Opinion by
Columnist
June 29, 2020 at 3:24 p.m. CDT
Perhaps
no single action better epitomizes President Trump’s narcissism than his decision to relocate the
Republican National Convention from North Carolina to Florida, a state that
would allow him to flaunt anti-coronavirus protection
measures such as social distancing and mask-wearing, and expose his own
followers to a deadly pandemic in the pursuit of TV optics. Now, he might not
even get that.
The Post reports:
“Jacksonville, the largest city in Florida and host of the Republican National
Convention in August, announced Monday that masks will be mandatory in public
and indoor locations, as well as in ‘other situations where individuals cannot
socially distance.’ ” It seems Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry, a Republican,
finally saw the necessity of following expert advice. Whether the measure will
apply specifically to the convention — or rather, whether Trump will get a
specific exemption from a measure necessary to protect the health of others —
has yet to be determined. However, if conditions persist, it may be politically
untenable for Jacksonville’s political leaders and even Republican Gov. Ron
DeSantis, a reliable Trump lackey, to allow the potential super-spreader
convention to assemble.
Trump
tried to run away from a responsible governor in North Carolina — Democrat Roy
Cooper — but he may not be able to outrun the pandemic. Likewise, he can goad
Republican governors from Texas, Arizona, Georgia and other Sun Belt states to
open their states prematurely, recklessly exposing thousands more to the virus.
But the virus catches up.
In
Arizona, The Post reported Monday,
“coronavirus cases have been increasing in Arizona, with more than 3,800 cases
reported Sunday, the highest single-day total since March, according to Arizona Republic data.” In addition,
“Arizona’s seven-day rolling average for new cases is 12 percent higher than it
was a week ago, according to Washington Post data. The Copper State also hit a
new high for hospitalizations, which has risen by 30 percent from Sunday,
according to Washington Post data.”
Republican
Gov. Greg Abbott is now under siege in Texas for his reopening orders. “The
total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Texas surpassed 150,000
Sunday,” the Houston Chronicle reports.
“Cases across the Lone Star State went from 147,374 to 151,507, an increase of
4,133 cases (or 2.8 percent). . . Texas also saw 12 new deaths, bringing the
statewide death toll to 2,400 statewide (a 0.5 percent increase).” Houston’s
caseload is now more than 40,000.
Denial,
obfuscation, lying and conspiracy-mongering are ineffectual tools in fighting a
global pandemic. Trump argues that more testing makes for more cases when,
obviously, more tests simply reveal the extent of his failure to address a
national health-care crisis. The result of Trump’s mishandling of the crisis is
continued erosion in confidence in his pronouncements.
A poll from the Pew Research Center finds:
“Nearly two-thirds of U.S. adults (64%) say the [Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention] and other public health organizations get the facts right
‘almost all’ or ‘most’ of the time when it comes to the coronavirus outbreak,
while about half as many (30%) say the same about President Trump and his
administration. Instead, a solid majority of Americans (65%) say the White
House gets the facts right only ‘some of the time’ (29%) or ‘hardly ever’
(36%).” While Trump continues to sway gullible Republicans, fewer Republicans
are buying into his spin than one would expect from a president whose party approval
ratings are still higher than 80 percent. (“54% of Republicans say the White
House gets the facts right at least most of the time. . . . The share of
Republicans who trust the information they are getting from the administration
is similar to the share in the GOP who say the same about the CDC and other
public health organizations (51%).”)
Trump
can neither govern competently nor absorb and articulate reliable scientific
data. In other contexts (e.g., impeachment), he can bluff and bluster his way
through the backlash over his failures. A virus is different. The coronavirus
pandemic is a constant reminder that facts matter and that objective reality
cannot be wished away. And that is bad news for Americans and for the incumbent
president.
