In a series of tweets sent out Friday morning, President Donald Trump urged General Motors to start manufacturing ventilators at the Lordstown Assembly plant in Ohio, which it sold to Lordstown Motor Company late last year.
Trump said GM had previously promised to manufacture “40,000 much-needed ventilators,” to help address a shortage of the devices brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, but as a New York Times report published on Thursday outlined, the automaker later walked back the number of ventilators it could produce. The NYT report said GM could produce around 7,500 ventilators in a short timeframe, though Trump’s tweet said the company could only produce a maximum of 6,000 ventilators before late April.
The NYT report also said the Federal Emergency Management Agency would postpone the $1 billion deal to purchase the ventilators from GM as it assessed if the company was asking too much money for the devices. GM had previously entered an agreement with Ventec to produce ventilators at one of its components plants in Indiana.
In response to the postponement of the deal, Trump said GM must act immediately to begin producing ventilators at the “stupidly abandoned Lordstown plant in Ohio, or some other plant,” that it operates. GM sold Lordstown Assembly to fledgling electric vehicle maker Lordstown Motor Company for an undisclosed sum last November. At the time, Trump said the sale of the plant was “great news.”
Trump also criticized GM as a whole, saying that “as usual with ‘this’ General Motors, things just never seem to work out,” and said that it is “always a mess with Mary B,” referring to GM CEO Mary Barra. He also suggested the country should “invoke P,” a reference to the Defense Production Act. Under the Defense Production Act, the President can require businesses to fulfill orders deemed necessary for national defense. In this instance, it would authorize Trump to force GM or any other company to begin manufacturing ventilators or medical supplies that will help in the fight against COVID-19.
GM later sent out a press release on Friday confirming it would go ahead with plans to produce Ventec ventilators at its components plant in Kokomo, Indiana. GM said that “depending on the needs of the federal government,” it is “poised to deliver the first ventilators next month and ramp up to a manufacturing capacity of more than 10,000 critical care ventilators per month with the infrastructure and capability to scale further.” The automaker also said it is donating its resources to the effort at cost.
In addition, GM announced it will also begin manufacturing FDA-cleared Level 1 surgical masks at the former Warren Transmission plant in Michigan. Production on the masks will begin next week and will ramp up to 50,000 masks per day within two weeks, with the potential to increase output to 100,000 per day.
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Comments
Oy !
Come on guys. let’s just get this thing done without arguing. These are tough times, gotta stay focused. President Trump needs to stay focused, GM needs to stay focused. Let’s get to it and knock this virus out.
trump doesn’t do focus.
Steve, shove it… Typhoid Mary cannot focus and Joe BiteMe cant focus on the nose on his face…
re-read the headline again.
Trump is a clown and a disgrace. So are his followers.
Nothing like a little unity during a crisis, eh, Matt? xjug?
You guys are pathetic. We can never just put aside politics for the betterment of the country. The disgrace is all of us.
G8burnout
Unity? according to trump it’s every state for itself.
Besides any hope of unity went out the door, when you elected the guy too stupid to find Barack Obama’s birth certificate.
I’m sorry, when I elected who? You have no idea who I did or didn’t vote for. Sad to see a partisan joke such as yourself putting party before country, you and 90% of other commenters here. A truly disgusting commentary on the state of our country. But hey, never let a crisis get in the way of partisan infighting, right? What a joke.
G8burnout
Only a brain dead republican would be asking to unite behind a completely incompetent president.
No, only a brain dead person would equate national unity to being behind one person. The president works for us. The Congress works for us. When I say unity, I’m talking about unity between Americans, together, not behind any one person.
You are a totally blind ideologue who worships at the altar of your preferred party as the country burns upon that same altar. People such as yourself, on both sides, are the single greatest contributors to the ROT that eats away at the soul this nation.
Thank God the majority of the country isn’t thinking like you and xjug, insecure internet trolls hiding behind their keyboards, pretending to be relevant by spewing their political views as the rest of us try to fix this mess. What a pitiful existence.
you ask for unity yet you talk about other people the way you do? That sure is the hard way round to get unity.
I have no clue what you’re trying to say, because your grammar is too confusing. And Peter is a lost case anyways, if you couldn’t tell. No use with that guy.
Keep it up bud. The social media “Civil War” is gonna end up in the streets. And believe me, you #Orangemanbad psychos are on the wrong side.
