Trump’s unforgivable sin: His covid-19
lies killed Americans
Opinion by
Columnist
September 9, 2020 at 12:50 p.m. CDT
That
President Trump lied to the American people about the danger of the novel coronavirus may not
be shocking. More shocking is that he was willing to admit this to Bob
Woodward, whose new book “Rage” includes damning new
evidence of Trump’s contempt for the truth and American lives.
“You
just breathe the air and that’s how it’s passed,” Trump said in a Feb. 7 call.
“And so that’s a very tricky one. That’s a very delicate one. It’s also more
deadly than even your strenuous flu.”
“This
is deadly stuff,” the president repeated for emphasis. … Trump admitted to
Woodward on March 19 that he deliberately minimized the danger. “I wanted to
always play it down,” the president said.
“Play
it down,” in this case, means lie. He promised Americans the virus would
disappear like magic. He argued covid-19 is akin to the flu. He insisted it was
safe for governors to reopen their economies despite unacceptably high rates of
infection and the absence of mask mandates. These claims were false, and worse,
he knew they were false.
When
the president deliberately lies to the American people — as multiple presidents
during the Vietnam War did (as we learned from the Pentagon Papers) — and many
Americans die as a result, even loyal members of his own party must condemn him
and demand he step away. His actions cost critical time, prevented earlier
lockdowns and provided a false sense of security to vulnerable people. In all
likelihood, tens of thousands of
dead Americans would be alive today if he had acted with minimal competence and
honesty.
This
situation is not unlike Trump’s impeachment hearings. Overwhelming evidence,
including the president’s own words documented in the rough transcript of the
July 25, 2019, call with Ukrainian
President Volodymyr Zelensky, demonstrated that Trump had betrayed the United
States by extorting an ally at war with Russia for his own electoral benefit.
Senate Republicans are not stupid; they merely refused to acknowledge what was
before their eyes.
Now, we
have similar malfeasance — precisely the sort of noncriminal but impeachable
behavior that the impeachment clause is designed to uncover. Once again,
Republicans will claim up is down and night is day. They will refuse to accept
Trump’s own words confessing to a deception that cost thousands of American
lives. They will not call for his resignation or call for him to withdraw from
the election. They would rather continue to support a president demonstrably
unfit than risk the wrath of Trump and his cult, just as they overlooked the
threat to the lives of Ukrainians.
This
remains true, even though in this case the victims have been Americans, and
that thousands — multiples of the death count from 9/11 — have died even though
simple precautions could have spared them. Imagine a president fully aware of a
Category 5 hurricane near certain to hit a seaside community but who tells the
residents, “No big deal. Don’t listen to the experts telling you to evacuate.”
Surely, one would find him morally if not legally culpable for the deaths of
anyone who made the mistake of listening to him. Covid-19 should be no
different.
Appearing
in Michigan, former vice president and Democratic nominee Joe Biden excoriated
Trump. “The president of the United States has admitted on tape, in February,
that he knew,” Biden said. "He knew how deadly it was. … He knew and
purposely played it down. Worse, he lied to the American people.” Biden called
it a “life and death betrayal of the American people.”
In his
memorable summation at the impeachment trial, House Intelligence Committee
Chairman Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.) declared, “History will
not be kind to Donald Trump. If you find that the House has proved its case,
and still vote to acquit, your name will be tied to his with a cord of steel
and for all of history.” Republicans did not care.
Now
that Americans’ lives have been sacrificed at the altar of Trump’s ego,
Republicans face another hinge moment: say nothing and join Trump in the
dumpster of history, or speak up, call for his resignation and recapture a
modicum of respect. Sadly, there is little doubt they will choose the former.
