Trump’s attack on Twitter for enforcing its fact-checking policies against misleading tweets proves that he can take swift action when he wants to. Twitter’s fact check notation, which was a minimal action, concerned Trump because he wants no restrictions on his strategy of using that platform to spread misinformation, conspiracy theories, and lies. His Twitter feed is daily red meat for his base. The story of George Floyd being killed by excessive use of force by police in Minnesota was not at the top of his concerns. Taking actions to control the spread of COVID-19 or to improve racial inequality are not priorities on this administration.
He continued his misuse of Twitter today, calling the protesters thugs, threatening to shut it down, and attacking the mayor of Minneapolis as weak as his city grieves the senseless death of Mr. Floyd. Jack Dorsey should publicly announce reasons why his platform has banned people from tweeting for life and compare them to egregious tweets Trump has gotten away with. Fact-checking Trump’s rampant bullying on Twitter should have been addressed years ago.
When Trump learned the coronavirus had entered the United States, he chose not to take swift action to mitigate the threat it posed to the health and safety of Americans. In fact, he downplayed it and falsely proclaimed to the nation it would soon disappear. His concern for how the truth could negatively affect the economy and his re-election chances were clearly more important than protecting lives.
Trump was warned by the Obama Administration that a pandemic could strike in America, and he should pay attention to the recommendations of the World Health Organization and other experts involved in predicting and managing epidemics. As soon as he heard the name Obama, he probably decided to abandon any attention to the issue. He was warned in December of 2029 that the federal government needed a plan in place to protect against a pandemic. However, when Trump took office, he defunded the office of pandemic preparedness. Each of these actions and non-actions by the president rendered Americans, defenseless victims, to the ravages of COVID-19.
On March 19, 2020, Trump proclaimed, “No one knew a pandemic of this proportion could occur. Nobody has ever seen this before”. He continued his lying and spinning of the facts by saying”, “I was the one who called it a pandemic before anyone called it a pandemic.” He has tried to convince Americans that because he closed our border to China on January 29, he did all that could have been done to stop the spread of the virus. If he was reading his briefings and was able to comprehend the information, he would have learned the infection had spread to Europe, and flights to New York from Europe should have been banned. Instead, over 2,000 flights landed in New York in February and March, which explains why that area became the epicenter of the explosion of infection. A qualified president understands issues of this magnitude are complex and require research, consultation, strategic plans, without attention given to ego or politics. This president is not an ideologue, so he politicizes any issue, such as the wearing of masks if he believes it will benefit him.
The deficits in his intellect, leadership, and character contributed to the loss of 100,000 American lives. He is desperate to direct the narrative away from his failure to act promptly to the rapid spread of COVID-19. He can keep saying he did a great job. Still, over 100,000 dead bodies, continued shortages of PPE and testing, and an economy approaching depression level numbers reveals the opposite is true.
Addressing racial inequality is another failure of Trump’s presidency. Since his election, racial tensions have increased throughout the country. His comments at the Nazi rally in Charlottesville in 2017, where he said, “there were good people on both sides,” set off an alarm to blacks, Jews, and all minorities in America. His continued defense of the police in situations of excessive use of force against black Americans has continued to be a dog-whistle to the white supremacist members of his base. His campaign to destroy the career of professional football player Colin Kaepernick because of his “take the knee” protest against police violence towards African American men was a blatant reveal of his racist/white supremacist leaning policies. The killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis has reminded black Americans the federal government has done nothing to address the issue of the disproportionate use of excessive force by white police officers towards black men. It was noted in a CNN report today that even white supremacist murderer Dylann Roof who killed 9 blacks in Charleston, North Carolina church in 2015, was more gently apprehended by police than was George Floyd and other black victims.
Riots are occurring in Minneapolis, and although the destruction of property and the violence is not the solution to the systemic problem of racism by the police, the outrage is understandable. Hasn’t the black community suffered enough throughout the history of our country? Just as the Jewish people stand by their cries, “Never forget,” the black community is fighting for their lives to equally matter. Where is the President and Congress on the issue of racial inequality and police brutality towards black men? So far, these Administrations’ policies on racial problems seem to be based on retaining the votes of white America, not on the ” all men are created equal” premise. We need to Make America Moral Again.
