Former Pence aide backs Joe Biden, slams Trump for COVID-19 response

A former White House aide, who was one of the first members of the COVID-19 task force, recently criticised US President Donald Trump and said she plans to vote for Democrat Joe Biden. Olivia Troye was an aide to Vice President Mike Pence. She served as a top organiser for the White House coronavirus task force which was led by Pence. 

In a video released by the group ‘Republican Voters Against Trump’, Troye said that the Trump administration knew around mid-February that the virus would become a big pandemic in the US. However, she added that Trump didn’t want to hear that because his biggest concern was the election. Troye, who left White House back in July, said that the President was mostly worried about "how was this thing going to affect what he considered to be his record of success”. 

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In the clip, the lifelong Republican said that it was shocking to see Trump referring to it as a hoax and saying everything would be ‘OK’. She said, “The truth is he doesn’t actually care about anyone else but himself. If the president had taken this virus seriously .... he would have slowed the virus spread, he would have saved lives”. 

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Trump hits back at Troye

While speaking to reporters, Trump, however, said that he never met Troye. He reportedly said that she was let go but wrote a ‘beautiful letter’ praising the administration on her way out. Pence described Troye’s words as sounding like those of a disgruntled employee who was playing politics during an election year. White House spokesman Judd Deere also went on to say that Troye was not directly involved in the coronavirus task force and did not meet with Trump privately. Deere called Troye’s statements ‘float out inaccurate’. 

Troye said that it was an honour to serve in the White House, however, she added that she wrestled during her time there with whether she made a difference because the president’s actions were detrimental to the administration’s efforts on the virus. Further, she recalled her time working for the Trump administration and called her experience ‘awful’ and ‘terrifying’. 

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