Trump Caused This
COVID denialism has consequences.
by AMANDA CARPENTER
OCTOBER 2, 2020 9:58 AM
We will eclipse this. (Illustration by Hannah Yoest / Shutterstock)
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With more than 208,000 Americans dead from the novel coronavirus, it was already apparent that Donald Trump had failed the country. With his positive diagnosis, it’s now clear that he even failed himself. See this with clear eyes: Our nation’s commander-in-chief is presently in isolation by way of his incompetence, paranoia, and denialism.
This is not an accident. Unlike untold numbers of Americans, such as medical workers and first responders, who have contracted the deadly virus despite taking precautious, President Trump ignored science and prudence and commonsense. He taunted medical fate. Trump and his White House staff have ignored the most basic public health best practices: Masking. Social distancing. Avoiding crowds.
The president has held indoor rallies. He has gathered masses of people on the White House lawn, multiple times. He has mocked people wearing masks in order to avoid unknowingly spreading the virus. He badgered states to “open up” despite not having contained the coronavirus.
President Trump didn’t unwittingly contract coronavirus. He courted it. And, Republicans, eager to demonstrate their loyalty, followed his lead. They similarly held indoor events. They posted pictures to social media of themselves maskless, in crowds, as if to prove their defiance of basic science.
To say President Trump “failed” in his job to protect America isn’t quite right. Because he didn’t even try. What he did, instead, was focus on his reelection campaign to the exclusion of all else. People pleaded with him for months to take the virus seriously, and he refused. He lied to the public about it. He mocked those who were concerned by its progress. And he tried to pressure others—both within his administration and leaders at the state level—to do the same.
Donald Trump is the reason our country has been plunged into economic, medical, and institutional chaos.
And here it is important to make a distinction: Because unlike so many others, Donald Trump is not a victim of the coronavirus. He brought it on himself.
As he sits in isolation, facing the ramifications of his behavior, no one should hesitate to speak this basic truth.
Of course, everyone wishes Trump, his wife Melania, and other Trump staffers who have coronavirus well. We’ll hold them in our prayers. But, the country shouldn’t be in this situation.
And we wouldn’t be, if it weren’t for Donald Trump.
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