In his latest effort to deal with the coronavirus outbreak, Donald Trump addressed the nation last night. If this was meant to allay any fears and provide reassurance, it failed miserably.
In fact, the message, which Trump read in a near monotone from a teleprompter, was so muddled it had to be amended almost immediately to correct multiple gaffes and clear up confusion it created.
There was the shocking announcement that ALL travel and trade from Europe, except the United Kingdom, would be suspended for 30 days. Faster than it takes for the vacuum tubes of an old television to cool, the White House began to issue clarifications, addressing Trump’s multiple misstatements.
While he said the ban also would apply to “trade and cargo”, he immediately tweeted that it would apply only to people. This mistake could destroy an already free-falling stock market, yet the words were allowed to be uttered, as if the speech wasn’t properly vetted.
A further clarification was issued by the Department of Health and Human Services, stating that the travel ban did not extend to United States citizens, as if they were somehow immune from contracting the virus. This should come as no surprise when it was revealed that one of the authors of his speech was the architect of the Mexican Border strategy, White House strategist, Stephen Miller.
The xenophobia was made even more apparent as Trump called the coronavirus a “foreign” illness, ignoring the fact that potentially thousands of Americans may be infected.
While Trump took the time to mention “our strong economy”, despite the current stock market disaster, he failed to mention the need for more testing. Trump ignored what so many experts have declared was the only way the virus could be contained.
With multiple festivals, St. Patrick’s Day parades, cruises and even the NBA season being cancelled , you have to ask, is anyone in this administration even listening?
Then, today came the news that Trump himself may have been directly exposed to the coronavirus, along with his sidekick, the brilliant Mike Pence, by a Brazilian official with whom they met Saturday at Mar-a-Lago who has tested positive.
While macho man Trump says he’s not concerned about that, he’s scrapped his own domestic travel, including a trip to a Jewish coalition event in Las Vegas.
Trump is probably unconcerned because as we all know, he has superior genes and this is only the flu anyway. Dr. Donald knows all.
