Comment from Southern Republican Grandma

Most countries in the world, including the US, knew about the coronavirus by early January 2020 – we knew it was coming, we knew it was a respiratory illness and we knew it was person to person. South Korea and the United States had their first official confirmed coronavirus case on the same date – January 19, 2020. North Korea was able to flatten their curve in a few weeks and Trump ignored the coronavirus altogether. You cannot blame the W.H.O or Pelosi or Reporters or TV Newscasters – you are the president, it’s your responsibility. “Leadership: Whatever happens, you’re responsible. If it doesn’t happen, you’re responsible” – Donald Trump, November 8, 2013 Tweeter.

“Any way you cut it, this is going to be bad,” a senior medical adviser at the Department of Veterans Affairs, Dr. Carter Mecher, wrote on the night of “JANUARY 28”, in an email to a group of public health experts scattered around the government and universities. “The projected size of the outbreak already seems hard to believe.” In January, there were hundreds of emails that were sent to the White House about the coronavirus, but Trump doesn’t read and didn’t care.

Despite Trump’s denial weeks later, he was told about a January 29 memo produced by his trade adviser, Peter Navarro, laying out in striking detail the potential risks of a coronavirus pandemic: as many as half a million deaths and trillions of dollars in economic losses. Additionally, White House Health Secretary Alex Azar recommended to Trump a textbook “Mitigation Plan” for a pandemic, instead Azar was sidelined by Trump – who knows where Azar is now.

Trump was slow to absorb the scale of the risk and to act accordingly, focusing instead on controlling the message, protecting gains in the economy to protect his 2020 election prospects. Over the next several days, a presidential blowup and internal turf fights would sidetrack the cororavirus plan . The focus would shift to messaging and confident predictions of success rather than publicly calling for a shift to mitigation. “One day, it's like a miracle, it will disappear. We have it under control!" And now, “I don’t take responsibility at all”- Donald Trump.

By the time Trump imposed a travel ban from China effective February 2, over 430,000 People Had Traveled From China to United States, including nearly 40,000 “after” President Donald Trump imposed restrictions on such travel. Over 500,000 had traveled to the US from Europe at the same time also carrying the coronavirus, especially to the east coast states.

While the Coronavirus was spreading throughout the United States in January, February and early March, Trump held FIVE MAGA rallies, spent 11 days at HIS OWN golf courses (using taxpayer money) and hosted a Super Bowl party at Mar a Lago. And, Mitch McConnel claims that the impeachment proceedings interfered with him handling the impending Covid-19 crises – in what world does this make any sense or have any credibility to anyone.