Charlie Baker praises China, not Trump, as Patriots plane arrives

The political tug-of-war between the state and President Trump over coronavirus-fighting medical supplies erupted into full view with the delivery of 1.2 million protective face masks on the New England Patriots’ plane from China.

Gov. Charlie Baker, who came up with the idea to get the Patriots’ team plane involved, praised the Krafts, two other governors and even numerous Chinese officials and government agencies for getting the respirator masks to front-line health care workers.

“This was a total team effort,” Baker said.

But there was one critical teammate that didn’t get any praise — the federal government.

The Trump administration had to declare the air shipment of N-95 masks a “humanitarian” relief effort in order to clear the plane from China to Alaska to Boston.

Baker grudgingly admitted that but the fact that the Republican governor would praise China before Trump shows just how wide the political gap is during the coronavirus crisis.

Baker on Thursday evening nearly broke into tears thanking Jonathan Kraft and Chinese authorities while the Patriots’ plane stood behind him and masks were being unloaded by the National Guard into waiting trucks.

“We all know this pandemic is being fought across the globe and we couldn’t have accomplished what we’ve done here without willing partners in China that worked with us to bring this to fruition,” Baker said. “Ambassador Huang Ping at the Chinese consulate in New York was instrumental with the success of this effort.”

Baker went on to thank the Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry in Beijing, the Civil Aviation Administration in China and the Chinese Customs Office, along with the airport authority. Did he leave anyone in China out?

Not a word about our own federal government.

Baker did earlier cite the feds, but not in a good way. He said the idea to get the masks from China directly came only after the federal government impounded an order of 3 million masks that BJ’s Wholesale Club had bought that were supposed to go to Massachusetts.

Baker certainly deserves credit for pulling this off. It’s a big political and personal victory. And it’s a victory for the thousands of front-line health care workers it will benefit, and possibly save lives.

But guess where the pandemic originated, and which government delayed reporting the novel virus and has sought to hide the true number of coronavirus deaths?

Baker might want to think about that before he joins the Chinese propaganda machine.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3dKttsZ