MSNBC host suggests Joe Biden start 'shadow government' to counterprogram President Trump
Media attack President Trump's handling of the COVID-19 crisis; reaction on 'The Five.'
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"The Five" co-host Dana Perino forcefully dismissed the idea that presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden should set up a "shadow government" to counter President Trump's various task forces and working groups during the coronavirus pandemic.
"It is such a bad idea," Perino said of the suggestion by "MSNBC Live" anchor Stephanie Ruhle. "It's so terrible. We just spent a week and a half talking about how there is confusion about whether the federal government or the governors are going to reopen the economy."
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Ruhle pitched the idea Wednesday to former Obama campaign manager Jim Messina, asking whether the Biden should be "counter-programming" Trump's daily press conferences and "creating his own shadow government [and] shadow cabinet ... and saying 'here is a crisis, here is what we need to do to address this'."
"I understand that Joe Biden is in a bind," Perino said. "That's bad. But what she is suggesting, it is a terrible idea if you are a patriotic American, because you cannot have two presidents at the same time."
Perino compared the idea to her and her sister playing "school" as children after getting home from class, in the sense that Biden would be "playing 'government'."
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Biden continued his criticism of Trump's response to the pandemic earlier Thursday, saying: "What bothers me so much is the president of the United States does not take responsibility. The president of the United States acts like this is not -- nothing is his fault, nothing is his responsibility."
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