April 15, 2020 / By Brooke Singman | Fox News
President Trump’s decision to suspend funding to the World Health Organization amid the coronavirus crisis touched off an international war of words overnight as Democratic lawmakers in Washington as well as international bodies like the European Union condemned the move.
The president announced Tuesday that the United States would immediately halt funding for the health organization, saying it had put “political correctness over lifesaving measures,” noting that the U.S. would undertake a 60-to-90 day investigation into why the “China-centric” WHO had caused “so much death” by “severely mismanaging and covering up” the coronavirus spread.
Republicans on Capitol Hill, many of whom have been sharply critical of the World Health Organization and calling for weeks to get tough on the organization for allegedly helping China suppress information about the outbreak in the early stages, cheered the president’s decision.
“Glad to see @realDonaldTrump halt funding to the @WHO. We need to review their role in helping Communist China lie about the #Coronavirus, before any more taxpayer money is spent,” Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., tweeted. “This was the right move and I look forward to a full Congressional investigation into the WHO.”
But the partisan divide quickly opened. Following the announcement, House Oversight Committee Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., and House Subcommittee on National Security Chairman Steven Lynch, D-Mass., penned a letter to the president slamming his decision to withhold funding to the organization amid the global pandemic.
