Wednesday, May 06, 2020

Let's get the facts straight about Trump's coronavirus response


By Douglas V. Gibbs
Author, Speaker, Instructor, Radio Host


My sister in law, recently, told my wife that President Trump has been slow to respond to the coronavirus.  I don't fault my sister in law, she is a product of what she hears from the mainstream media.  For her, and you, I wish to set the record straight, and show you how flawed the "Trump did not respond fast enough to the coronavirus" claim truly is.

Below I list some of the liberal left’s claims, and in bold the Trump administration’s actions so that you can get your bearings.  Most of Trump's actions I notated as they happened.  For Trump's timeline regarding the coronavirus you may also go HERE.

·         January 6, 2020, CDC warns Americans to take precautions if traveling to China.
·         January 8, 2020, New York Times, Sui-Lee Wee and Donald G. McNeil Jr.
o   There is no evidence that the new virus is readily spread by humans.
§  https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/08/health/china-pneumonia-outbreak-virus.html
·         January 8, 2020, CDC issues an alert about the coronavirus.
·         January 14, 2020, Tweet by the World Health Organization (WHO)
o   Preliminary investigations conducted by the Chinese authorities have found no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission of the novel #coronavirus (2019-nCOV) identified in #Wuhan, #China
·         January 15, 2020, Democrats were not concerned about the coronavirus, and instead were more preoccupied with Nancy Pelosi signing the Articles of Impeachment, and handing out the souvenir pens she used to sign it.
·         January 20, 2020, CDC activates its Emergency Operations Center.
·         January 21, 2020, CDC reports the first confirmed case of the new novel coronavirus reported in the United States.
·         January 21, 2020, Dr. Anthony Fauci (while President Trump utilized him, Fauci’s connections to the Clintons and Obamas are unmistaken) told Newsmax’s Greg Kelly…
o   This is not a major threat to the people of the United States and this is not something that the citizens of the United States should be worried about right now.
·         January 23, 2020, State Department orders the departure of all non-emergency U.S. personnel and their family members from Wuhan.  CDC raises travel notice for China to level 3.
·         January 26, 2020, Dr. Anthony Fauci during an interview with radio show host John Catsimatidis said…
o   It’s a very, very low risk to the United States.
·         January 28, 2020, Dan Vergano in an article on BuzzFeed.com wrote
o   Don’t worry about the coronavirus.  Worry about the flu.
·         January 29, 2020, President Trump announces the formation of the President’s Coronavirus Task Force.
·         January 30, 2020, Tweet by Vox
o   Is this going to be a deadly pandemic?  No.
·         January 31, 2020, HHS Secretary Azar declares a U.S. public health emergency for COVID-19.  Trump signed an executive order (proclamation) barring entry into the United States of most foreign nationals who traveled to China within the past 14 days.
·         January 31, 2020, Headline in the Washington Post
o   How Our Brains Make Coronavirus Seem Scarier Than It Is
o   https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/01/31/how-our-brains-make-coronavirus-seem-scarier-than-it-is/
·         January 31, 2020, CNN’s Jessie Yeung wrote an article with the headline: As the coronavirus spreads, fear is fueling racism and xenophobia.
o   https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/31/asia/wuhan-coronavirus-racism-fear-intl-hnk/index.html
·         February 2, 2020, State Department issues a travel advisory for China.
·         February 2, 2020, New York City Health Commissioner, Dr. Oxiris Barbot, released a statement that was picked up by national media outlets.
o   “The risk to New Yorkers for the coronavirus is low, and that our preparedness as a city is very high.  There is no reason not to take the subway, not to take the bus, not to go out to your favorite restaurant.”
·         February 3, 2020, Headline in the Washington Post: Why We Should Be Wary of an Aggressive Government Response to Coronavirus
o   https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/02/03/why-we-should-be-wary-an-aggressive-government-response-coronavirus/
·         February 4, 2020, FDA issues Emergency Use Authorization for CDC’s in vitro diagnostic tests.
·         February 4, 2020, While President Trump mentions the coronavirus in his State of the Union Address, the Democrats were criticizing the President for being a xenophobe and racist regarding his actions associated with the pandemic.  At the end of the President’s speech, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ripped up the House of Representatives copy of the speech for all of America to see (in plain view of the cameras).  It was found out later that destruction of official congressional documents without proper authorization and protocol is a felony, but no retribution befell the Democrat leader.
·         February 5, 2020, Headline in the New York Times, in response to President Trump’s travel ban from China.
o   Who Says It’s Not Safe to Travel to China?
§  “The coronavirus travel ban is unjust and doesn’t work anyway.”
·         https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/05/opinion/china-travel-coronavirus.html
·         February 24, 2020, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi conducts political stunt hugging Asians in San Francisco’s Chinatown, encouraging everyone to socially-undistance.
·         February 24, 2020, White House requests from Congress $1.25 billion in new funding to help with coronavirus response.
·         February 24, 2020, Some of the Democrats were beginning to shift gears, realizing that politically it was to their advantage to use the coronavirus to attack President Trump.  After denying that the coronavirus could be a serious threat for months, after the White House requested new funding to help with the coronavirus response, Senator Chuck Schumer of New York said the emergency request was “too little too late.”  The New York Times in their article regarding the request called Trump’s handling of the virus a “lackadaisical response.”
