Day 1,339: COVID-19 death toll hits 200,000 in U.S. as Trump, GOP continue to ignore virus entirely

The Friday death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has understandably dominated headlines and political predictions as Donald Trump and the GOP vow to reverse their 2016 position and jam an appointee through before Trump’s term expires.

Saturday, milestone deaths in the U.S. continued, as the nation officially hit 200,000 deaths from COVID-19, just 115 days after the U.S. suffered its 100,000th death.

The virus continues to spread throughout the U.S. as much of the rest of the world has largely returned to pre-coronavirus life thanks to buy in on scientist-backed solutions, including increased testing, social distancing and mask-wearing.

Trump has cast doubt on the efficacy of all of those measures, even undertaking an effort to do less of the suggested action items and intentionally downplaying the deadly virus.

Trump and the GOP are content to wave the white flag, leave the grim numbers in the rear-view mirror, and focus on a Supreme Court seat and identity politics in an effort to eke out election victories.

The 200,000 deceased and their families and friends aren’t so lucky.

Perhaps worst of all, the U.S. still doesn’t have any semblance of a cohesive plan despite the death count being surely to substantially rise as summer gives way to cooler weather.

1,339 days in, 123 to go

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