I’ll save a clip for ya.
funny how all the proud american patriots are always threatening civil war… I guess they love their country and democratic governance so much they are ready and willing to throw it all away at a moments notice.
Yes because all the real scared shittless psychos have all the guns.
The Russians have succeeded in turning the US into a cock fight, which is exactly what Putin did to get elected. Sadly, it’s really easy to dupe the ignorant, fearful and uneducated.
Yes because all the real scared s h i t t less psychos have all the guns.
The Russians have succeeded in turning the US into a c o c k fight, which is exactly what Putin did to get elected. Sadly, it’s really easy to dupe the ignorant, fearful and uneducated.
Just like yourself. You’re so ignorant and uneducated that you don’t even realize that Putin doesn’t give a damn who’s in office, he simply wants discord. Which you yourself are actively engaging in and furthering. You complete dumbass.
I hope you’re not saying I”m pathetic G8? I support Trump and he is perfect for this crisis. There is no one better for this job than him. I can always put politics aside but with the withering attacks the left, the media, the liberal cowards in congress have subjected President Trump to, over the last 3 years of delivering for the American citizens, folks that support him are sick of it. Imagine if those that didnt support the unqualified poser, the community organizer in an empty suit who somehow got elected president, becoming a multi millionaire from all his “public service”, imagine if they behaved the way the left has behaved towards Trump. Thats why many love T so much, he throws the trash right back in their faces. He doesn’t take their trash… the whiney cowards…. I’ll walk away from most skirmishes but not this one.
Trump is a CEO and gets things done… he’s perfect for this and he works 20 hours a day for free… everyone else is a pathetic coward…. Barra, Biden, Clinton, Sanders, Kerry, Pelosi, Schumer, Cuomo, De Blasio, the coward list is endless…
20 hours a day for free?? Count yourself as one of the duped. It is documented that he works less than any President we’ve had and he makes more money whiles golfing than his salary by charging the govt for golfing at his hotels. It’s OK to be republican but it’s not OK to be a fool. Have some pride in yourself…
TOTAL #Fakenews “ed”. Better get some accurate “documents” in your possession. The “fool” is in the mirror. Take a good long look at it tonight and re-assess your TDS.
What a complete douchebag. GM doesn’t even own Lordstown anymore. That’s how stupid, ignorant and idiotic this orange baboon really is.
The orange baboon’s 7th bankruptcy is America.
All of you limp wristed effeminate men are a disgrace. Crying like little girls over a guy that you don’t like. Get over Trump. Guess it sucks growing up not having an ounce of masculinity in the house. Instead being raised cotton soft. So many people have disappointed me since 2016. Truly embarrassing.
You know what’s a real discrace? Lying to get out of a draft to fight for your country by claiming bone spurs. Not something a real masculine man would do. I’m sure you agree being an expert on masculinity be and all.
Greer – Trump went to a Military Academy… where did Barry Soetoro go? (Lets see his grades), where did Bill ClintStone go? How did those cowards treat the Military? YOU SIR are a coward and a pathetic rube… Your opinion is trash… but I’ll bet you take the $1200 he just got for your sorry @$$!
Have we seen Trump’s grades or tax returns?
Not sure if you realize this but Clinton and Obama are no longer the POTUS and Hilary never was and likely never will be.
The man is an idiot you know this , I know this and so does the entire world (especially Russia).
Someone with as many failed businesses and bankruptcies as Trump should not be dictating how a corporation runs their business.
Actually i won’t be receiving a check because my income exceeds the threshold for payout and I’m 100% OK with this. Enjoy your check though.
So a guy has to be a Trump supporter or he’s a “limpwristed effeminate”?
It doesn’t take Sigmund Freud to see it’s you who has the masculinity issues.
His wrist is strong because he keeps an 8×10 of Trump is his bathroom, right next to Jerkums lotion.
Quit embarrassing yourself on all these threads you immature 2nd grader.
Bwahahahaha
dblezy
If your not getting an ounce of masculinity, your not $ucking it right.
Your obviously queer
Xjug
Exactly, CEO Mary Barra should tell trump to shove it. Sell ventilators directly to the states.
PeteyG – Sure and where will the states get the money to buy the ventilators? Are you really that stupid?
