Former FEMA chief walks out on MSNBC panel: 'I don't have to sit and listen to these BS people'

Former FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate wasn't happy with what he was hearing from former Acting Medicare and Medicaid administrator Andy Slavitt on Thursday. The two both served under President Barack Obama's administration, but they disagree with what is happening on the ground in the coronavirus crisis.

During a Thursday conversation on MSNBC, Slavitt said that there are plenty of masks and supplies but the private companies are trying to profit off of them first before releasing them "into the supply chain."

Fugate has worked in emergency preparedness nearly his entire professional career beginning at the county level, then with former Gov. Jeb Bush (R-FL) and eventually the Obama administration. He now works as a crisis management consultant and runs disastersrus.org, a site that helps aid people with disaster planning advice and disaster-related resources. Slavitt now serves as a senior advisor to the Bipartisan Policy Center as part of its Future of Health Care Initiative. He has been warning of a "tsunami" for weeks.

Fugate explained that governors need to be prepared to take over and step up, because "if we wait for the federal government, we're too late." He called it a "myth" that a single person is in charge, like President Donald Trump, because everything will be dealt with at the local level. Currently, however, there are governors who aren't taking it as seriously.

Shaking his head, Slavitt disagreed, saying it's a difficult thing for people to grasp, but that the number of cases being reported is merely a small fraction of where it will be. The existing tragic figures will double in less than three days.

"So with all due respect to your other guest, there's not a governor in the country that's waiting for the federal government right now," he said. "They are all acting. What they need is coordination because we have, believe it or not, we have masks, we have a lot of these things. They're sitting in the supply chain, people are profiteering off of them or they're going to places where people are hoarding them. That happens in a crisis. It's only by someone looking through the entire system and seeing where those needs are, that you can say, 'stop hoarding them all in Texas. We need them in New York right now.'"

Fugate took his microphone off and said, "I don't have to sit here and listen to these bullsh*t people."

"Look, these are trying times," said MSNBC host Katy Tur. "And everyone is trying their best, and I know Craig is -- I don't know Craig personally, but I'm sure he's working as hard and trying his best. Everybody is. These are unprecedented times. So, it's understandable that he's frustrated."

Watch the discussion below: