March 18, 2020
With the arrival of the novel Coronavirus (Covid-19) on our shores, the United States is facing a crisis never before seen by any living American. Not surprisingly many in the media and those on the left have used this challenging time as an opportunity to damage President Trump ahead of the November presidential election.
Much of the reporting on Trump’s handling of this devastating outbreak has ranged from, taking the president’s words out of context, half-truths, and outright lies regarding the administration’s policies and actions.
One of the first lies promulgated is that the president referred to the Coronavirus as a “hoax”. Anyone who listened to his whole statement spoken at a campaign rally understood that he stated the “hoax” was the politicization and weaponization of the virus to use against him. He never said that the virus was a hoax. Ironically, this mischaracterization has proven his point.
It has also been claimed that the Trump administration didn’t act quickly enough to stop the spread of the virus. An examination of the timeline of events dispels this accusation.
The Coronavirus was first identified by Chinese health officials on January 7th of this year. (However, recent evidence indicates that China knew about the virus in November, but concealed this information from the world). The same day the Trump administration learned of the novel virus the United States Center for Disease Control (CDC) established a “Covid-19 Incident Management Team.”
The first case of Covid-19 was diagnosed in the US on January 21st. Ten days later Trump declared a Public Health Emergency. Against the wishes and advice of many on the left on February 2nd Trump implemented travel restrictions and a mandatory quarantine policy for everyone arriving from China.
Those believing that the leading Democratic candidates for president, Senator Bernie Sanders, and former VP Joe Biden would have handled these unique times in our country better than the President should be aware that when Trump announced the travel restrictions both were strongly critical. Biden called the decision “xenophobic” and “hysterical”. It’s safe to assume that a “President Biden” or a “President Sanders” would not have taken these initial steps to protect our country, allowing many infected travelers to enter our country.
The almost unanimous consensus among health officials, and even many in the media, is that Trump’s early China travel restrictions were instrumental in saving the lives of thousands of Americans. At a recent press conference, VP Mike Pence stated that the National Institute of Health director Dr. Anthony Fauci told him that if the US had not stopped travel from China at the beginning of the outbreak “We’d be where Europe is today.”
What went Wrong Regarding Test Kits
February 6th, just 2 weeks after China posted the genetic sequence of the virus, the CDC announced that they had a viable test to diagnose Covid-19 and would be shipping the test kits to US public labs. Unfortunately, as we all know now, the test produced inconclusive results. Consequently, many doctors and hospitals have had difficulty diagnosing suspected cases of Coronavirus.
Complicating the matter, private labs and hospitals were barred from developing a test. According to CDC director Robert Redfield, a regulation put in place by the Obama administration disallowed private labs from conducting clinical tests during a “public health emergency”, unless they pursued FDA approval. As reported by the Washington Post, academic hospitals and private labs that considered pursuing FDA approval, “complained they didn’t have the resources or expertise- or access to crucial materials such as the virus itself- for the complicated application process required during a public health emergency.”
On February 25th the Trump administration cut through the red tape and lifted restrictions on testing. The FDA formally announced its new policy easing the prohibition on private labs from developing tests on February 29th. The private sector is now free to assist the government in diagnostic testing, resulting in the expectation that 4 million more tests will be shipped in the upcoming days.
In early March President Trump met with pharmaceutical and private lab executives to elicit their expertise to facilitate testing capabilities. Soon after, it was announced that a public/private partnership was formed to expand testing throughout the nation, including a drive-through option. This is a stunning indictment to those advocating for a federal takeover of healthcare in the US.
Joe Biden, among many others looking to score political points against President Trump have falsely blamed his administration for not accepting the testing kits produced by Germany and distributed by the World Health Organization (WHO). However, the WHO never offered to sell test kits to the United States. The Who offered the test kits to poorer countries which lack the virology lab capabilities of the US, and other developed nations. Moreover, whenever there has been an outbreak of a novel virus the US has always produced its own test, including under the Obama administration.
The Comparison to South Korea
The comparisons to South Korea made by many critics of the United States’ response to Covid-19 are very misleading. Unlike the US, South Korea has experience dealing with novel Coronavirus outbreaks. A novel Coronavirus outbreak has never before occurred in the history of the United States.
Further, in South Korea, the government has invasive coercive powers that would never be tolerated in a more free society such as the US. To find those suspected of having contact with an infected person according to the Wall Street Journal, “health officials sifted through credit-card transactions, peaked at GPS tracking data on people’s phones, and used footage from security cameras.” Further, those who didn’t answer government phone calls were tracked down by police. Anyone suspected of having the virus, refusing to be hospitalized was fined up to $8,300.
Lies Regarding CDC Funding
Alleged by many, including Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer and Senator Chris Murphy, is the false claim that the Trump administration made drastic cuts to the office in charge of global pandemic prevention- the “Global Health Security Agenda”. Reality- the Trump administration has increased the funding to this program by at least $50 million every year to address the threat of global infectious diseases. Further, the reach of this program has expanded under the Trump administration from 47 countries to 67.
Joe Biden, as well as other Democratic lawmakers, have asserted that Trump has slashed the funding for the CDC. Again a lie. Every year during Trump’s tenure the budget has increased for both the CDC and the National Institute of Health. No cuts!
Recent Action Taken by the President
President Trump has now expanded the travel ban to all of Europe. Additionally, on March 13th he declared a National Emergency, announcing that-
“No resource will be spared, nothing whatsoever”.
The president has also mandated that every hospital activate its emergency preparedness plan, and $50 billion would be allocated to states, territories, and localities to help in the fight against the virus.
In addition to working on preventing a health crisis never before seen in modern times in the United States, President Trump is also working to mitigate the profound economic fall-out. His administration is seeking a stimulus package ranging from $850 billion to $1 trillion. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has warned that unemployment could reach 20% without a substantial stimulus package.
Let’s not forget that when the Coronavirus was first detected in early January Democrats were focused on impeaching the president. Yet, despite this onerous distraction the president took early decisive steps to protect the American people. Moreover, anyone with a TV can see that the president, with no playbook to guide him, has been working around the clock to save American lives and prevent economic ruin.
In a rare moment of bipartisanship, Democratic Governor of New York Andrew Cuomo complimented the president’s handling of the pandemic, stating that the president “is ready, willing, and able to help.” He added that “The president’s team is on it.” “They’re being responsive and doing everything they can do.” Shamefully, most of Trump’s political foes see our country’s perilous situation as an opportunity to damage his re-election. The never-Trump media and those on the left, who are lying and mischaracterizing the president’s handling of this unprecedented crisis are a disgrace to our nation.