Read on Twitter
I’m getting a lot of angry MAGA people shouting that “the mass graves are not Trump’s fault!”
YES. THEY ARE. The coronavirus is not Trump’s fault. But our government’s HORRENDOUS response to it is 1000% Trump’s fault.
Let’s run through what is INDISPUTABLY Trump’s fault:
YES. THEY ARE. The coronavirus is not Trump’s fault. But our government’s HORRENDOUS response to it is 1000% Trump’s fault.
Let’s run through what is INDISPUTABLY Trump’s fault:
1.) The utter unpreparedness of the United States for a pandemic
2.) Disbanding the pandemic response office in 2018
3.) The loss of stockpiled respirators because the federal government let maintenance contracts lapse in 2018
2.) Disbanding the pandemic response office in 2018
3.) The loss of stockpiled respirators because the federal government let maintenance contracts lapse in 2018
4.) The failure to store sufficient protective medical gear in the national arsenal
5.) That states are bidding against each other for equipment, paying many times the retail price for things like masks and ventilators
5.) That states are bidding against each other for equipment, paying many times the retail price for things like masks and ventilators
6.) Travelers abroad being summoned home and forced to stand for hours in densely packed crowded airports alongside infected people
7.) TEN WEEKS of insistence to the entire country that the coronavirus is a harmless flu that would miraculously go away on its own
7.) TEN WEEKS of insistence to the entire country that the coronavirus is a harmless flu that would miraculously go away on its own
8.) The refusal of red-state governors to act promptly
9.) The failure to close Florida and Gulf Coast beaches until late March
10.) Holding daily “briefings” where he lies about the virus, boasts about how “great” he’s handled it, and baselessly attacks journalists
9.) The failure to close Florida and Gulf Coast beaches until late March
10.) Holding daily “briefings” where he lies about the virus, boasts about how “great” he’s handled it, and baselessly attacks journalists
11.) Being incapable of valuing American lives over the revenue of his own properties or his own chances of winning reelection
12.) Pushing untested non-FDA approved drugs as potential “cures” already resulting in at least one American’s DEATH who didn’t even have COVID-19
12.) Pushing untested non-FDA approved drugs as potential “cures” already resulting in at least one American’s DEATH who didn’t even have COVID-19
13.) Refusing tests when they were offered to us in FEBRUARY so he could have companies he has ties to manufacture tests that he could profit off of
14.) Being incapable of accepting responsibility; showing empathy; or offering ANY condolences to those who lost loved ones
14.) Being incapable of accepting responsibility; showing empathy; or offering ANY condolences to those who lost loved ones
15.) Repeatedly blaming others for his own failures. Saying “impeachment distracted him” when he spent all of January, February and early March golfing and holding rallies with thousands of people in attendance (each event its own PUBLIC HEALTH HAZARD).
16.) Continuing to call the virus “a Democratic hoax” until LATE FEBRUARY
17.) Showing no awareness of or regard for his responsibility as President to PROTECT AMERICAN LIVES
18.) Continuing to sell millions of tons of PPE to other countries until EARLY MARCH
17.) Showing no awareness of or regard for his responsibility as President to PROTECT AMERICAN LIVES
18.) Continuing to sell millions of tons of PPE to other countries until EARLY MARCH
19.) Being so empty and devoid of humanity that he literally feels nothing in response to over 16,000 DEAD AMERICANS whose deaths were PREVENTABLE if he had simply listened to experts and taken this crisis seriously in JANUARY
20.) Putting uniquely UNQUALIFIED people in charge of our federal response to this crisis like Mike Pence and Jared Kushner—who have NO RELEVANT KNOWLEDGE, EDUCATION, OR EXPERIENCE—and can’t even grasp that the federal stockpile of medical equipment is for THE UNITED STATES
21.) Branding COVID-19 the “Chinese virus” or “Wuhan virus” in a disgraceful attempt at racist scapegoating that not only does nothing to help us combat the crisis, it has made Asian-Americans the targets of increasing levels of discrimination, prejudice, and hate crimes.
22.) Lying about “taking early action in restricting travel to and from China,” which was never done and all experts agree would have made little to no difference at that point because the virus was already present and spreading in the U.S.
23.) Repeatedly lying about the availability and frequency of testing. Saying “everyone who needs a test gets a test” while we are still short MILLIONS OF TESTS, which Pence promised would be available almost a month ago and still haven’t been produced.
24.) Telling the American people we must “reopen the economy” because “the cure can’t be worse than the disease,” which not only puts economic success above American lives, it ignores the fact that the death toll of reopening everything prematurely would be WORSE for the economy.
