The national health crisis that's killed thousands of Americans and unemployed millions more has rightly taken center stage, despite the 2020 presidential election being only six months away.
But while the campaign may be on the back burner, it hasn't stopped all together. Presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden is leaping to show the ways a Biden presidency would contrast the chaotic, divisive tenure of President Donald Trump.
Most immediately, Biden is starting with what his response would be to pandemics like the virus that's upended daily life in the United States.
Biden published an op-ed in the Washington Post on Monday, addressing the rampant unemployment, economic decline, and threats to Americans' health—and how Trump is only making things worse.
He writes:
"[I]nstead of unifying the country to accelerate our public health response and get economic relief to those who need it, President Trump is reverting to a familiar strategy of deflecting blame and dividing Americans."
Biden is correct about the President's tendency to deflect the blame for his own administration's catastrophic response to the pandemic. Trump has tried to throw responsibility on former President Barack Obama, on the so-called "fake news media," on Democrats, on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), on China, and a growing list of others.
With his calls to "LIBERATE" states from stay-at-home measures and dismissals of personal protective equipment, Trump has rendered compliance with health expert recommendations as a "blue" trait, while premature reopening and disregard for the threat posed by the virus is "red."
After stressing that everyone wants the United States to reopen as soon (and safely) as possible, Biden turned his attention to Trump's failure to enact widespread testing—the single most significant obstacle to safely returning to some sense of normal.
"It's been more than two months since Trump claimed that "anybody that wants a test can get a test." It was a baldfaced lie when he said it, and it still isn't remotely true. If we're going to have thriving workplaces, restaurants, stores and parks, we need widespread testing. Trump can't seem to provide it — to say nothing of worker safety protocols, consistent health guidelines or clear federal leadership to coordinate a responsible reopening."
However the Trump administration continues to dismiss the need for expanded testing availability. White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany decried the idea of testing everyone as "nonsensical." In a meeting with Republican Congressmen, Trump said that the recent positive test result of one of the Vice President's staffers proved that testing isn't great.
Trump has said he doesn't want to expand testing because the numbers make Americans look bad.
Biden wrote of the President's reluctance to test Americans—and his eagerness to test everyone in his own sphere.
"Again, the solution isn't a mystery. The Trump administration could focus on producing and distributing adequate testing and protocols that conform with the guidance of public health experts; doing so would speed up the reopening process considerably and make it a whole lot more effective. The administration is fully aware that this is the right path, too — after all, the President and his staff are now reportedly receiving daily tests. They knew exactly how to make the Oval Office safe and operational, and they put in the work to do it."
The hypocrisy is plain as day.
People tended to agree.
People aren't heartened by Trump's assurance that things will soon be great again.
Don't hold your breath.
For a deeper look into the Trump administration's ineptitude, check out A Very Stable Genius available here.
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