MSNBC’s ‘Morning Joe’ co-host Mika Brzezinski pressed Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy on the ongoing baby formula shortage happening in the country that has led to the hospitalization of babies in some states and has caused immense stress on families everywhere.
Mika Brzezinski echoed some of the concerns and outrage parents are currently feeling by telling Dr. Murthy that she feels the intensity behind solving the crisis from the Biden administration is virtually non-existent.
“Dr. Murthy, with respect, I’m missing something here. I’m not feeling an intensity,” Brzezinski began.
She then mentioned that the country of Poland, which has taken in nearly 4 million refugees in three months, is not having the same baby formula shortage as the United States is.
“So my question is: why isn’t there the same mobilization here in America for this crisis?” Brzezinski asked.
The host then asked the straightforward question everyone wants to know the answer to, which was, “when are we going to see formula in the mouths of babies in America without any stress in terms of getting it?”
Vivek replied by saying he “understands the concern” and claimed that every person he’s talked to at the FDA and in the White House has “reflected the intensity” Brzezinski was talking about. However, the face Mika Brzezinski made to Murthy’s answer suggested she was not buying his claims.
This week, Biden finally invoked the Defense Production Act, a tool reserved for the Executive Branch which allows the US government to force production facilities to make products we need, in order to combat the formula shortage.
As we previously covered, the President released his own video statement highlighting the action. In it he said, “I know parents all across the country are worried about finding enough infant formula to feed their babies. As a parent and as a grandparent, I know just how stressful that is.”
