, too,” he wrote. “They signal the kind of people in a multiracial country Trump values the opinions of – mostly white men who are mirror images of the President himself.”

The article drew widespread disdain, with some describing it as “beyond parody”.

“This needs to be fixed immediately,” wrote Twitter user Carpe Donktum.

“When I lay dying of bat soup fever, I want to be able to say that the force may not have been the most qualified, but goddamn they were a diverse bunch.”

Donald Trump Jr. also weighed in, writing, “It never ends people … it never ends.”

Daily Wire reporter Ryan Saavedra wrote, “CNN thinks people should be given jobs based on the colour of their skin.”

This is just beyond parody. https://t.co/yq6ksmKtw6
— James Morrow (@pwafork) January 31, 2020

Peak CNN. ðŸš½ https://t.co/AOWaMRtc6s
— Rita Panahi (@RitaPanahi) January 31, 2020

This is how these lunatics think. https://t.co/AWdGwdjmAq
— Rod Dreher (@roddreher) January 31, 2020

ðŸ™„ðŸ™„ðŸ™„ It never ends people... it never ends. https://t.co/P2ZHuAu90T
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) January 31, 2020

CNN would prefer people get sick than have a committee of white people who might be qualified on this particular subject. https://t.co/JJ2ErTDmDg
— Jessica Fletcher (@heckyessica) January 30, 2020

CNN thinks people should be given jobs based on the color of their skin https://t.co/YQ6wX1IGIh
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) January 30, 2020

Too many white people are trying to find a cure for Coronavirus! ðŸ˜‚ https://t.co/5nECYoU01w
— Mark Dice (@MarkDice) January 30, 2020

Trump has really broken a lot of people https://t.co/fjiCJooqFN
— Alexandra DeSanctis (@xan_desanctis) January 31, 2020

You laugh now but this will be serious policy under the next Democratic president https://t.co/wsUf3DfcFQ
— Scott Greer (@ScottMGreer) January 31, 2020