Trump, Coronavirus, and Lessons from America’s Exposed Vulnerability

We need this administration to succeed in combating the outbreak of Coronavirus. We need the Center for Disease Control (CDC) to succeed in providing the testing kits that are a prerequisite to successful treatment and containment. Governors have made admirable progress on addressing the spread of the virus. But the reality is the federal government has a unique and critical role to play in coordinating a national response and providing the necessary resources. And after eight years of a Republican Congress rooting for Barack Obama to fail, and refusing to put skin in the game during crises that required bi-partisan cooperation, I am loath to politicize Coronavirus for the sake of scoring points. We should want, and need, the administration to be effective and trusted during a crisis.

At the same time, however, we have to be honest and clear-headed about the nature of the administration’s response thus far if we want to navigate the path forward effectively. It gives me no joy that the inescapable conclusion from the last several months is that the Trump administration has played a significant role in why this virus has become so serious. No attempt to address its spread can make progress without being honest about the severe mis-steps and inexcusable negligence, incompetence, and perfidy that have significantly worsened our domestic situation. Dr. Anthony Fauci (a national treasure for his expertise on communicable diseases) has been a straight-talker throughout this process, and his example has illustrated how important it is to tell the truth to keep the administration accountable.

-The Trump administration got rid of the White House’s Pandemic Response Team in 2018. This was the team explicitly delegated with the responsibility of strategically identifying and pre-empting pandemics, and shutting them down is a decision “we are all paying the price for now.”

-The Trump administration cut the CDC’s budget for fighting global pandemics by 80% in 2018. Doing so financially handicapped the ability of the agency’s prevention efforts. And in its budget just last month, the administration announced proposed cuts to “reduce CDC funding by 16 percent and slash $3 billion for global health programs.”

-The World Health Organization had a Coronavirus test that could have been made widely available, but the Trump administration refused to even use it as a bridge — insisting on developing its own. This was a decision with “fateful consequences” according to experts, delaying the availability of tests and contributing to why we are so woefully behind the ball in providing Americans with tests. One official who ran the Ebola response concluded, “they’ve simply lost time they can’t make up. You can’t get back six weeks of blindness,” and Dr. Fauci himself has admitted the U.S. Coronavirus testing is currently “failing.”

And these examples are only the tip of the iceberg.

Trump himself is unfortunately making the situation exponentially worse. First of all, the President has spread a torrent of misinformation at a time when the public needs clear and scientifically backed information. For example, “he has repeatedly misstated the number of Americans who have tested positive for the virus and claimed it would “miraculously” disappear in the spring, given a false timeline for the development of a vaccine, publicly questioned whether vaccinations for the flu could be used to treat the novel coronavirus and dismissed WHO’s death rate estimates.” Perhaps most perniciously, he spent weeks dismissing Coronavirus as a hoax in crowded, public rallies. These statements confuse the public, encourage behavior that contributes to the virus’s spread, and undercut the experts…at a time when the public needs clear and scientifically backed information. In fact, Harvard epidemiologist Eric Feigl-Ding Worse has stated these actions may have cost people their lives. Furthermore, Trump’s insecurity and inability to take criticism leads his advisors to walk on eggshells rather than be frank about the serious trajectory of this virus. Some will refuse to even answer basic questions about the availability of medical equipment that could reflect poorly on the administration. It is a case study in backwards leadership, with serious consequences.

I have talked with Trump supporters among my friends and family, and there is a familiar refrain for explaining his appeal. “He may not be nice or even a good person, but he is a tough businessman. He is a son-of-a-bitch who can be America’s bully and deliver.”

This image has always been a facade, but no episode more than Coronavirus has illustrated that “the emperor has no clothes.” This crisis is exposing in the starkest relief that not only is he completely in over his head, but that he is fundamentally psychologically unfit to serve as President. At a time when the essence of leadership 101 is taking responsibility, Trump literally stated in a press conference “I don’t take responsibility at all.” How can the government improve its response if its chief executive cannot acknowledge and learn from its mis-steps? If he refuses to take responsibility, and instead deflects and attacks everyone else? This episode is why my baseline criticism of Trump has always boiled down to character. Even if you love the policies he enacts, there is no policy victory that justifies placing the Commander in Chief powers in the hands of a man uniquely ill-disposed in wielding them in a crisis. There is no amount of judges or tax cuts that justifies making President a man who is incapable of (1) moral leadership, (2) placing the country’s interests over his own, and (3) handling a crisis with any level of competence. As Pete Wehner brilliantly summarized:

