Tuesday, March 31, 2020

Trump's Ever Changing Story

Now 100,000 deaths is ‘a very good job’
Why do so many people trust this yahoo?
  • On Feb. 26, when there were 15 reported cases of the novel coronavirus in the United States, President Trump predicted the number of cases would soon be “down to close to zero.” On
  • March 5, he hailed the fact that there were about 3,000 deaths worldwide but only 11 in the United States.
  • On March 9, he noted that there were just 22 U.S. deaths and compared the virus to the seasonal flu, which has killed 37,000 people this year.
  • On March 13, he said the 2009 swine flu had killed 14,000 people in the United States and called the Obama administration’s response to it “a disaster.”
  • On March 29, the same president set the goal posts for his administration’s response to the coronavirus in a very different place. In a White House briefing in the Rose Garden, Trump referenced new data from his task force and said that between 100,000 and 200,000 deaths would represent a victory over the coronavirus.
What changed Trump's mind?

Trump Gets a Reality Check

The Death Rate may be Lower for Younger Patients and Higher for Older than originally thought.

Proof that Social Distancing Works

How Denial Made Things Worse

Timeline of Information and Errors

Trump wants to be Praised, Not Questioned

So the question on my mind is does Trump have the capacity to learn and improve as a person and leader from this experience?

Though he and his administration are taking this seriously now and apparently doing a good job, there is no doubt in my mind that his 2+ months of denial led indirectly to the illness and deaths of 10s of thousands of Americans.  And he can try to blame everyone else, but 3 years into his Presidency and years of warnings regarding possible pandemics, he owns this mess and the unnecessary illness and deaths.

So do you think that he can accept the responsibility for his administration's failures, truly mourn the dead and become a better human?  Or will he continue to see himself as a victim of fate and continue to blame others for his failings?




14 comments:

Sean said...

"So do you think that he can accept the responsibility for his administration's failures, truly mourn the dead and become a better human? Or will he continue to see himself as a victim of fate and continue to blame others for his failings?"

You're kidding, right?

John said...

I know it is a stretch... But 10's of thousands of dead Americans because he was distracted and in denial, and had surrounded himself with yes men is a bit different than a lot of other disagreements.

Though here he admits he can not walk and chew gum at the same time. :-(

John said...

11 to 100,000 what went wrong

John said...

FOX and Trump Finally Face the Facts

John said...

Another SNAFU, 500,000 test kits sitting idle somewhere

John said...

Trump says testing is great, governors and data disagree

Laurie said...

My brother and I were hanging out with my mother on her driveway today (keeping extra-long social distance) and he brought up which person would have been very effective as president handling this crisis. I agreed 100% with the person he named - Hillary Clinton. She is a super-competent administrative type person and would have done 100 times better than what Trump is doing in managing this crisis.

John said...

It is interesting how people form opinions around people and their capabilities...

I am not sure I could name anything Hillary Clinton accomplished in her life?

Not saying she didn't, but I can not think of anything that exudes capability and the ability to get things done.

Anonymous said...

You're not trying hard enough...or at all, it seems.

Moose

Sean said...

"I am not sure I could name anything Hillary Clinton accomplished in her life?"

That says more about you than her.

John said...

It probably does since I never really looked into what she accomplished.

It looks like she was busy though.

And she certainly wanted to be the first woman President.

John said...

One of her most memorable things about her for me is how she attacked women that Bill had sex with. :-(

She definitely put his and her political power before pretty much anything else.

John said...

Now Trump has Pence fibbing for him

John said...

Remember the facts...

"January 3, 2020: The CDC is first alerted to a public health event in Wuhan, China (This fact was revealed publicly later by HHS Secretary Alex Azar.)

January 6, 2020: The CDC issues a travel notice for Wuhan due to the spreading coronavirus.

Note: The Trump campaign claims that this marks the beginning of the federal government disease control experts becoming aware of the virus. It was 10 weeks from this point until the week of March 16 when Trump began to change his tone on the threat.
January 8, 2020: The CDC issues an official health advisory about COVID-19.

January 10, 2020: Former Trump Homeland Security Advisor Tom Bossert warns that we shouldn’t “jerk around with ego politics” because “we face a global health threat…Coordinate!”

January 18, 2020: After two weeks of attempts, HHS Secretary Alex Azar finally gets the chance to speak to Trump about the virus. The president redirects the conversation to vaping, according to the Washington Post.

January 20, 2020: First U.S. case is reported in Washington state.

January 21, 2020: Dr. Nancy Messonnier, the director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Disease at the CDC tells reporters, “We do expect additional cases in the United States.”