o   https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/24/us/politics/trump-coronavirus-response.html
·         February 26, 2020, Vice President Mike Pence named to lead the government’s response to the coronavirus.
·         February 26, 2020, Headline in New York Times
o   “Let’s Call It Trumpvirus”
o   Sub-headline: “If you’re feeling awful, you know who to blame.”
§  https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/26/opinion/coronavirus-trump.html
·         February 27, 2020, Dr. Birx was announced as being the new White House coronavirus response coordinator.
·         February 27, 2020, Tweet by Ginia Bellafante of the New York Times
o   I fundamentally don’t understand the panic: incidence of the disease is declining in China.  Virus is not deadly in vast majority of cases.  Production and so on will slow down and will obviously rebound.
·         February 29, 2020, Travel restrictions extended to Iran, South Korea, and Italy.
·         February 29, 2020, A new FDA policy established to expand coronavirus testing.
·         **** February 29, 2020 **** Key moment: Public Officials began to suspect that the novel coronavirus was beginning to infect Americans through “community spread”.  Due to this knowledge, the concept of “social distancing” and “Shelter-in-place” policies began to take shape more rapidly.
·         February 29, 2020, Dr. Fauci on The Today Show, “There’s no need to change anything you’re doing on a day by day basis.  Right now the risk is still low, but this could change.  I’ve said that many times even on this program.  You’ve got to watch out because although the risk is low now, you don’t need to change anything you’re doing.  When you start to see community spread, this could change and force you to become much more attentive to doing things that would protect you from spread.”
·         March 2, 2020, In a Tweet by New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio
o   Since I’m encouraging New Yorkers to go on with their lives + get out on the town despite Coronavirus, I thought I would offer some suggestions.  Here’s the first: thru Thurs 3/5 go see “The Traitor” @FilmLinc. If “The Wire” was a true story + set in Italy, it would be this film.
·         March 2, 2020, Quote by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo
o   “…when you’re saying what happened in other countries vs. what happened here, we don’t even think it’s going to be as bad as it was in other countries.”
·         March 2, 2020, President Trump discussed the coronavirus with the drug industry, pressing them to help in containing the coronavirus.
·         March 4, 2020, Parroting BuzzFeed from two months earlier, CNN’s Anderson Cooper told viewers to “Be more concerned about the flu” than coronavirus.
o   “Half of Americans do not get a flu shot, and the flu right now is far deadlier, so if you’re freaked out at all about the coronavirus, you should be more concerned about the flu, and you can actually do something about it, get a flu shot.”
·         March 8, 2020, CNN’s Chris Cillizza asks, “Is coronavirus Donald Trump’s Katrina?”
·         March 9, 2020, Washington Post’s Brian Klaas writes, “The coronavirus is Trump’s Chernobyl.”
o   https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/03/09/coronavirus-is-trumps-chernobyl/
·         March 9, 2020, Dr. Fauci states that “if you are a healthy young person … go on a cruise ship … an individual who has an underlying condition … I would recommend strongly that they do not go on a cruise ship.”
o   https://www.forbes.com/sites/douggollan/2020/03/09/fauci-says-cruising-is-ok-if-you-are-healthy/
·         March 12, 2020, The Atlantic’s Tom McTague writes, “Trump’s European Travel Ban Doesn’t Make Sense.”
o   https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2020/03/donald-trump-coronavirus-europe-britain-schengen-travel/607876/
·         March 12, 2020, CNN Blasted for declaring calling the coronavirus the “Wuhan Virus” is racist.
o   https://www.foxnews.com/media/cnn-china-wuhan-coronavirus
·         March 13, TIME Magazine’s W.J. Hennigan writes, “Trump’s State of Emergency is an Admission of Failure by the U.S. Government”
o   https://time.com/5802795/emergency-coronavirus-pandemic/
·         March 19, 2020, CNN’s Alice Hill states, “Trump’s complete failure of imagination is costing America lives and treasure.”
o   https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/19/opinions/donald-trump-pandemic-failure-imagination-hill/index.html
·         April 1, 2020, The Hill reports that the Boston Globe Editorial Board says Trump has “Blood on his Hands” over the coronavirus.
o   https://thehill.com/homenews/media/490539-boston-globe-editorial-board-says-trump-has-blood-on-his-hands-over
·         April 1, 2020, Reporter Rebecca Panico writes that four New Jersey cities have set up border patrols to enforce coronavirus restrictions.
o   “Police in Newark, Orange, East Orange and Irvington will stop drivers to ask where they’re going. Drivers will face summonses if they are violating the governor’s order, which bans travel for all New Jersey residents except for necessary purposes like grocery shopping, doctor visits or for essential work.”
§  https://www.nj.com/coronavirus/2020/04/cops-in-4-nj-cities-are-pulling-over-drivers-to-enforce-coronavirus-restrictions.html
·         April 8, 2020, Mediaite reports that MSNBC national affairs analyst John Heilemann says “tens of thousands of people will die because of Trump’s coronavirus incompetence.”
o   https://www.mediaite.com/tv/msnbc-analyst-says-tens-of-thousands-of-people-will-die-because-of-trumps-coronavirus-incompetence/
·         April 11, 2020, The New York Times, headline; He could have seen what was coming: Behind Trump’s Failure on the Virus
o   https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/11/us/politics/coronavirus-trump-response.html

Did you notice how the Democrats went from no concern to accusing Trump of a slow response?  President Trump was on target the whole time, and the liberal left didn't care until they realized they would be able to be deceptive and use it as a political weapon against Trump.

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