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Opinion: Trump is incapable of handling national emergency, says Rensselaer Falls resident

Posted 3/27/20

The nation is staring down the barrel of a full-blown national emergency, and the President is nowhere to be found. Sure, he shows up in the White House briefing room once a day to spout off nonsense …

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Opinion: Trump is incapable of handling national emergency, says Rensselaer Falls resident

Posted

The nation is staring down the barrel of a full-blown national emergency, and the President is nowhere to be found.

Sure, he shows up in the White House briefing room once a day to spout off nonsense about miracle cures he reads about on the internet. But what has he done?

The short answer is: not much.

The President and his team were briefed on the dangers posed by the spread of the coronavirus back in January. Yet for two months he has watched it spread from China, then to South Korea, then to Japan, then to the rest of Asia, then to Europe, and now to the United States.

During that time, he knew what it was doing in China - killing well over 2% of the total number of people who were confirmed to get it. Yet because he views the rest of the world as "shithole countries", I'm sure he presumed that it wouldn't have the same effect if it reached the shores of America. After all, we have the best healthcare system in the world - or so we're told.

A leader would have been preparing for this. A leader would have been sending American resources to China to make sure the virus didn't spread beyond their borders. A leader would have called American governors and spurred them into action to prepare in case the virus wasn't able to be contained. And right now, today, a leader would be calling on all federal resources to stop this disease in its tracks, including a national quarantine like the ones happening in New York, California, and Illinois.

But Donald Trump is not a leader.

Donald Trump is a blowhard, which is why he was calling this pandemic a hoax only two weeks ago.

Donald Trump is a crybaby, which is why he storms out of press briefings when asked questions about what he's doing to get the country organized to combat this pandemic.

Donald Trump is a phony, which is why we're not getting the truth from the President of the United States - just phony medical advice that the real doctors have to come out later and say "that's not a good idea."

And Donald Trump doesn't care about you, which is why he and the Senate GOP are currently trying to give as much of the $1.5 Trillion bailout as they can to the corporate world, with as few strings attached as possible. Not even a "you can't fire your workforce" string in exchange for $50 Billion. Nope - no worker protections at all if McConnell and Trump get their way. Donald Trump doesn't care about workers. Donald Trump cares about securing as much money as possible for himself and the crooks he plays golf with at his resorts - all on our dime.

If you're looking for a real leader, look no further than Governor Cuomo. We're lucky to have him right now.

Every day he's in front of the citizens of the state of NY, giving us the hard truths we need to get through this. There are no sycophants at his side who step to the podium and begin their remarks with praise for the Dear Leader. He's showing the federal government what leadership is in a time of crisis, and he's not mincing words, puffing his chest out, or trying to score political points. He's in front of the cameras to lobby for the things New Yorkers (and all Americans) need, like the army corps of engineers helping to build temporary hospitals so as many people make it out of this disaster as possible.

That's leadership.

Unfortunately, if the President doesn't start doing his part its all going to be for nothing. If it’s just the states on the coast who isolate and try to do something about this, the whole country is going to be in real trouble. It's time to stop with this "it's a hoax" crap. It's time to stop downplaying it. It's time for the President to lead.

Unfortunately, Trump is not capable of that.

Jake Morley

Rensselaer Falls