MB is pro HIltary ClintStone so everyone sees through her… she an idiot and she WILL do what she has been told to do. She wanted to craft some BS contract and finally, because Trump gets things done and she is an abject failure, he ordered her to do it…. he ordered her to do FOR YOU jack @$$. She is clueless and a failure. Congress gave him the War Time Power to move industry to protect American Citizens and he’s done that. Regardless of the incompetence of MB…
yes PiggyG – MB should work with idiot Governors like Cuomo and Newsome who are failing miserably… she’s one of their peers. That said both of those idiots are praising President Trump for his response. Trump works for the people and he is doing everything for the people. Those that don’t see it are blinded by their own insanity and hate. Swim in your hate loser…
Gee, maybe from their collected income or sales taxes.
Barra Does Not care.
People since 2016 take every opportunity to make everything political and dramatic. That’s what happens when a society becomes female in nature. Everyone is so emotional and gets triggered by one Man. Laughable at best.
Unfortunately the dialogue has deteriorated so badly due to the cowards on the left, the pathetic idealogues in the MSM, the simply outrageous behavior of liberals and coward DemonRats in Congress. All because Hitlary ClintStone lost like loser she is…. they want to change the Constitution because it works for the citizens and that means their trash loses… Trump’s dealt with the trash for 3+ years and beat them everytime and they’re fueled by their hate. NOW, folks that support him are finished letting these insignificant cowards scream and stomp their feet in their cry baby hissy fits. Trump supporters are throwing their filth right back into their faces. They’re all cowards and cry babies… they’re pathetic and making America weak again, like Barry Soetoro, like Bill ClintStone, Jimmy Carter… Pelosi, Schumer, Kerry, the pathetic list is endless…
Boy do you have anger issues along with reality issues. Gotta get yourself some help dude that atitude is not good for you.
He was the one ranting and praising about the Lordstown sale last year. I don’t see why he can’t have some of his many staff do a bit of research before making himself look like an idiot.
he is a stable genius … just ask him. hahaha!!!!
No, you misunderstood.
In response to the postponement of the deal, Trump said GM must act immediately to begin producing ventilators at the “stupidly abandoned Lordstown plant in Ohio, or some other plant,” that it operates.
He’s ticked-off that GM is backing off their commitment to help manufacture ventilators and he’s not shy about letting them know he’s pissed. He’s also twisting the knife by letting them know he’s still miffed that they sold that plant.
This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for GM to get amazing free publicity For stepping up to the plate when the chips were down, and unlike Ford, they dropped the ball.
Donald Trump needs to know that General Motors CEO Mary Barra’s word is like that of a Democrat as it’s absolutely meaningless as Barra will say things one day and recant the next if it suits her; Trump should consider getting the ventilators built by Hyundai or Toyota as they’re more trustworthy.
you must be joking. saying something one day and another the next is trump’s trademark.
if you’ve already forgotten, according to trump this entire virus is a hoax!!!
President Trump likened the Democrats’ criticism of his administration’s response to the new coronavirus outbreak to their efforts to impeach him, saying “this is their new hoax.”
He never called the virus a hoax.
You must’ve missed the video clip where he called it a hoax.
Not to get political one way or the other, but no, he didn’t. I initially thought like you did, but he was misunderstood. Check out the Snopes article on it, that cleared things up for me. They basically said exactly what Danny said above.
Saying he was misunderstood is being far too generous. It’s intentionally fake news.
Fair enough. Can’t deny that I saw some pretty nasty and vitriolic reporting on it. That’s why I totally ignore mainstream news sources entirely, CNN, ABC, NBC, Fox News, MSNBC, CBS, WaPo, NYT, all of it. I stick with local news, that’s the only real news left!
I reach my own conclusions, I don’t need some media elite know-it-all, from any source, to tell me what to think.
Until your local news affiliate gets bought by Sinclair who try to tamp down on anti-Trump reporting. And Sinclair is quietly adding more outlets to its catalogue.
Private Carl – he never called the virius a hoax…
When Trump calls something a hoax it is always true. He called the whole topic a democratic hoax. It’s on tape we all saw it. No point in trying to rewrite history.
Then don’t.
Let me get this clear, Trump just forced GM to make medical equipment at a plant that doesn’t belong to GM anymore?, is there a follow-up behind this?.
GM shouldn’t have had to be asked. Barra should have been right at the front of the line offering to build whatever was needed. Especially since the Country saved her company 12 years ago.
Boom. This.
Both the federal government of Canada and the province of Ontario each put in billions to save GM, that was why the USA feds agreed to bail out GM.