25.) Ignoring EVERY SINGLE PAGE of the pandemic response playbook that the Obama administration left for Trump’s team, which stressed:
—Pandemics can start ANYWHERE/don't respect borders
—Science MUST GUIDE decisions
—Federal/State collaboration is KEY
—Consistent messaging VITAL
—Pandemics can start ANYWHERE/don't respect borders
—Science MUST GUIDE decisions
—Federal/State collaboration is KEY
—Consistent messaging VITAL
26.) The playbook also stressed the CRITICAL IMPORTANCE of enacting social distancing measures AS EARLY AS POSSIBLE. “When it comes to pandemics, days—and even hours—can be the difference between saving thousands of lives.” Trump did NOTHING for 75 DAYS
This list, like Trump’s impeachable offenses, is the kind of list that could go on and on forever because Trump’s failures will only keep getting worse as the death toll continues to rise. He is quite possibly the most ill-equipped person ON EARTH to handle a crisis like this.
I will keep adding to this thread as Trump continues to fail us with his bottomless sociopathic incompetence. But first I want to share some resources I used to put this together as well as some other great threads and people to follow for updates on our response to this crisis.
This article by Laurie Garrett does an incredible job outlining all the ways that Trump sabotaged our ability to respond to the coronavirus. It’s infuriating but mandatory reading. https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/01/31/coronavirus-china-trump-united-states-public-health-emergency-response/
This is a great Op-Ed from the Editor-in-Chief of Science Magazine on how the anti-science attitudes of Trump and Pence and their unwillingness/inability to defer to experts are costing American lives: https://science.sciencemag.org/content/early/2020/03/11/science.abb6502.full
This article by Beth Cameron is critical. She served as the senior director for global health and biodefense on Obama’s WH security council and ran the pandemic response office that Trump closed in 2018. https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/nsc-pandemic-office-trump-closed/2020/03/13/a70de09c-6491-11ea-acca-80c22bbee96f_story.html
This is a fantastic article by @brianklaas on how the Coronavirus is Trump’s Chernobyl. It will undoubtedly go down as one of the most catastrophic mismanagements of a crisis in history. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/03/09/coronavirus-is-trumps-chernobyl/
This is a must-read thread by @chrislhayes on how Trump has bungled this crisis beyond imagination with his “sociopathic governance.” https://twitter.com/chrislhayes/status/1236492106455224320?s=21
This is a great thread by @briantylercohen summarizing every terrible thing Trump has done to put American lives at risk in response to this pandemic: https://twitter.com/briantylercohen/status/1237171987941740545?s=21
This thread by @SykesCharlie lists every bone-headed and head-snappingly WRONG statement that Trump has made about the coronavirus since January (in order). https://twitter.com/sykescharlie/status/1238132406642761728?s=21
Epidemiologists agree that the coronavirus won’t peak until Mid-May (at the earliest) in the U.S. and will get exponentially worse before then. This will become increasingly important as Trump pushes to reopen the country prematurely (for the second time). https://twitter.com/mikiebarb/status/1238296293686075392?s=21
Terrific thread by @SethAbramson on Trump’s catastrophic notion of “reopening all businesses in the next week or two” (a power that—thankfully—Trump DOES NOT EVEN HAVE). https://twitter.com/sethabramson/status/1242481954261532672?s=21
Fantastic thread by @jeremycyoung summarizing everything in the Official report on COVID-19 that led to the (substantially delayed) implementation of social distancing and shelter in place orders in the U.S. & why these measures are so important right now https://twitter.com/jeremycyoung/status/1239975682643357696?s=21
I’m ending this (for now) with my favorite article on this so far, written by Peter Wehner, on how Trump’s response to the coronavirus—as horrific and tragic as it is—has one indefatigable silver lining: It is the end of Trump’s Presidency. https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/03/peter-wehner-trump-presidency-over/607969/
This graph shows the price we are paying for having someone as grossly unfit for office as Trump in the WH during this crisis. It is surreal. As you watch this, please record your emotions and remember to VOTE in November.
Until then, stay safe everyone.
Until then, stay safe everyone.
27.) Trump is now saying he faces “the most difficult decision of his life” about “when to reopen the economy.” [High drama and ALL about him]. In reality, this decision is:
a.) Easy (keep things closed) and b.) Isn’t even up to him—but state governors. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/10/us/politics/coronavirus-trump-economy.html
a.) Easy (keep things closed) and b.) Isn’t even up to him—but state governors. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/10/us/politics/coronavirus-trump-economy.html
28.) Trump actually floated the idea of just letting the coronavirus run rampant across the country. “Why don’t we just let this wash over the country?” he asked Dr. Fauci. Fauci was dumbfounded. “Mr. President...many people would die” he responded. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-task-forces-coronavirus-pandemic/2020/04/11/5cc5a30c-7a77-11ea-a130-df573469f094_story.html
29.) Trump’s “coronavirus task forces” haven’t really done much to combat COVID-19. They meet daily and discuss different topics but they have competing agendas and rarely influence Trump’s decisions. It’s more like they exist to create the appearance that something is being done
30.) Instructing FEMA to withhold or intercept orders of critical medical supplies to certain states he has issues with (e.g. blue states); creating a cut-throat Hunger Games-style bidding war between states for life saving supplies like ventilators. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/as-feds-play-backup-states-take-unorthodox-steps-to-compete-in-cutthroat-global-market-for-coronavirus-supplies/2020/04/11/609b5d84-7a70-11ea-a130-df573469f094_story.html
31.) After Trump couldn’t come up with a SINGLE THING he did to combat COVID-19 during the entire month of February, his defenders took to Twitter to post a long list. Not surprisingly, every item is a meaningless non-achievement that did NOTHING to help.
