New York National Guard responds to Coronavirus
Someone I know was down to three rolls of toilet paper last week, so he went to the store on Friday to get more, and surprise, couldn’t find any. It never occurred to him over the last few weeks to stock up. Guess which news channel he watches for Coronavirus information? Right wing Fox News viewers and Donald Trump fans (big overlap there) seemed especially caught off guard late last week, as the facts on the ground regarding Coronavirus (a/k/a COVID-19) finally destroyed their narratives.
Heretofore, Fox News, Trump and his administration officials were severely downplaying the seriousness of the virus. Trump infamously called Coronavirus, or Democratic criticism of his handling of the crisis, “a new hoax” as late as February 28. This is after Trump had been briefed about the virus back in January, had stated in an interview on January 22 that “we have it totally under control,”and spent the next two months apparently just wishing the problem would go away, because he feared the virus would hurt the stock market and his approval rating. Trump even enlisted Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in January to say that the spread of Coronavirus in China will “help to accelerate the return of jobs to North America.” Since then, the number of Coronavirus cases and deaths in the U.S. keeps rising, the stock market has plummeted many percentage points, and we’re getting the first glimpses at a U.S. economic slowdown that could turn into a full-fledged recession. But what could have been Trump’s moment to shine, by taking swift and effective action, devolved into typical conservative Republican laissez-faire failure of government, and even conspiracy theories. As a result, Americans are less safe, and so is Donald Trump’s presidency.