Just as a note GM was working with Ventec to build ventilators long before they were supposedly “forced” too. The Ventec units are actually quite complicated and it takes time to get their facility in Indiana FDA certified and get the supply chain in place. But as the article states GM is planning to make more than 10K units a month starting at the end of April. Which is quite amazing when you think about it. Especially also when Ventec normally only makes a few hundred of these units a month.
No, you misunderstood.
In response to the postponement of the deal, Trump said GM must act immediately to begin producing ventilators at the “stupidly abandoned Lordstown plant in Ohio, or some other plant,” that it operates.
He’s ticked-off that GM is backing off their commitment to help manufacture ventilators and he’s not shy about letting them know he’s pissed. He’s also twisting the knife by letting them know he’s still miffed that they sold that plant.
This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for GM to get amazing free publicity for stepping up to the plate when the chips were down, and unlike Ford, they dropped the ball.
I dropped the ball 4 years ago when I voted for this loser.
Don’t worry, won’t make that mistake again.
Meanwhile Hillary just tweeted out a remark poking fun at the President because of the 100k+ people with disease and 1500+ dead. That would have probably been a prouder moment right?
Jeez. Divided we fall.
Had to go back a check. Her latest tweets weren’t poking fun at Trump in any way. And she didn’t just tweet at all.
Trump tweets the most ignorant crap I’ve ever seen every day. How is it ammo if any of his adversary’s say something dumb.
Thanks for the laugh at double standards.
No, I never wanted her. Saying Trump is a disgrace doesn’t elevate Hillary. Don’t be so simple.
Just as a note GM was working with Ventec to build ventilators long before they were supposedly “forced” too. The Ventec units are actually quite complicated and it takes time to get their facility in Indiana FDA certified and get the supply chain in place. But as the article states GM is planning to make more than 10K units a month starting at the end of April. Which is quite amazing when you think about it. Especially also when Ventec normally only makes a few hundred of these units a month.
With all the EV trucks they are building there I hope they have room there to build ventilators.
I am furious that GM tried to un-commit to building most of the the 40,000 devices.
POTUS is right to put the screws to them.
They probably never commited in the first place. We all know anything Trump says has to be verified.
There was never any finite number GM was working with Ventec to build ventilators long before they were supposedly “forced” too. The Ventec units are actually quite complicated and it takes time to get their facility in Indiana FDA certified and get the supply chain in place. But as the article states GM is planning to make more than 10K units a month starting at the end of April. Which is quite amazing when you think about it. Especially also when Ventec normally only makes a few hundred of these units a month.
News flash, they have been working on this for over a week. Trump is just grand standing so he can take credit for things that went down while he was busy spreading other lies.
NEWS FLASH Small Mikey – The small lie is located in your Wranglers.
They have been discussing for a week and it was over GM’s “contract” and all their demands… Trump exercised Presidential leadership and simply used his tools and said, we’re done talking, DO IT NOW! God love that man… Mary Barra’s an American Embarrasment… she needed to be fired years ago… GO TRUMP!
You’re actually proud of how he has handled this? Omg. I’m disgusted in both of you.
I never liked the guy but he got results by being a dirty embarrassing buffoon. That has all before this, he has shown how unprepared, unqualified and unintelligent he is.
With all of the experienced firms in this country producing medical equipment, why GM? These aren’t tanks.
Typhoid Mary B Offered GM support to build them,almost immediately after the need was revealed.Committed to build them .Some kind of Publicity scam. If they do build them maybe the the excess Units,can be an option in there Electric Cars.. Shes A waste & needs to go
The Ventec units are actually quite complex and their normal production is only a few hundred units a month. GM is planning on building 10K units a month. The medical equipment industry isn’t setup to mass produce equipment like this while a company like GM has lots of mass production expertise.
Jeez. Wouldn’t it be nice for GM to not screw something up for once? If this was VW, not only would there be a million extra ventilators yesterday, we’d all be wondering how on earth they cheated FDA regulations.
I guess Mary is still looking for that switch to flip. The one that instantly turns factories that build cars into mass producing precise medical equipment.
Why is GM the only company capable of building ventilators? There isn’t a better company more equipped to build them?
No there isn’t, not on this scale in America currently, even the medical companies have problems. This is the result of mass-outsourcing.
There certainly are better managed companies, thats why Trump told Typhoid Mary, we’re finished talking about your contract, DO IT, NOW! She’s completely incompetent.
If Trump immediately took the good decisions, now, the situation would have been less severe, he only takes care about the economy. He’s trying to hidden his ineptitude on this matter and is urging GM to produce more ventilators to apear to make something, too easy!
