September 11, 2020
With less than two months before the election, it is an all-out war against the President. The latest attack involves a soon to be released book, “Rage” by Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward.
The outrage comes from the release of a series of recorded interviews Trump gave to Woodward. In the newly released recordings, Trump acknowledged that the Coronavirus can be deadly. During a February 7th interview, Trump stated that he was aware the Coronavirus “goes through the air- more deadly than the Flu”.
Commence the hysteria. Many have jumped on the fact that Trump knew it was airborne in early February, yet did not enact more stringent policies. First- Trump is not a medical doctor. Second – In early February, no one knew if the virus was “airborne”. (The technical definition of “Airborne” transmission means that the respiratory aerosols are small and light enough to suspend in the air over a long distance and time.)
However, everyone knew by February that the Coronavirus could be spread through respiratory droplets if an infected person sneezed or coughed on someone else. This is more than likely what Trump meant when he told Woodward the virus was “airborne”. Further, Trump knew he was speaking to a reporter, and he knew he was being recorded. Its nonsensical to think he would reveal to Woodward information he was hiding from the public.
As a result of the release of the Woodward-Trump audiotapes, the left, and the mainstream media (yes, that’s redundant) are accusing the president of lying to the American people.
Although the media has ignored this, the much-beloved Dr. Fauci- a prominent member of Trump’s Coronavirus task force, dispelled the assertions that Trump lied to the public about what he knew of the virus,
Appearing on Fox News on Tuesday, responding to the accusations, Dr. Fauci stated –
“I didn’t see any discrepancies between what he told us, and what we told him, and what he ultimately came out publicly and said.” He added that he didn’t believe that Trump downplayed the virus or “distorted anything”.
Dr. Fauci and Trump have always been in sync with the information they gave to the public.
On February 7th, the same day that Trump spoke with Woodward, Dr. Fauci stated that he did not want people to worry about the Coronavirus because the danger is “just minuscule”.
Appearing on Face the Nation, February 16, Dr. Fauci was asked his thoughts about the president saying the virus will die down in the summer-
“…you would certainly expect it by March, April, May to taper down…that’s not an unreasonable statement.”
Reprehensibly, the fallout from the Woodward book has included claims that Trump is responsible for the 190,000 Americans who have died from the Coronavirus.
MSNBC legal analyst, Glenn Kirschner, has even asserted that Trump is guilty of second-degree murder for the way he handled the Coronavirus.
Trump’s actions belie the politically motivated who are accusing him of causing death due to a lack of early action.
On January 31st, within 48 hours of being informed that the Coronavirus could be a national security threat, Trump issued an order banning foreign nationals traveling from China to enter the United States. He also implemented the first mandatory quarantine in 50 years, requiring every American returning home from China to quarantine for 14 days. Further, Trump immediately assembled a Coronavirus task-force.
Moreover, no public health official recommended a nationwide shutdown, masks, or social distancing before the beginning of April, and when they did, Trump issued those advisories. There is not a single recommendation made by Trump’s medical task force, which he did not implement.
It is laughable that Joe Biden, who derided Trump’s January 31st China travel ban as “xenophobic, “racist”, and “fear-mongering”, is now asserting that he would have handled this unprecedented global pandemic better than the Trump administration.
Biden now claims that based on the information he received, he knew in January that the Coronavirus was going to be a global crisis. This is an interesting assertion since he continued to hold campaign rallies well into March.
Further, on February 26, when asked at a CNN Town Hall, what he would do if he were president during the Coronavirus pandemic, Biden made no mention of social distancing, lockdowns, or mask requirements.
A few weeks ago Biden criticized the president for not implementing a nation-wide mask mandate. He has since been forced to retract this recommendation. Apparently, someone filled him in on a document he is unfamiliar with – The United States Constitution.
Virtually every policy suggestion made by Biden had already been enacted at the time he proposed them. Biden said that he would employ the Defense Production Act to ramp up production of “PPE, test kits and machines, lab supplies, and other critical supplies”. The administration has utilized the DPA more than 30 times. They also formed a historic public-private partnership to increase testing capabilities and to ramp up the production of ventilators and personal protection equipment.
Early on in the pandemic there was significant fear that the demand for ventilators would outweigh supply. Because of the actions taken by the Trump administration not a single American who needed a ventilator was denied one.
According to Dr. Fauci, in a March 22 interview with Mark Levin-
“the coordinated response has been …impressive…I can’t imagine that under any circumstances that anybody could be doing more”.
One result of the Trump administration’s efforts is “Operation Warp Speed” – a partnership between the administration and the private sector. Thanks to Operation Warp Speed, a vaccine is on pace to be available to Americans by the end of the year. For reference, it took almost 20 years to bring an Ebola vaccine to the market.
Trump is being vilified because he told Woodward “I wanted to always play it down…I didn’t want to create a panic.” This is not news. Trump has said publicly, many times, that he didn’t want to start a panic, and liked to be a “cheerleader for the country.” This is the job of the Commander-in Chief. Moreover, expressing optimism, while taking action are not mutually exclusive.
It’s also clear that Trump’s optimism was not misguided According to CDC data 94% of those who died from Covid had underlying medical conditions. So, only 6% of the 190,000 deaths in the U.S. were attributed solely to Covid.
The Trump administration had some missteps. Such as the CDC’s difficulty in producing a viable test. Hindsight is always 2020. However, looking at the whole record, Trump deserves much credit for his handling of unprecedented dual health and economic crises. No doubt, Trump’s urging to end the lockdowns saved livelihoods as well as lives.
Hopefully, voters can see through the political activists posing as journalists. Because no doubt, there will be more attacks to come.
