Just like his Apprentice TV Show became boring and predictable, so has Trump’s contrived COVID-defiant television performances. His desperate need to constantly talk and be on television is now being satisfied by his trips to factories in swing states that are making PPE. The theme of each appearance is a defiance of whatever the scientists recommend. He closed down the daily task force briefings because his performances were so bad, they were damaging him politically. During the presentation of scientific data and medical management recommendations, he would babble nonsense that made him look completely wacky and incompetent. His riff on injecting disinfectants was the beginning of the end of the briefings.
However, instead of bowing out gracefully and allowing Dr. Fauci and his team to educate and reassure the American people during this epidemic, he scrapped the whole process. Dr. Fauci, however, is not like the other official’s Trump has disparaged or ruined. Fauci has appeared in an interview these past few days with Julia Roberts and last night on CNN with Anderson Cooper. Dr. Fauci continues to caution Americans not to relax on PPE or social distancing as the virus is still spreading and people are still dying. He acknowledges the need to re-open the economy, but stresses the importance of testing and tracing to keep the reduction of the infection going down. To counter the warnings of the medical experts, Trump is jetting around to swing states rallying people back to work, school, and entertainment. He is pretending the pandemic is under control to look strong, to prioritize the economy, and to claim victory. A competent leader would be able to simultaneously encourage the stage one re-opening of the country, and add;
” FOLLOW THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE SCIENCE AND MEDICAL EXPERTS. CONTINUE TO WEAR YOUR MASKS, PRACTICE SOCIAL DISTANCING, GET TESTED, AND STAY AWAY FROM LARGE GATHERINGS. THE VIRUS IS STILL WITH US, WE NEED TO TAKE THE RE-OPENING SLOW”.
That kind of messaging is just not cool enough for this vain president who uses the presidency to perform, feed his ego, and for personal gain. The concern by many officials and members of the medical community is Trump’s defiance of pandemic recovery state laws encourages his supporters to deft laws in support of him. Because he is concerned the failing economy will hurt his chance for re-election, he is willing to downplay the virus during the country’s re-opening just as he did in February and as during the spread. Trump cannot chew gum and walk at the same time. Resuming work and recreational can be done while following the protective guidelines put forth by the CDC.
The New York Times published the results of a projective model about how lives could have been saved if the federal government would have called for PPE, social distancing, and shelter-at-home orders two weeks earlier. The study done by Columbia University produced a model that indicated as much as 54% of the lives lost could have been saved with an earlier response from the Trump-led government. It takes chutzpah for Trump and his enablers to get out in front of the American people and brag that America is leading the world in fighting this disease. The statistics (not fake news) show we have more deaths than any other country, are drastically behind on testing and tracing practices, continue to have a shortage of PPE, and have the lowest unemployment numbers since the Great Depression. We can only hope that Americans will decide not to follow anything Trump does or believe anything he says. His blatant disregard for the danger of this pandemic may lead him to make the same fatal mistakes in governing that led to the deaths of over 90,000 Americans.
One can only hope that Governor Whitmer will consider her instinct not to allow Trump to defy Michigan law again the next time he visits her state. There is nothing Trump likes less than a strong woman who does not have the legal authority to boss around. Where are the Republican congressmen with the same level of courage and integrity as Governor Whitmer?