If Trump immediately took the good decisions, now, the situation would have been less severe, he only takes care about the economy. He’s trying to hide his ineptitude on this matter and is urging GM to produce more ventilators to apear to make something, too easy!
you’re an idiot… you think Bill ClintStones wife has any concept of how to handle this, she has trouble standing. You think Quid Pro Joe or Krazie Bernie have a clue? Biden doesnt even know where he is most of the time, and he’s in his basement… Barry Soetoro the community organizer… please….. guys pathetic…
Anyone that criticizes Trump over this is a coward. Guy works 20 hours a day ONLY for you and this nation and he works for free. You’re all cowards and you know it.
By stating that Trump is not able to cope with this Covid-19 pandemic, one does not imply that a Hillary Clinton or Joe Biden or Barack Obama would do it better. But clearly visible, Trump is totally overwhelmed by this health crisis caused by a virus which has no political affiliation and not even opinion, which carries no psssport, is not vulnerable by a shotgun and not even by Trump’s slandering talk.
The solution is much more simple. Trump should take a leave for illness and leave the work to his vice Pence. I consider Pence to be much more ruthless as Trump and more dangerous for world peace, but in this situation, Pence does obviously not know much better than Trump whatvto do, but has also more thoroughness to push through what needs to be done than this serially bankrupt bosterous windbag Trump.
Because I criticize Trump I’m a coward? Get over yourself.
Move to Venezuela your natural home
you’re an idiot… you think Bill ClintStones wife has any concept of how to handle this, she has trouble standing. You think Quid Pro Joe or Krazie Bernie have a clue? Biden doesnt even know where he is most of the time, and he’s in his basement… Barry Soetoro the community organizer… please….. guys pathetic…
Anyone that criticizes Trump over this is a coward. Guy works 20 hours a day ONLY for you and this nation and he works for free. You’re all cowards and you know it.
Sieg heil Trump!!!…😒
Apparently u all have nothing better to do today? The facts are that GM originally came forth offering to build the vents in good faith, without the Government asking. They are a huge automaker, they were just ironing out the details. And if you read the article correctly, GM is ultimately doing this for the good of OUR country. (Building them for free, or “at cost”) . At this time in America we really don’t need to criticize anyone, including Our POTUS. (U don’t care for trump, GO VOTE in November). Quit the smack, love ur neighbor as ur self and let’s get through this like adults. Please!
Now, now on one side GM has been American as Apple Pie, on the other they have moved a lot of plants for cars and components overseas to other Countries and a big player is China. For those that have never been under the gun or in a position of choices means lives, political BS is just that from those in the rear with the gear. On one hand the others on the left like Dem Governors are screaming for ventilators they don’t need and the knowledge of thousands of deaths in other countries due to the lack of them, is common sense. That alone warrants a firm hand regardless of party and it is clear some components of ICS are not being used.
What is ICS? Not knowing already shows and proves my point…
ok
How are they going to do this without a focus group, affinity mapping session, and a platform and architecture change midway through the process? Let alone a brand leadership change along with a brand redirection…4 times… and the excel spreadsheet review, new MBO process, and Six Sigma testing. Then a total fascia refresh because, well, it’s ugly. Then finally just rebadging a hoover vacuum from the supply room….. Ugh…then all those recalls…..
What a complete douchebag. GM doesn’t even own Lordstown anymore. That’s how stupid, ignorant and idiotic this orange baboon really is.
I’m not here to defend or deride Trump but obviously he’s seeing what all of us see here regularly with Mary Barra and how she and her crew “leads” Cadillac. There is never any commitment to anything. She changes her mind every five minutes, whatever she says can be taken with a grain of salt, and if anything promised does actually happen, it’ll be late. It didn’t the president too long to figure her out. Personally I think there’s gotta be a more nimble company out there to produce ventilators than lumbering old GM.
How has GM changed their minds? As a note GM was working with Ventec to build ventilators long before they were supposedly “forced” too. The Ventec units are actually quite complicated and it takes time to get their facility in Indiana FDA certified and get the supply chain in place. But as the article states GM is planning to make more than 10K units a month starting at the end of April. Which is quite amazing when you think about it. Especially also when Ventec normally only makes a few hundred of these units a month.
Yes………………..GM is here to help you by giving you 84 month financing and 0%!!
What a great deal! Most people will be upside down on their loans but GM helps! Does GM sell Bridge Loans also…..
Mary Barra is a traitor by letting this get into the news!
