Donald Trump's incompetence and eagerness to lie continue to threaten the lives of American citizens. He is doing real harm, and his advisers, staff, and especially his vice president are allowing him to do that harm. The press is making the harm exponentially worse by airing his lies live, unchallenged, in every day's briefing.
Trump continues to make unproven claims that one particular drug, which we will not mention, is a potential "game changer" in curing COVID-19 infections. This is not true, but it is now causing nationwide runs on the drug used primarily to treat lupus and other immune disorders. Due to new hoarding of Trump's unproven wonder drug, those lupus patients are running out.
ProPublica reports the current shortages have left lupus patients, who can suffer organ damage if their condition is untreated, struggling to find pharmacies with the drug in stock after doctors began writing preemptive prescriptions to those concerned that they have, or might get, COVID-19.
It is important to note that as far as we know, this drug does not work against COVID-19. There are studies underway following initial reports that the drug could be used to treat coronavirus symptoms, but the results are not in. Even if it did work, hoarding by non-symptomatic Americans only means that those in more urgent need of the drug will not be able to get it.
That is exactly what is happening now. Based on rumors and on Donald Trump's inability to comprehend what his own advisers are telling him, Americans that need this drug are not able to find it because Trump announced an as-of-yet unproven drug cocktail as a potential miracle cure. Trump is desperate to announce anything that will make himself look good during a crisis that was caused in large part due to his own incompetence; he is seizing on this, with no particular care of the damage it does to actual Americans, to once again sell himself as miracle-man and savior.
Mike Pence does nothing but watch, and praise him. The health professionals that advise him watch, but hold their tongues, knowing they can contradict him only so many times before he fires them and charts a new path, adviser-free, based on worse whims. The networks do not cut in as he says things that now endanger American lives, because they have decided their role is to document whatever deaths may happen, rather than try to prevent them.
And lupus sufferers have now joined the growing ranks of those that the White House does not give a flying damn about, if harming them will appease Dear Leader's rambling and ego.