How Trump Made Things go From Bad to Worse

Wynona Patterson, Staff Writer

At the start of 2020, we thought things may have been better this year then they were before. Then coronavirus struck.

Covid-19 started in China and then worked its way around the world. I didn’t think much of it when it actually got to the United States, but as time went on, cases increased and things got worse. Unfortunately for us, our nation’s “leader” – President Trump – only made things worse during the most crucial times. According to  Shane Harris, Greg Miller, Josh Dawsey and Ellen Nakashima of the Washington Post, Trump spread lies and misinformation and he wanted to reopen the country despite warnings from experts including those at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It turns out that he knew about the significance of the virus early on but downplayed it, and because of his actions many did not take it seriously.  

That is why he is the person in the U.S. who is most responsible for the tragic numbers related to the virus. Christian Paz of The Atlantic found Trump to be so responsible that he examined his lies and failings in his article, “All the President’s Lies About the Coronavirus: An unfinished compendium of Trump’s overwhelming dishonesty during a national emergency.” Paz details all of Trump’s lies dating back to February of 2020. In the piece, which was published on November 2nd, Paz notes Trump’s first lie related to the virus, which came despite the fact that he knew the virus was serious and danger was high. On Friday, February 7th and Wednesday, February 19th, Paz reports that Trump said,  “The coronavirus would weaken ‘when we get into April, in the warmer weather—that has a very negative effect on that, and that type of a virus.’” As a result of this deception, a number of cases spiked as a result of business opening up and lack of knowledge of the true nature of the virus. 

Another issue that has caused serious issues and sent death tolls higher is that Trump tried to rush the economy back open. As a result of the pandemic, the economy has struggled and many businesses have been forced to lay off workers  or shut down for good because they couldn’t afford to stay in business. Due to this issue, he felt the answer was to re-open the country. However he wasn’t taking into consideration how to do it while keeping people safe.  

Perhaps Trump’s biggest mistake was keeping the seriousness of the virus a secret from the American people. Back in February, journalist Bob Woodward interviewed the president who acknowledged the dangers of the virus and the harm that it could cause. NBC News’ Dareh Gregorian reports that Trump told Woodward, “’We have to show calm,’ he said. ‘Certainly I’m not going to drive this country or the world into a frenzy. We want to show confidence. We have to show strength.’”  Despite this knowledge, he kept trying to reassure people that the virus was just like the flu while continuing to hold packed rallies of his supporters. People actually believed him and got sick and even died because they trusted him. 

The good news is that several drug companies have created vaccines and those have begun to be distributed.  It has been authorized for emergency use and hospitals are setting up injection sites where it is being delivered to frontline workers who are most  likely to be affected by the virus While this has been a huge turning point for our fight against the pandemic, the staggering toll of death and sickness associated with it will be Trump’s legacy.