I hope she and Hillary celebrate this new found victory over TRUMP!
OK
I’m not American, but I would like to know how you feel now that it is quite clear that Trump will be directly responsible for the death of 100’s of thousands of Americans and the destruction of the American economy? Multiple times worse than 2008-9.
Does your political system allow for his immediate removal?
That is truly one of the dumbest comments I have ever read. Maybe you should focus on your own country? Or do you not have any idea what’s going on there, too? This isn’t anyone’s fault, Republican, Democrat, Independent, Trump, Congress, no one. NO ONE was going to stop this thing. If you want to talk about deaths to hundreds of thousands, maybe you should start where this virus originated, and ask how, and why?
The big problem is that tge most powerful empire of the world is governed by an empty windbag who is, as everyboby around the globe clearly sees, unable to cope with this crisis, and whose blindness can and probably will cause catastroohic consequences for all of humanity. No other head of government in any other country bears such amount of responability for human kind and there are very frew as incapable as Trump, except Brasil’s Bolsonaro or Philipnes Duterte, and maybe some more.
Weird, with our mortality rates being among the lowest on the planet, you’d think that it’d be the complete opposite under Trump. Maybe by “catastrophic consequences,” you’re referring to the actions of the leaders of Italy, China, Iran, Spain, Portugal, France, Switzerland, the UK, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, etc. who all have much higher proportional death rates than the United States? Are you bringing attention to the failures of those respective governments as well? Since we in America have some of the lowest mortality rates of all countries?
No? Than you’re a hypocrite. You trash Trump all you want, I don’t care, but don’t pretend that our problem here that he supposedly was responsible for creating is somehow worse than all those other countries. Its not. You want to highlight all the failures around the globe that FAR exceed ours, for consistency’s sake? Be my guest. But compared to others, our governmental systems, federal, state and local (and that includes people FAR beyond one president), have done much better than most in battling this.
G8Burnout
“Morality Rates”
Fox News B.S.
American citizens give more money to charities than any other nation. A large portion of our population regularly attends religious services.
The person who did the study, must have used their own twisted morality as a guide
I said MORTALITY rates, with a “T.” Not “morality” rates. What even is that? Do you have any idea what I said? Go google “mortality rate,” THEN come back, and I’d be happy to have a discussion. And also, I don’t read Fox News, and I would never say America isn’t a charitable nation.
G8burnout
Corona virus cases are exploding in the U.S. i’m Sure you’re going to feel very differently about Trump when it gets to your family.
I don’t “feel” anything about him one way or another, love him or hate him, I seriously do not care. That’s because this is no one’s fault, I don’t understand why half of you are so eager to pin everything on Trump, and half want to pin it all on Democrats. You guys are truly pathetic.
And for your information, my opinion on this crisis will not change once someone in my family comes down with the virus. I refuse to blame people for the spread of the virus.
Maybe you should erase your existence
GM was never trying to decommit. These people replicated a needed complex medical device complete with supply chain and in the process cut the price per unit in half while scaling up a production process tenfold. And did it one week. None of the other proposals are anywhere near as complete, NONE! And this bozo just went nuts.
GM & Typhoid Mary are a laughing stock. This is coming from a lifelong GM owner 40+ years. Go Trump!! Nail these pansies to the wall. The left in this country are in bed with the globalists & the deep state. They can all rot in HELL.
Bob fornly
In a few weeks GM will be turning out ventilators by the thousands. Trump will be blaming republican governors for the problems in their states.
This time next year, GM will still be the largest auto company in the U.S. Trump will be selling products on infomercials for $19.99.
Everyone please read the well publicized stories of how the demonrat governors in Nevada & Michigan are both attempting to increase the death toll from corona virus. These Satanic marxists are actually criminalizing the use of Chloroquine and its sister drug. Pure evil in action
Bob fornly,
May all duped retards like you die in extreme agony. Hopefully, you don’t reproduce and spread you defective mutated moronic genes.
Sincerely.
And though very hotly contested in this article, the “Most Idiotic Comment of the Day” Award goes to this dumbass. That is truly disgusting, what a punk. I don’t agree with Bob at all, but the real moron here is you. Follow your own advice.
Bert, You are the classic jerkoff liberal douchebag. If push does come to shove in this country people like you will be the first to cower in fear looking for protection from the very people you demean one a daily basis. Don’t be surprised when no help is offered & no quarter given. You worthless POS.
