They blamed him for ignoring the threat, for downplaying it, for cutting the CDC budget, and they reveled in the stock market plunge, which they sought to pin directly onto the President; ignoring, of course, that the markets have plunged worldwide, and that the Asian and European markets plunged first.
Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar kept his head far better than Dr. Messonnier, pointing out that “the immediate risk to individual members of the American public remains low,” but adding, “there is now community transmission in a number of countries, including outside Asia, which is deeply concerning.” He also acknowledged, “We are working. . . to prepare for mitigating the virus potential spread in the United States, as we will likely see more cases here.”
Dr. Messonnier is not the only one to panic: The Mayor of San Francisco declared a Wuhan Coronavirus public emergency in his city, even though, in his own words, “there are still zero confirmed cases in San Francisco residents.”
The Democrats continue to lie about the record and about the actions the President has taken to combat the coronavirus. During a campaign rally in South Carolina, the President said, referring to charges that he mishandled the response to the disease, “And this is their new hoax.” Well, many prominent Democrats and members of the news media pretended that the President was claiming that the coronavirus was a hoax. This claim was such a blatant lie that several left-wing news groups actually came to the President’s defense. A correspondent for Slate said, [The President] was saying the hoax is that he’s handled it badly, Not the virus itself.”
Let’s recall that one of the first actions taken by President Trump in response to coronavirus was to close off travel from China to the United States for non-US citizens. The Democrats went berserk at the time, but in retrospect, that action probably did as much to curtail the spread of the disease as any step that could have been taken. Furthermore, independent, non-political groups and organizations have repeatedly made the point that the response of the CDC has been excellent and that the United States tops the list of countries best prepared to respond to coronavirus. And as to the claim that the President cut funding for the CDC, which led to the outbreak – well, here is what the Associated Press wrote, “A bigger concern than White House budgets is the steady erosion of a CDC grant program for state and local public health emergency preparedness. . . but that decline was set in motion by a congressional budget measure that predates Trump.”
How about this: When the President held his lengthy press conference following the first confirmed death from coronavirus in the US, the Democrats accused him of “muzzling” Dr. Anthony Fauci, the Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984. Dr. Fauci responded, “So let me clarify it, I have never been muzzled.” Dr. Fauci also made the point that most of those who will be infected will not have to be hospitalized, but can stay home and treat their symptoms as they would with influenza or similar diseases. He also said that most of the victims are responding to treatment and are recovering well.
The President, and the US government, have taken coronavirus very seriously, and they have done the right things to fight the disease and to inform the public. The Chinese government was less than truthful about many aspects of the virus, and the rest of the world has been, of necessity, forced to deal with information as the Chinese have released it. The Chinese refused US offers to admit the CDC to China for assistance. An honest, timely, and transparent response from the Chinese at the outset could have gone a long way to bringing the coronavirus under control much sooner. The United States, and the Trump Administration have acted responsibly in dealing with the disease. The disease has the potential to be a serious challenge to public health worldwide, but it may well be that the Democrats’ attempts to politicize the issue will make us sicker in the long run – not physically, of course, but by spreading panic and undermining confidence in America’s response