In 2020, campaign officials pointed to Arizona native Kristin Urquiza, as part of their defense against allegations that the Biden campaign was marginalizing Latinos. Urquiza was hailed as a “rising star,” after her dramatic delivery during the Democratic National Convention.
Urquiza told a heartbreaking story about her father’s COVID-19 death and laid the blame for it squarely on then-President Donald Trump. And although her version of events did not square with her father’s friends and fellow Trump lovers and gave them some heartburn, none of them doubted the daughter’s heartache.
Now, it is Kristen, who is experiencing some heartburn over the failed handling of the COVID-19 pandemic by the Biden administration. In an appearance of CNN with Brianna Keilar, Urquiza said she was disappointed with the Biden administration.
“I am grateful that Joe Biden is the president. I know the response we’re getting from the Biden administration is 80 percent, a hundred percent more than what we would’ve gotten from his competitor, but it’s still not the plan that we were promised… The Biden plan that we have now has been mostly vaccines, and as you can tell that hasn’t gotten us the full distance that we need to go to get out of this pandemic and save livelihoods as well as lives.”
“One of my overall concerns, is the person in charge of the pandemic response, Jeff Zients. He’s a large donor, a businessman, a former Facebook board member, who doesn’t have a background in public health let alone health equity, and at this point in time we really need someone in that position, or someone in that room, who can bring a health equity lens to ensure the most vulnerable communities whether it’s a disabled community, chronically ill, and people with long Covid.”
Urquiza also complained of the lack of testing and mask availability.
Urquiza isn’t alone as a former Biden fan turned critic. Raymond Embry, CEO of Embry Health tweeted in response to the Urquiza interview:
@Tara_Swanigan is far more gracious than I am towards @POTUS response to the pandemic. Those fighting against COVID-19 in Arizona have essentially been abandoned. Funds meant to help end the pandemic remain with the state or apathetic counties.
“Maybe my expectations are too high. But I always imagined that those in charge of creating Nationwide testing plans or goals would actually speak to those providing testing,” tweeted Embry. “One year three of the pandemic I can count on one hand the number of times that we have met with administration officials to discuss testing response plans.”
While Embry Health principals and associates continue to be embroiled in controversy, with multiple run-ins with the state, including being prohibited from administering COVID-19 vaccines in June 2021, few professionals are happy with Biden administration’s pandemic response.