Democratic party talking heads always have a lot to say, never consider other viewpoints, and always have to have the last comment (as if they have won the championship). Their opinions do not advance a democratic argument, do not invoke positivity, and do not matter.
I’m not going to get Political at all. This is a GM site and not a CNN, MSNB, and Fox site.
All I will say is this. I hope President Trump understands that GM didn’t shutter the Lordstown Plant and that they cannot just open it back up. It was sold off. So Mr. President reach out to Workhorse and Lordstown Motors for that Specific Plant.
Now GM is still going on with their Plan to build ventilators and good for them.
IMO one of the more accurate accounts of how we got to this point and what has happened:
FACTCHECK POSTS
Trump’s Premature Claim about Ventilator Production
By D’Angelo Gore
Posted on March 27, 2020
In a March 21 press briefing, President Donald Trump prematurely declared that automakers, including Ford and General Motors, were manufacturing much needed ventilators “right now.”
It wasn’t until nearly a week after the president’s claim that General Motors and Ventec Life Systems announced that the car company would begin retooling its manufacturing facility in Kokomo, Indiana, to make “critical care ventilators” that could be ready to “ship as soon as next month.”
Prior to that, GM had been working to produce or procure parts for Ventec to increase Ventec’s output of ventilators, and GM was only “exploring the feasibility to build ventilators” at one of its own facilities, a company spokesman told us.
The CEO of Ford, meanwhile, has said recently that it could be May or June before Ford, which is partnering with another company that makes the lifesaving machines, begins to produce them in mass.
The collaborations between the car makers and the medical device manufacturers came about as governors and health officials around the country have said that hospitals do not have enough ventilators for patients with COVID-19, which affects the respiratory system and can make it difficult for patients to breathe on their own.
Many politicians have called on Trump to use the full force of the Defense Production Act of 1950, which gives the president the authority to compel private businesses in the U.S. to ramp up the production of necessary supplies during a national emergency. In addition to ventilators, hospitals treating an increasing number of patients with COVID-19 are also reportedly lacking essential supplies including respirators and protective gear, such as masks, gloves and gowns.
But Trump has said that he has not needed to rely on the Defense Production Act because several companies have volunteered to help. And he has sometimes given the impression that car companies, in particular, have already started producing ventilators.
In a March 21 press briefing with members of the White House coronavirus task force, for example, Trump said that GM and Ford were making ventilators “right now.”
Trump, March 21: You know, a ventilator is a machine. It’s a very complex machine. And to think that we have to order hundreds of thousands — nobody has ever heard of a thing like this. … With that being said, General Motors, Ford, so many companies — I had three calls yesterday directly. Without having to institute — like, “You will do this” — these companies are making them right now. But to think of these numbers, it’s pretty — it’s pretty mindboggling.
The following day, on Twitter, the president wrote: “Ford, General Motors and Tesla are being given the go ahead to make ventilators and other metal products, FAST! @fema Go for it auto execs, lets see how good you are?”
Trump’s tweet may have been a reference to the Food and Drug Administration recently deciding to temporarily relax some of the rules that companies have to follow when producing ventilators and other medical supplies. The FDA said the guidance was intended to “provide a policy to help expand the availability of ventilators as well as other respiratory devices and their accessories during this pandemic.”
But Ford and GM have not started making ventilators yet, and just how “fast” they may be able to do so in the future remains to be seen.
General Motors
On March 20, GM announced that it would be helping Ventec Life Systems increase production of Ventec’s ventilators. “Ventec will leverage GM’s logistics, purchasing and manufacturing expertise to build more of their critically important ventilators,” the companies said in a joint statement.
When asked if GM was already producing ventilators, a spokesman, Dan Flores, provided us with another joint statement that said: “Ventec Life Systems and General Motors have been working around the clock to implement plans to build more critical care ventilators. With GM’s support, Ventec is now planning exponentially higher ventilator production as fast as possible.”
The statement also said: “As part of those efforts, GM is exploring the feasibility to build ventilators for Ventec at a GM facility in Kokomo, Indiana.”
On March 23, Reuters reported: “As part of the effort to boost ventilator output from Ventec, GM has arranged for the supply of 95% of the parts needed to build the ventilator and is seeking to source the remaining 37 necessary parts, according to an email to suppliers from Shilpan Amin, GM’s vice president of global purchasing.”
The Reuters story added: “First parts need to be delivered by suppliers to GM by April 6, the sources said. Supplier production could begin ‘within the next 2-3 weeks,’ Amin said in his email. It was not clear when GM might begin production.”
