![]() Shalala: I’ve been encouraged by my colleagues. The chance of getting the House back depended a lot on people that were willing to step up and flip seats, so I decided to do it.ĭovere: And since you got to Washington, have you been encouraged by what’s been going on there? We had a chance because my predecessor, a Republican, had stepped down after 30 years, and I didn’t think they were going to be able to flip the seat. And I simply decided they could not flip the seat. There were already five or six candidates in the race that had been in the race for a year. I just got pissed off at what was going on in Washington. Then in 2018, you decide that what you really want to do is be a member of Congress. He is personally responsible for a number of unnecessary deaths and sickness in our state because he hasn’t exerted strong leadership.ĭovere: You have had an extensive career in public service. He’s just not prepared to do what’s necessary. I said the other day, “Why do people run for office if they’re not prepared to make tough decisions?” He’s meek. Shalala: He just follows the president, and he’s a weak governor. You can’t sustain an economy on 90,000 residents.ĭovere: What do you make of your governor, Ron DeSantis, who downplayed the pandemic when it first hit? In the past few weeks, the numbers from Florida are just astounding. ![]() Miami Beach has 90,000 residents, and last year they had 10 million visitors. This balance between opening up and knocking out the virus is not a fair balance, because first you have to knock out the virus before you can open up. I’m not personally scared, but I’m just terrified that we haven’t gotten control of this virus because of the lack of leadership at the national level and state level. Are you scared day-to-day with what’s going on?ĭonna Shalala: I’m terrified for my community and for the country. What follows is an edited and condensed transcript:Įdward-Isaac Dovere: You’re 79. Subscribe to The Ticket on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or another podcast platform to receive new episodes as soon as they’re published. ![]() “Everybody laughs when I walk around the Capitol and I say ‘Here, Fauci,’” she said. When Shalala flies to Washington, D.C., she lets Fauci sit in the extra seat she buys to ensure that she’s socially distanced. She’s trying to persuade her colleagues in Congress to sign on to the idea, and she’s sometimes bringing along her dog to help. So she has a suggestion born from her experience figuring out how to put the federal government into action: Start with a major campaign about flu shots in the fall, to give everyone what she calls “a dry run.” Shalala, who served as the secretary of health and human services during Bill Clinton’s presidency-with Fauci (the doctor) working for her-worries that whenever a coronavirus vaccine is developed, the government won’t be able to adequately distribute it. ![]() DeSantis “is personally responsible for a number of unnecessary deaths and sickness in our state because he hasn’t exerted strong leadership,” she said in a conversation that can be heard on the latest episode of The Ticket. Shalala, a first-term congresswoman representing Florida, has been in politics for five decades, but she told me that watching how President Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis have been unable to stop the spread of the coronavirus-which is spiking in the state-has made her “terrified” for the first time in her career. And like everyone else, she’s been thinking a lot about Anthony Fauci for the past few months. The name seemed right: He was found running into an Italian restaurant in Miami, where she lives, so the animal-shelter staff suggested that she give him an Italian name. He’s a rescue dog, maybe part Yorkie, she figures.
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