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This is devastating material for @joebiden& #39;s cmpgn to use vs. @realdonaldtrump. Trump was forewarned by trusted advisors about the #coronavirus & didn& #39;t act. No Deep State conspiracy here. Just Trump was asleep at the wheel. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/06/us/politics/navarro-warning-trump-coronavirus.html?smid=tw-nytimes&smtyp=cur">https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/0...
Navarro, the architect of the tariff war and long a Trump confidante, provided the most stark warning possible to the Administration in January. “The lack of immune protection or an existing cure or vaccine would leave Americans defenseless." It doesn& #39;t get more bleak than that.
"A second memo that Mr. Navarro wrote, dated Feb. 23, warned of an “increasing probability of a full-blown COVID-19 pandemic that could infect as many as 100 million Americans, with a loss of life of as many as 1.2 million souls." Navarro also stressed the impact on the economy.
Navarro, I suspect, took seriously the #covid19 warnings given to him by his Chinese counterparts in trade negotiations. One might interpret Navarro& #39;s warnings as the product of a persuasive and sincere effort by China to warn the US via official channels.
Still, Trump didn& #39;t act. I think the answer is a simple one: the concept of being a real POTUS is completely foreign to him. He only plays a pretend POTUS on TV and the media and his base eat it up so long as the economy is decent and liberals get & #39;owned& #39;.
Despite very clear, simple and tangible warnings from Navarro, Trump deflected it almost reflexively, which we see every day in the press room when he is faced w/a & #39;tough& #39; question about how his government& #39;s deeds do not match its words.
My favorite line from this article, which encapsulates the farcical nature of this administration is other officials& #39; dismissive attitude towards Navarro& #39;s insights, "their concerns look more prescient in hindsight than they actually were, other officials argue."
That& #39;s a bit like saying, & #39;you were 100% right but you just got lucky so f**k you anyway." Even funnier than that, Navarro recommended that the gov& #39;t to purchase PPE "estimating they would need “at least a billion face masks” over a four-to-six-month period." #coronavirus