But on March 27, GM and Ventec announced that GM would, in fact, soon be manufacturing ventilators.
“Ventec Life Systems announced today General Motors will build VOCSN critical care ventilators at GM’s Kokomo, Indiana manufacturing facility with FDA-cleared ventilators scheduled to ship as soon as next month,” GM said in a statement. “This effort is in addition to Ventec taking aggressive steps to ramp up production at their manufacturing facility in Bothell, Washington.”
The statement continued: “Efforts to set up tooling and manufacturing capacity at the GM Kokomo facility are already underway to produce Ventec’s critical care ventilator, VOCSN. Depending on the needs of the federal government, Ventec and GM are poised to deliver the first ventilators next month and ramp up to a manufacturing capacity of more than 10,000 critical care ventilators per month with the infrastructure and capability to scale further.”
After that announcement, Trump lashed out at GM on Twitter, saying that “late April” isn’t soon enough and that GM must “START MAKING VENTILATORS, NOW.”
Trump also then invoked the Defense Production Act to force GM to make them.
Ford
Ford, on the other hand, announced on March 24 that it would be working with GE Healthcare, which also manufactures ventilators.
“Ford and GE Healthcare are working together to expand production of a simplified version of GE Healthcare’s existing ventilator design to support patients with respiratory failure or difficulty breathing caused by COVID-19,” Ford said in a statement. “These ventilators could be produced at a Ford manufacturing site in addition to a GE location.”
In an interview, a Ford spokesman, Mike Levine, told us that the company did not have any information to share about a timeline. He simply said Ford is working on this “as quickly as possible.”
Levine said “it’s possible we will take on some of the manufacturing ourselves,” and added that Ford is in talks with GE Healthcare to see how it would be able to do that.
But Ford’s president and CEO, Jim Hackett, already has said in interviews that it could be more than a month before the company starts producing a product.
For instance, he told CNN’s Alisyn Camerota that it may take until well into May for Ford and other producers worldwide to be making “hundreds of thousands of ventilators”:
Camerota, March 24: And just — I mean, is there any way to give me a timeline? I mean, doctors say they need them now. Do you know how quickly —
Hackett: Yes, yes — sorry —
Camerota: — you can make them?
Hackett: Yes, there’s no higher sense of urgency. The biggest issue, for example talking to the U.K. last night, is there are six hours of testing at the end of this. You actually have to run the ventilator through a complete cycle to make sure there’s no part of it that fails. It normally takes about 27 hours to make a ventilator. We think we can cut that in half. And I would say to you that the — at scale, by the — by the middle of May, we could be making hundreds of thousands of these ventilators.
Camerota: I’m sorry, hundreds of thousands, how often?
Hackett: I’m saying that by — you have to scale this up, so I’m saying by early May, we could — you could see, across the world, hundreds of thousands of ventilators being built from multiple suppliers, not just Ford Motor Company.
And in interviews with NPR and CBS’ “This Morning,” Hackett said it could take until June for Ford and other companies to scale up production to the rate needed.
Meanwhile, GE Healthcare says it has “doubled its capacity of ventilator production and has plans to double it again by end of Q2 2020 to address unprecedented demand – independent of the collaboration with Ford.”
Tesla
As for Tesla, which Trump also has mentioned, the electric car and clean energy company’s CEO, Elon Musk, wrote on Twitter recently that he “had a long engineering discussion with Medtronic,” a medical device company, “about state-of-the-art ventilators.” He also tweeted that Tesla “will make ventilators if there is a shortage” while noting that the machines “cannot be produced instantly.”
He said Tesla’s Giga New York factory in Buffalo “will reopen for ventilator production as soon as humanly possible.”
Musk did not offer more specific information about his company’s plans, and Tesla did not respond to our request for comment.
He did tweet that he already has purchased and shipped more than 1,000 ventilators for use in Los Angeles, which California Gov. Gavin Newsom confirmed in a press conference on March 23.
So, automakers are currently working to help meet the demand for ventilators, whether that means helping other companies that already make the machines, or developing plans to produce ventilators themselves.
But none of those vehicle companies is manufacturing the devices “right now,” as the president said.
Even General Motors has said that its factory has to be retooled before production can begin.
Countless acts of betrayal have put a fork in this clown company. The Ventilator fiasco is just the most recent. GM turned its back on America. It’s that simple. When they go under this time the nationwide response will be : Adios assholes :