Trump tries to pass blame for awful U.S. COVID testing to governors in frantic outburst
The American people trudge on through the collective nightmare that is the coronavirus pandemic, most of us locked inside, unable to see many of our loved ones, unable to go to work.
We are witnessing nothing less than a courageous national sacrifice, a sacrifice that is in no way lessened by the decision on the part of some deeply ignorant individuals to protest these shelter at home orders. The American people by and large are showing their best, most courageous side, even as our president continues to make a mockery of this crisis.
At no point during the past few weeks has Trump come close to displaying anything that even vaguely resembles a unifying voice. His leadership has been erratic and petulant, more focused on dishing blame out to his enemies than assuring the country that we can get through these incredibly trying times. He is incapable of giving any kind of real attention to anything that doesn’t directly affect him personally.
Today, the president woke up and decided to stir up division for the umpteenth. He attacked the “Radical Left” and “Do Nothing Democrats” for constantly demanding that adequate ventilators be provided to hospitals in need. He said they “screamed it loud & clear, and & thought they had us cold,” an incredibly weird and calloused way to describe people advocating for equipment to save American lives.
He reiterated his claim that securing medical supplies was the “State’s task” which is really just him refusing to take any responsibility for fighting the pandemic and on some very real level a gross betrayal of his duties to protect the American people.
Trump went on to claim that “everyone got their [ventilators]” and even said there were “many to spare.” As is almost always the case, he failed to provide any evidence for his claim before segueing into a rant that Democrats demanding more COVID-19 testing are “playing a very dangerous game,” dismissing a serious public health need as a partisan ploy.
“States, not the Federal Government, should be doing the Testing – But we will work with the Governors and get it done. This is easy compared to the fast production of thousands of complex Ventilators!” the President of the United States tweeted, making it abundantly clear that he does intend to provide the full help required. Not surprisingly, he failed to mention his administration’s botched handling of testing rollouts.
Once again, we see Donald Trump downplaying the severity of this problem. So far the United States has completed around 3.9 million tests. For context, one estimate says that production facilities will need to generate 5 million tests for use per day if the economy is going to start partially opening back up by June. To “fully re-mobilize the economy” testing will need to hit 20 million a day.
It’s not an impossible task, but it is a daunting one and one that we will clearly have to accomplish without any kind of meaningful federal leadership. Trump failed to prepare us for this crisis and he will not be the one to guide us out of it.
Last month all you heard from the Radical Left, Do Nothing Democrats was, “Ventilators, Ventilators, Ventilators.” They screamed it loud & clear, & thought they had us cold, even though it was the State’s task. But everyone got their V’s, with many to spare. Now they scream….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 20, 2020
… “Testing, Testing, Testing,” again playing a very dangerous political game. States, not the Federal Government, should be doing the Testing – But we will work with the Governors and get it done. This is easy compared to the fast production of thousands of complex Ventilators!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 20, 2020
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