Does Donald Trump deserve bashing regarding the Covid 19 crisis?
You bet he does. Though Covid 19 was an unexpected pandemic, Trump’s response made its effects on America considerably worse, as he delayed taking the necessary actions. The president does not understand science and scientific evidence and makes no attempt to learn. Everything is done by his gut, which is exceedingly large, instead of his brain which may be exceeding small (merely a guess by the way he has governed). He does not follow the advice of his medical experts. In fact, Trump fired a group of scientists and security people a few years ago who were working for the National Security Council specifically on deciding how to handle pandemics, because he thought they were unnecessary. And the information he has put out since the onset of this deadly disease has been confusing and contradictory at times, making citizens unsure what they should be doing.
Initially, when the disease hit the United States, Trump declared it was nothing. Like the common cold or the flu. It should have minimal effect on the US. Then as medical personnel from the CDC and NIH like Drs Fauci and Brix started describing the threat of the Covid 19 virus to the United States and the numbers of people that could die from the disease, Trump suddenly became wary. Maybe it could derail his re-election bid if it were not handled properly. The growth of cases and deaths escalated daily and Trump told the American people that he had known about the potential dangers of the pandemic from the beginning, completely ignoring what he had been previously saying.
Then he began to talk like the doctors and scientists about what Covid 19 could do to the country and the toll it could take in lives. He started to emphasize social distancing as a way to avoid contagion and meeting online or in small groups instead of in person. He agreed with the governors who told their citizens to remain in their homes aside from getting food or medicine. Everything except essential businesses would have to shut down including schools. People could work online at home and classes could be taught the same way.
But after a few weeks of shutdown, Trump began to get antsy. He saw the stock market taking a nosedive as businesses were unproductive or closed. His concern about losing the election grew. Trump started talking about getting people back to work and opening the country up again. Doctors warned him about how that would increase the number of Americans who were sick and the number of deaths, but Trump did not seem to care. He said the cure was worse than the disease and he was thinking about having people working by Easter. They could still practice social distancing as much as possible at work.
One of the problems with this is that the US still does not have enough testing available to tell who is sick and who is well to decide if certain areas can be opened up. Months after America was affected there are still not enough tests. How could that possibly be? We also do not have enough masks and protective equipment for medical personnel who are on the front lines, and many of them have gotten sick and some have died. We do not have enough ventilators for those severely ill with viral pneumonia and thousands could die because of that lack. Trump has put governors in charge of getting equipment because he doesn’t want to be blamed for shortages, but the response to this pandemic should be led by the federal government. States are competing against each other for equipment and the prices of everything is going up.
China had the disease way before the US, a warning to us that it was on its way. But Trump did not take the steps to obtain the necessary equipment to tamp down the crisis. Should Trump be bashed for the way the United States has responded to the Covid 19 crisis?
ABSOLUTELY!!!!
Resurrecting Democracy
robertlevinebooks.com
Political junkie, Vietnam vet, neurologist- three books on aging and dementia. Book on health care reform in 2009- Shock Therapy for the American Health Care System. Book on the need for a centrist third party- Resurrecting Democracy- A Citizen’s Call for a Centrist Third Party published in 2011. Aging Wisely, published in August 2014 by Rowman and Littlefield. Latest book- The Uninformed Voter published May 2020