“Taken together, this is a massive failure in leadership that stems from a massive defect in character. Trump is such a habitual liar that he is incapable of being honest, even when being honest would serve his interests. He is so impulsive, shortsighted, and undisciplined that he is unable to plan or even think beyond the moment. He is such a divisive and polarizing figure that he long ago lost the ability to unite the nation under any circumstances and for any cause. And he is so narcissistic and unreflective that he is completely incapable of learning from his mistakes. The president’s disordered personality makes him as ill-equipped to deal with a crisis as any president has ever been. With few exceptions, what Trump has said is not just useless; it is downright injurious.”

Perhaps the scariest point here is that the current situation is even worse than simple negligence and incompetence. There is reporting indicating that Trump may have intervened against testing earlier on because he was worried more documented cases would hurt his re-election. If true, it is hard to think of a more disgusting and unpatriotic decision by a President. And in a country that wasn’t so overwhelmed by his avalanche of scandal and a public health crisis, those reports alone should be triggering investigations. It is a reflection of Congressman Schiff’s warnings at the conclusion of the impeachment trial: “You know you can’t trust this president to do what’s right for this country.” The truth is the public health crisis and the political crisis in this country are inseparable.

There do seem to be signs that the reality of Trump’s unfitness is finally permeating the bubble. Many of Trump’s actions have deeply damaged our institutions, but the harm has often been abstract. When he used military aid for his personal gain to smear Joe Biden, the damage was to our constitutional order — which is premised on the President using his office for the good of the country rather than his personal interests. But it is difficult for your average voter to grasp how that kind of corrupting conduct affects their own life personally. With Coronavirus, on the other hand, the cost of institutional decay and corruption has been made abundantly clear. A stock market in free fall, infections spreading, and an economy teetering on the edge. Institutional corruption and presidential incompetence are a deadly mix in a crisis, and a virus does not discriminate by political party. It cannot simply be dismissed as fake news until the media is distracted by the next shiny object. And it’s showing; I had a friend who has been sympathetic to Trump over the years that basically said this is the straw that broke the camel’s back for him. He mentioned that his dad’s 401K is now in jeopardy, and that Trump is obviously incapable of basic leadership and is “completely in over his head.”

The significance of the impact of Coronavirus in many ways goes deeper than Trump, however. Not only is the crisis illustrating how vulnerable America is when led by a President incapable of rising to the moment…but it is also showing how socio-economically vulnerable America is writ large. 40% of Americans cannot afford a $400 emergency expense. There are an estimated 27.9 million nonelderly individuals without health insurance in this country. Despite important improvements from Obamacare, our healthcare system is deeply broken and the virus has illustrated the enormous problems of a market driven system in amassing the will and resources to address it. Furthermore, the sociological dilemma of the uninsured for our country has never been more clear. In the face of a pandemic, we are only as strong as our weakest link. A fast-food worker who has no insurance and can’t get sick leave could end up infecting dozens more Americans by staying on the job and not seeking medical care. In this context, social inequality and lack of healthcare access are not just a social justice crisis, not just a public health crisis — they are a national security crisis. Coronavirus has made brutally clear we are all in this together, and we sink or swim as one. And not only is the plight of the most vulnerable now a health threat to the entire country, but so are ignorance and narcissism. Americans who willfully ignore the recommendations of the CDC and accept the premise pushed from Trump and Fox News that the virus is a hoax pose a threat of infecting their fellow citizens by refusing to modify their behavior. Those who hoard lysol wipes to turn a buck on Amazon compromise the ability of the rest of us to be safe. Young people who don’t show symptoms but can still be infectious who choose to go to bars and other highly populated locations are being “selfish and putting the lives of others at risk.” Even sharing poorly sourced information online can have serious consequences.

