President Trump has presided over the worst outbreak of the coronavirus in the world
President Trump has consistently downplayed the threat posed by the coronavirus, despite telling author Bob Woodward, on a recorded phone call on February 7th, that the virus was “deadly stuff.” Trump told Woodward that he was “playing it down, because I don’t want to create a panic.” After being hospitalized for COVID-19 himself, Trump more recently told Americans: “Don’t be afraid of it. You’re going to beat it.” Meanwhile, over 7 million Americans have caught the disease and over 200,000 have died from it. Why?
- The Trump administration fired the U.S. pandemic response team in 2018 to cut costs. https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/trump-fire-pandemic-team/
- The Trump administration failed to replenish stocks of PPE, despite warnings that stocks were low. https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/obama-coronavirus-masks/
- President Trump banned some travel from China, only after 430,000 people had already flown directly from China to the US since the coronavirus was first detected. https://www.foxnews.com/us/coronavirus-china-us-flights-430000-people
- The travel ban from China did not stop another 40,000 people travelling from China to the US without restriction. https://www.foxnews.com/us/coronavirus-china-us-flights-430000-people
- Initial US cases came from Europe, not from China. https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/coronavirus/new-cdc-report-confirms-first-covid-cases-in-ny-came-from-europe-other-states/2518796/
- When Trump banned some travel from Europe on March 11th, over 2 million people had already flown from infected countries in Europe to the US by then. https://www.reuters.com/article/healthcare-coronavirus-usa-new-york/coronavirus-came-to-new-york-from-europe-not-china-governor-idUSKCN2262NJ
- President Trump has consistently and very publicly flouted his government’s own recommendations regarding wearing of masks and social distancing.
- He has contradicted his own public health officials and refused to accept the scientific evidence when dealing with a pandemic affecting millions of people. https://apnews.com/article/election-2020-virus-outbreak-health-delaware-wilmington-9e5568c6d2a6e7a3f05bc4e8b57fc8aa
- Two Trump campaign staffers testing positive for COVID-19 after attending the indoor Trump rally in Tulsa in June. The city’s health department said the event “more than likely” contributed to a spike in COVID cases in Tulsa afterward. https://www.forbes.com/sites/rachelsandler/2020/09/29/trump-claims-in-debate-hes-only-had-outdoor-rallies-thats-not-true/ – 442200748af5
- President Trump and 34 White House staff tested positive for COVID-19 following a White House event on September 26 at which few were wearing masks or social distancing. https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/520409-fauci-we-had-a-superspreader-event-in-the-white-house
We simply cannot afford four more years of incompetence and lies when so many people’s lives are at stake
Four more years of Donald Trump refusing to follow the best scientific and medical advice is going to mean more Americans dead from this pandemic and a destroyed economy that cannot get back on its feet.