Jared Moskowitz, Florida’s director of emergency management, ripped 3M for allowing foreign countries ahead of U.S. states when it comes to purchasing much-needed face masks.
Moskowitz made news Monday by declaring himself 3M’s “new troll” on Twitter as he lamented “empty warehouses” and vainly tried to get the company to send the state new masks.
Hi @3M. I’m your new Troll. I’m the Director of Emergency Management for the State of Florida @FLSERT. Please send us N95 masks directly to our hospitals, first responders and the state. How many brokers and distributors do we have to negotiate with only to find empty warehouses? https://t.co/0E3gLc3R5t
— Jared Moskowitz (@JaredEMoskowitz) March 30, 2020
On Thursday night’s edition of “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” the Florida emergency management official shared news that, to Tucker, was “so compelling and so upsetting” that he moved the segment to the front of the line.
WATCH:
Moskowitz described the process of “chasing down” 3M authorized dealers as “chasing ghosts.”
“I just decided to turn up the heat and tell people what is actually happening in the 3M mask space,” he said before telling the Fox News host about a “frightening” conversation with one of the company’s government relations representatives.
“The system is completely broken,” he said. “The authorized distributors who right now can’t tell me a timeline when I will receive my masks, orders that I put in a month ago. By the way, the terms and conditions are I’ve got to pay for the masks and can’t cancel my order. 3M has lost total control.”
“What I asked 3M is that, ‘are they aware they are authorized distributors?'” he continued. “U.S. companies are telling me the reason why our orders are being pushed down is because foreign countries are showing up with cash to purchase the orders, and when I told 3M that, not only did they not dispute it, I asked them if they put any guidelines to prevent the behavior and the answer was ‘no.'”
“It’s criminal what is happening,” Moskowitz told Carlson. (RELATED: ‘PPE Is Essential To Us’: Nurses Reuse Protective Masks ‘5 Times’ Amid Nationwide Shortage)
“3M is an ice cream store that doesn’t sell ice cream, apparently,” he said. “Since when do we have a U.S. company who sells masks and I try to offer them money and they won’t sell them to me?”