Day 1,136: Trump’s coronavirus response has, impossibly, been even worse than it has appeared
Donald Trump’s response to the burgeoning worldwide coronavirus crisis has been abjectly humiliating and dangerous in every respect.
Now, a Washington Post report elucidates just how big a mess things have been behind the scenes, as one incompetent stooge fights with the next, while Trump contradicts top officials at the CDC while he’s on national TV.
Interviews with nearly two dozen administration officials, former White House aides, public health experts and lawmakers — many speaking on the condition of anonymity to share candid assessments and details — portray a White House scrambling to gain control of a rudderless response defined by bureaucratic infighting, confusion and misinformation.
“It’s complete chaos,” a senior administration official said. “Everyone is just trying to get a handle on what the [expletive] is going on.”
Trump main goal has been perfecting optics, not protecting Americans.
At the White House, the focus quickly turned to overhauling the coronavirus team. “I’m going to be announcing — exactly right now — that I’m going to be putting our vice president, Mike Pence, in charge,” Trump said at his Wednesday news conference. “And Mike will be working with the professionals, doctors and everybody else that’s working. The team is brilliant.”
Trump did not, however, name a single “czar,” as some previous administrations have done during health emergencies. The president decided against that option after worrying that bringing in a person from outside the administration might be seen as a failure — and wondering whether such a person would be loyal to him, according to those familiar with the debate.
If Trump was trying to steady the ship with an appearance Saturday, he failed miserably, yet again.
A crisis that could affect the lives of hundreds of millions of Americans is being headed by someone who has absolutely no idea what is going on and has no intention of even trying to learn.
1,136 days in, 326 to go
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