Many parallels can be drawn these days between Nero fiddling while Rome burned and Trump doing nothing while the entire country is infected. He has made it his mission in life to take zero responsibility for anything wrong that he has done. Shut down the U.S. Pandemic Response Team in 2018 to save money? He takes zero responsibility. Cut funding for the CDC’s global disease outbreak prevention efforts by 80%, including funding for the agency’s efforts in China? Not my responsibility, he says.
Let’s be frank here. As the President, how you respond to a crisis is the true test of your character. Right now? His character is definitely in question because he is failing to respond to the crisis. He went on television yesterday to address the country regarding the coronavirus. Expecting a display of Presidential leadership to reassure the country, the world, and the stock market that everything is under control, instead what we saw was a bumbling, stumbling, incompetent man who didn’t know what he was doing and left everyone more confused and scared than when he started. Now, let’s be fair. He did do a smart thing and ban travel from Europe to prevent the virus from spreading. However, the problem is that he did not clarify anything. He went off speech and ad-libbed some of the performance, causing people to be even more confused than ever. He didn’t even consult with travel industries or anyone else before announcing these restrictions, causing people to be more confused than ever. “Is it everyone or just foreigners being banned from the United States?” No clue at the time, because he didn’t say anything about it.
Here’s the thing. If you hold a Presidential address regarding the most hyped-up virus scare in the world, you need to reassure people, you need to have and show confidence in what you’re saying. That’s what we as Americans are used to. Instead, the American people got a charlatan who blamed everyone else for the problems. When questioned by PBS reporter Yamiche Alcindor with tough questions regarding him not taking any responsibility, he took his usual route. Reporter: “You said you don’t take responsibility for slow response to coronavirus but your administration disbanded the White House office on pandemics? President Trump: “That’s a nasty question...When you say me, I didn't do it. We have a group of people [in the administration]. It’s always the same thing with him. Everything is always someone else’s fault, it’s never his responsibility, and when that doesn’t work, BLAME OBAMA!!!! That always works!!
What happens when the American people stop believing his lies? Will this country change and realize they have been duped and rise up? Yeah, no. Unfortunately, those who believe in President Trump have demonstrated time and again their loyalty to his person and not the office. Time and again, when confronted with facts, speech quotes, and even direct video of him doing and saying horrible or idiotic things, his supporters are quick to show their love for the would-be emperor. “Fake news!”, they cry. “Smear attacks by CNN, PBS, NPR!!”, they yell. Quite frankly, I can’t picture anything that would change their view of the President. That’s a problem. When people blind themselves to the truth in order to promote a public figure, they are saying they don’t care. They don’t care about this country, they don’t care about other people, and they definitely don’t care about what example they are showing their friends and family.
“This is a call to action”, people say. They frantically push their beliefs on friends, family, Facebook, and other areas of social interaction, in hopes that this will fix everything. Let’s be honest. Trying to change a Trump supporter’s mind is like trying to hold back the tide with a strainer. It isn’t possible. Those people can’t change because then they would have to admit they were wrong, and that is something that their Fuhrer can never admit to, so neither can they.
What can we do? Vote. Vote. Vote. Vote. Vote. Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden both put together a plan for helping the American people before the election, and their plans are well thought-out and comprehensive. Nobody needs a tax cut. Americans need paid sick leave. They need coronavirus testing. Will this help Trump? Probably, but they don’t care because they both are doing what a Presidential candidate should: putting the country ahead of one’s self. Whether it’s Biden or Bernie, it doesn’t matter because anything is better than Trump remaining in power for four more years. There won’t be a country left by then. He will have burned it to the ground, all the while exclaiming that it isn’t his fault, while people die.