https://twitter.com/ddiamond/status/1249880132837408773?s=21 https://twitter.com/ddiamond/status/1249880132837408773
https://twitter.com/ddiamond/status/1249880132837408773?s=21 https://twitter.com/ddiamond/status/1249880132837408773
32.) Delaying painfully insufficient stimulus checks to 70 million Americans by several days (millions of whom cannot afford to feed themselves/their families) so that his name can appear on the check as if this somehow should make us grateful to HIM. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/coming-to-your-1200-relief-check-donald-j-trumps-name/2020/04/14/071016c2-7e82-11ea-8013-1b6da0e4a2b7_story.html
33.) Cutting funding to the World Health Organization in the middle of a global pandemic in a moronic attempt to deflect blame from his own galactic failure to protect American lives, which puts us and people in all sovereign countries at even greater risk https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/14/trump-calls-for-halt-to-us-funding-for-world-health-organization-amid-coronavirus-outbreak.html
34.) Screaming “LIBERATE VIRGINIA! MICHIGAN! AND MINNESOTA!” via tweet; encouraging civilian insurrection by Americans against their governors stay-at-home orders. This was not only an illegal incitement of violence, it jeopardized the lives of those who listened to it.
35.) Telling the American people that putting UV light “inside the body” or consuming/injecting bleach/disinfectants (which will LITERALLY KILL YOU) should be explored as potential coronavirus treatments.
36.) Insisting on holding an indoor rally with thousands of people with no masks in Tulsa. Embarrassing turnout aside, this jeopardized thousands of lives & led Oklahoma cases to spike just a week later. He killed people for a failed attempt to boost his pitifully fragile ego.
37.) LYING DAILY about COVID having a “99% harmlessness rate” (NO), that cases are rising “only because we are testing more” (NO), that “if we just stopped testing there’d be no cases” (AYFKM), that mortality rates are dropping (NO) & that the economy is setting records (NO)
38.) Screaming “SCHOOLS MUST OPEN IN THE FALL!” despite him having done NOTHING to facilitate that being even remotely safe or possible for our nation’s children given the current trajectory of the virus (exploding). Children are not immune, can carry and even die from COVID.
39.) Politicizing the virus as well as vital safety precautions like masks and social distancing that are critical to curbing the spread and are not controversial in other countries that have already flattened the curve like Canada, South Korea, and China.
40.) Refusing to a wear a mask in public for the first 5.5 months—until over 3 million Americans had been infected and over 137,000 had died from COVID-19, and even THEN only doing it for a photo-op at Walter Reed, not wearing it correctly, and taking it off immediately after.
41.) Withdrawing us from the WHO against the advice of the American Medical Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Academy of Family Physicians & American College of Physicians, all of which condemned the move as “putting the health of our country at grave risk."
42.) Attempting to alter, suppress, and falsify COVID-19 data by requesting hospitals send info on patients treated for the virus to DC instead of CDC. This is the beginning of a massive coverup to proclaim victory as things keep getting increasingly worse https://twitter.com/jaketapper/status/1283223661982490624?s=21
43.) After more than 141,000 deaths and 3.5 million cases, he’s pushing to block funding for testing, contact-tracing & the CDC in the next relief bill; the only 3 things other than mask requirements that will curb the spread of the virus.
#TrumpKillsUs https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2020/07/18/white-house-testing-budget-cdc-coronavirus/
#TrumpKillsUs https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2020/07/18/white-house-testing-budget-cdc-coronavirus/
44.) As the US death toll surpassed 150,000, Trump played golf, continues to push for states to reopen and schools to reopen in the coming weeks, and push debunked lethal conspiracy theories and misinformation from Tea Party “doctors.” Utter disaster. https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/30/politics/donald-trump-louie-gohmert-coronavirus/index.html
45.) New documents & reports of Kushner’s abandoned plan for a national testing strategy cannot even be classified as ineptitude or malfeasance; but negligent genocide of American citizens. This is honestly the most enraging thing I’ve ever read in my life https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/07/how-jared-kushners-secret-testing-plan-went-poof-into-thin-air
This is the best article so far on the confluence of factors that led to the disaster that was our COVID response; systems plagued by inequality; years of science-denial; the proliferation of misinformation & a sociopath who ignored experts. By @edyong209 https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/09/coronavirus-american-failure/614191/
46.) This utter sociopathic nightmare w/ the intellectual capacity of a sandwich continues to flail himself into contorted pretzels to misrepresent what’s happening as a success. Steps cannot be taken to combat a disaster you won’t even acknowledge exists.
47.) Baselessly lying for the past 190 days that we are “rounding the corner on the pandemic” when over 200,000 Americans are dead and we continue to lose about another thousand lives A DAY as we head into flu season/winter. We are plateaued AT BEST.
