PRESIDENT TRUMP USES COVID-19 CRISIS FOR HIS RE-ELECTION: Part VIII

…Washington State Governor, Jay Inslee

Trump makes sure his friends, and the Red states are taken care of first. 

U.S. History of Pandemic Preparation

Back in the 1990’s, when Bill Clinton was president, the US was not totally unprepared for a pandemic like that of today.

At the time, President Clinton was concerned about the risks of bioterrorism.  He then decided to create the Strategic National Stockpile.  The goal was to be prepared for chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear threats. 

The stockpile included everything from medical ventilators to nerve-agent antidotes, which were located in 1,300 locations around the country.

The stockpile was never intended to supply enough equipment for a pandemic of the scale of today’s.  But for today’s HHS Secretary, Alex Azar and others in the Trump administration, a bigger problem is the fact that they worked for a man who views

the doling out of ventilators, masks and gloves to the states, as an exercise in his political power.  Getting protective gear to the people who needed it most, this is not Trump’s primary concern.  It is instead for him to get it only to the people he needs for his re-election.

So, as states across the country plead for equipment from the national stockpile, Trump makes sure his friends and wanna-be friends are taken care of first.  

Florida, a state that is vital to Trump’s 2020 hopes, submitted a request on March 11^th for 430,000 surgical masks, 180,000 N95 masks, 82,000 face shields, and 238,000 gloves, among other supplies.

They received a shipment of everything in three days.  And just in case it wasn’t clear how much Trump loved Floridians, Florida received, un-requested, a second identical shipment a month later. 

Oklahoma, a fossil-fuel friendly state that is home to a number of big Trump donors, they received 120,000 face shields despite that they only requested 16,000. 

Meanwhile, in Obama’s home state of Illinois, officials were forced to do a $3.5 million deal in a McDonald’s parking lot to just secure a supply of N95 masks.  (Trump’s continues to demonstrate his hatred of the former president.)

In addition, Trump had gone out of his way to publicly attack Democratic governors of blue states who challenged him.  He had all but refused to work with them on furnishing federal pandemic supplies.   But today, he’s trying to pretend he cares for those blue states.

As an example, when Washington state’s governor, Jay Inslee tweeted that the administration’s effort to combat the coronavirus would be more successful, “If the Trump administration stuck to the science and told the truth”.  Trump responded by

calling him a “snake” at a press briefing and he all but refused to work with him on relief supplies.

When Gretchen Whitmer, the Democratic Governor of Michigan, pushed for more supplies from the stockpile, Trump immediately dismissed her.  At a press meeting, he said that he had instructed Vice President Pence not to call the governors of blue states who questioned his efforts.  “I say, Mike, don’t call the governor of Washington.  You arewasting your time with him.  Don’t call the woman in Michigan.  If they don’t treat you right, I don’t call.  All I want them to do…very simple…I want them to be appreciative,” Trump explained.

It is hard to overstate how morally grotesque this was, but in Trumpland, it’s just how business is done.  It comes down to this for all governors.  “Kiss the ring, or the people of your state will suffer”.  Death and disease are just the leverage for Trump to keep a hold on his power.

As the pandemic has grown, Trump, under the guise of his half-baked understanding of federalism, he has done his best to push all responsibility for the response to the pandemic, out to the separate states.  This only made a mockery of his self-image as a “wartime president such as FDR”, but it has also undermined any effective response to slow the spread of the virus. 

Instead of allowing top scientists like Anthony Fauci to develop a clear national response to the pandemic, he touts unproven treatments like the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine.  Instead of pushing for a nationwide shutdown, which public-health experts argue is the best way to stop the spread of the virus and to save lives, Trump vacillated, while giving cover to governors in states like Georgia and Florida that has kept restaurants and beaches open.

By doing so, Trump has ensured those states will become a breeding ground for new outbreaks. 

Bill Gates told CNN: “Having states do different things will not work.  Cases will be exponentially growing anywhere you don’ have a serious shutdown”.

Nuff said for this episode.  Unfortunately, the end will not come in my coming, Final Episode

Copyright G. Ater 2020