As coronavirus cases surge in states across the country, a new comprehensive report by the Washington Post outlines how Trump allowed the virus to get out of hand by wasting months downplaying the threat and ignoring public health experts, and how he’s only making it worse now by undermining public health experts and shifting his focus to the economy and his reelection campaign.
Read the full story here, and see below for key highlights:
Donald Trump’s failed leadership caused the coronavirus to get out of hand — and his failure to learn from his mistakes is only making it worse.
- “President Trump — who has repeatedly downplayed the virus, sidelined experts and misled Americans about its dangers and potential cures — now finds his presidency wracked by an inability to shepherd the country through its worst public health calamity in a century.” [Washington Post, 6/27/20]
- “The dysfunction that has long characterized Trump’s White House has been particularly ill-suited for a viral outbreak that requires precision, focus and steady leadership, according to public health experts, administration officials and lawmakers from both parties.” [Washington Post, 6/27/20]
- “As case numbers began rising again, Trump has held rallies defying public health guidelines, mused about slowing down testing for the virus, criticized people wearing masks and embraced the racially offensive ‘kung flu’ nickname for a disease that has killed at least 123,000 Americans.” [Washington Post, 6/27/20]
As coronavirus cases continue to spike, Trump has “dramatically” scaled back his coronavirus response duties in favor of focusing on the economy and his reelection prospects.
- “The White House has blocked Anthony S. Fauci, the nation’s top infectious-disease expert and director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, from some appearances that he has requested to do in recent weeks, according to two people familiar with the matter.” [Washington Post, 6/27/20]
- “The president has dramatically scaled back the number of coronavirus meetings on his schedule in recent weeks, instead holding long meetings on polling and endorsements, his reelection campaign, the planned Republican National Convention in Jacksonville, Fla., the economy and other topics, according to two advisers, who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.” [Washington Post, 6/27/20]
The Trump administration has yet to address PPE shortages states across the country are facing and still hasn’t developed a national testing strategy, making it difficult for governors to respond to the spike in cases.
- “In several states, where hospitalizations and positivity rates are sharply increasing, Trump’s words offer little comfort to governors trying to figure out how to respond to a burgeoning crisis.” [Washington Post, 6/27/20]
- “Some states are still struggling to procure testing kits and supplies for the kits, including swabs, and have pleaded for the federal government to play a larger role in coordinating purchases, resolving supply shortages and distributing the tests.” [Washington Post, 6/27/20]
- “Doctors and health-care facilities are still grappling with shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE), including private doctors’ offices that cannot perform routine procedures safely because they do not have the necessary equipment, according to the American Medical Association.” [Washington Post, 6/27/20]
Trump’s approach to coronavirus testing has left states scrambling to develop their own strategies, making it difficult for them to begin slowing down the spread of COVID-19.
- “Kristen Pogreba-Brown, an epidemiologist at the University of Arizona, said she found it ‘disgusting’ to watch politics penetrate considerations about public health precautions. She pointed in particular to issues of testing following the president’s erroneous suggestion that increased testing is to blame for the scope of the outbreak.” [Washington Post, 6/27/20]
- “‘The fact that we don’t have a federal testing program is pretty embarrassing, frankly,’ she said, noting that her university is developing its own in-house testing system, because ‘we don’t have faith people can go out and get tested in the community.’” [Washington Post, 6/27/20]
- “More than five months after the first test for the coronavirus was conducted in the United States, testing equipment is still being doled out based on which states manage to get federal officials on the phone to press their case.” [Washington Post, 6/27/20]
By framing coronavirus as a political issue instead of a health issue, Trump pushed governors to reopen prematurely and skirt basic safety measures, jeopardizing thousands of lives.
- “Politicization of the pandemic has left many Republican governors to choose between staying a doomed public health course while touting economic recovery or acting on recommendations from public health experts who Trump has dismissed.” [Washington Post, 6/27/20]
- “In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has resisted calls for a statewide mask mandate, even as Florida’s cases jumped by 62 percent from its previous high of 5,511 on Wednesday to a new high of 8,942 on Friday. His argument, made publicly as recently as Thursday, is that not all parts of the state are experiencing the same level of outbreak, and therefore they should not be subject to a one-size-fits-all approach. The state announced Friday that all bars must shut down on-site consumption, three weeks after they reopened.” [Washington Post, 6/27/20]
- “In Arizona, public health experts and local officials largely credit lobbying efforts by mayors for pushing Gov. Doug Ducey (R) to reverse his position and allow cities to implement mask requirements as they saw fit.” [Washington Post, 6/27/20]
Trump has spent months downplaying the coronavirus crisis, and now experts say his willingness to ignore ordinances on masks and large crowds has only added to the sense of confusion.
- “‘Any time there is politicization of an infectious-disease response, it makes it much harder to intervene,’ said Amesh Adalja, an infectious-disease expert at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. People are ‘less likely to actually listen to public health authorities on what are the best actions to take and how to take them because they think that everything has been politicized in that there is no truth — it’s truth from Democrats or Republicans, rather than the truth,’ Adalja said.” [Washington Post, 6/27/20]
- “The White House has played a central role in undermining the kind of clear and consistent messaging experts say is necessary to mount a successful public health response to a viral outbreak, current and former administration officials said.” [Washington Post, 6/27/20]
- “Trump has undermined Fauci and other health experts repeatedly, publicly dismissing their views about reopening schools, professional sports and other aspects of public life.” [Washington Post, 6/27/20]
- “While Fauci has been sidelined from briefing Trump and appearing on television, economic advisers such as trade adviser Peter Navarro and Larry Kudlow, director of the National Economic Council, have been given a more prominent public role. They have often used the platform to provide false assurances that the recent surges are under control.” [Washington Post, 6/27/20]
- “Others without a background in public health, including Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, have played an outsized role in guiding the federal response. Just last month, Kushner told others involved in the response that the virus was essentially under control and that there would be no second wave, a former administration official said.” [Washington Post, 6/27/20]