Reprinted with permission from Alternet

Senior Advisor to the President Jared Kushner's extremely rare public appearance Thursday at the Trump coronavirus task force briefing is still drawing strong condemnation for the President's son-in-law. Cries of nepotism are now the least of critics' worries, given that, many say, Kushner's incompetence this time will lead to the deaths of thousands.

The American public's anger and outrage center on these remarks Kushner made during the briefing: "The notion of the federal stockpile was it's supposed to be our stockpile. It's not supposed to be states' stockpiles that they then use."

Many are asking who Kushner thinks "our" is.

Not only is Kushner condescendingly dangerous, he's dead wrong.

"Strategic National Stockpile is the nation's largest supply of life-saving pharmaceuticals and medical supplies for use in a public health emergency severe enough to cause local supplies to run out," the U.S. Government's website for the Strategic National Stockpile says.

"When state, local, tribal, and territorial responders request federal assistance to support their response efforts, the stockpile ensures that the right medicines and supplies get to those who need them most during an emergency. Organized for scalable response to a variety of public health threats, this repository contains enough supplies to respond to multiple large-scale emergencies simultaneously."

The fury from the American people over Kushner's remarks (not to mention apparent heading of the coronavirus response inside the White House) is palpable. We are in the early stages of a global pandemic that has already infected over one million people, leaving tens of thousands dead. Before it is over, experts say, millions of Americans could lose their lives.