Health
Obama Pulled Two Ways in Responding to Ebola
In this Aug. 4, 2014, file photo, a Nigerian health official wearing a protective suit waits to screen passengers for the Ebola virus at the arrivals hall of Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, Nigeria. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)
(Los Angeles Times) – President Obama talked up his administration’s response to Ebola and the procedures standing as a line of defense against the spread of the virus in the U.S. while flanked by military and civilian advisors.
After several minutes of this show of force, he ended with an unscripted message: the desperate circumstances and need for help fighting Ebola in West Africa.
“Let’s keep in mind that, as we speak, there are children on the streets dying of this disease — thousands of them,” Obama told reporters Monday. “Obviously my first job is to make sure that we’re taking care of the American people, but we have a larger role than that.”
The moment revealed a tension in the president’s response to the deadly disease that’s devastating parts of West Africa and causing fear in the United States.