This all connects to a point I have been reflecting on for years, which is that the ethicality of an action is generally determined not by its intent but by its consequences. When an anti-vaxxer says they won’t vaccinate their child based on conspiracies, the ethicality of the action hinges on the consequences those actions pose for other children. Even if that person is sincere in their anti-vaccination beliefs, it doesn’t make their actions any less problematic when other children pay the price in illness and preventable death. You see the same pattern with voting. If you were a Jill Stein supporter in 2016 because of your dedication to environmental issues, but your vote (predictably) contributed to the election of a President who has done more to degrade the environment than any other in recent memory…your ostensible values are inconsistent with the consequences of your actions. And of course, this dynamic is center stage with the current infighting within the Democratic party. A debate on the issues is healthy and needed, especially in the light of this epidemic (more on that later). But flirting with sitting the election out, with the likely consequences of Trump winning re-election, almost inevitably replacing Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer with a 7–2 conservative majority on the Supreme Court (likely leading to the overturning of Roe v. Wade and the criminilization of abortion access for women), the continued psychological disfugurement of children at the border, the horrific consequences for our democracy…is a level of hyporcrisy and “empty allyship” that is hard to process. Politics is not about fashion and whether a candidate “looks good on you”; it is about the consequences of your vote on the consequences of power. And in all of these cases — Coronavirus, vaccinations, voting — the common thread is that the intent of the actions is largely irrelevant — the consequences are what matter. And pleading ignorance or virtuous intent doesn’t change those consequences.

In all of this, however, there is a real silver lining. There are indications we are finally recognizing the socio-economic problems Coronavirus has brought into stark relief. We are only as strong as our weakest link, and there are signs this virus may help us fundamentally reinvest and re-design our social safety net in a way that bolsters the security and opportunity of our citizens. Furthermore, doing so will help us address our socio-economic vulnerability and susceptibility to future pandemics. It’s a simple adage that “we all do better when we all do better,” but Coronavirus has made the dynamic more clear than ever. We all have a collective responsibility to each other, and the consequences of our actions on others matter.

-The House recently passed a bill that would expand Coronavirus testing, support food assistance to Americans in need, implement sick leave benefits, and increase Medicaid access. Trump has signalled he would sign it. There are signs it could also shift how this country thinks about universal healthcare.

-There has been a surge of leadership to fill the void. Governors and mayors have jumped into action, and state attorney generals (including my former boss, DC Attorney Karl Racine) recently secured a legal victory in blocking the administration’s cuts to food assistance programs at this critical moment.

-There has also been a proliferation of medical experts engaging in social media about the best ways to curb the spread of the virus. Harvard epidemiologist Eric Feigl-Ding and Andy Slavit (former head of Medicare/Medicaid) have been getting out a lot of great information, and a Medium article overviewing the statistics and steps for containment has also been helpful. The common denominator in these breakdowns has been how crucial it is to “flatten the curve,” which is why social distancing to prevent the spread of COVID-19 is so critical.

-There has been some pretty beautiful examples of community solidarity. Italians are singing songs together from balconies. Doctors and nurses the world over are engaged in absolutely heroic work. Residents and researchers are donating their time after a medical dean asked for volunteers. Distilleries helping develop hand sanitizer. This thread stood out for me in particular:

There are a lot of people who are going to be hit really hard by this virus, especially seniors and those who work in the service and gig economies. The reality is “the number of cases of coronavirus in the United States is rising faster than our medical infrastructure will be soon be able to handle.” Current CDC models estimate anywhere from 200K to 1.7 million deaths in the U.S. alone due to Covid-19. We all have a role to play in making sure we all come out of this the best that we can, and especially in helping those most at risk. The consequences of our individual actions and behavior truly matter, perhaps now more than ever before. As Danielle Allen synthesis of medical advice put it, “you are the hero you have been waiting for”:

“Stay home as much as you possibly can. Convert your social interactions to telephonic or digital forms as much as you possibly can. The fewer physical social contacts each of us has for the next few weeks, the more slowly the virus will spread. The more slowly the virus spreads, the better our medical establishment will be able to cope. The better it can cope, the less it will have to ration.

Your actions can also support our country beyond the medical infrastructure by reducing the economic impacts of limited social interaction. See, to the degree that you are able, if you can find ways to continue making financial expenditures that you would have made had you not been minimizing your social contacts. Perhaps set up neighborhood donation pools to support that local coffee shop or diner whose business has plummeted, for instance. If you can take the hit, don’t ask for a refund for that show that got canceled. Give to food pantries that support students now without nutritional resources thanks to school closures. Maybe the government will also help, but why wait? You can help our medical system succeed in the face of this crisis by doing everything you can to reduce your physical social contacts over the coming few weeks. You are one of the heroes we all need.”