Rhode Island Democrat Governor Gina Raimondo’s administration is once again finding itself consumed by scandal after they missed a key deadline for a court appeal, opening up a massive “budget sinkhole” that could cost the state millions. Facing intense bipartisan criticism, Raimondo spent yesterday hiding from Rhode Island’s press corps, even trotting out her embattled Health and Human Services Secretary in front of journalists in a botched attempt to take the fall for her. Raimondo was finally forced to take questions from the media last night, but refused to take any responsibility for the crisis, and instead blamed her subordinates while distorting the facts.
Raimondo tried to put the blame on squarely on the lawyer who failed to file her administration’s appeal, dismissing him as a “junior lawyer” even though his title was “senior legal counsel.” Raimondo also claimed she wants to hold those responsible for the scandal accountable by investigating the matter and “getting to the bottom of it,” but she offered no apology for her failed management, took no share of the blame for the crisis, and even asserted that “this has nothing to do with” how state agencies have been run under her administration, despite multiple scandals involving her Health and Human Services Department.
This isn’t the first time Raimondo has tried to blame others for her own shortcomings. She has consistently passed the buck on taking responsibility for her administration’s alarming child welfare scandal with the Department of Children, Youth, and Families, and she abdicated any leadership for the state’s weeks-long budget crisis last year. Last October she even blamed the Rhode Island press corps for her inability to get her message out, calling them “not reliable.”
No matter how many things go wrong on her watch, Gina Raimondo refuses to take any responsibility for her failed leadership. Her repeated attempts to evade responsibility on systemic management issues with her administration and her alarming unwillingness to be held accountable for her shortcomings show that she is unfit to lead Rhode Island for another term as governor.
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