Trump golfed January 18, January 19, February 1, February 15, March 7, and March 8 amid the COVID19 pandemic. He also held 11 rallies between January and March.
By the end of the March 8 weekend Trump spent golfing, there were over 500 reported cases in the United States. That Monday, he accused the media and Democrats of working to “inflame” the situation via tweet.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Trump finalized changes to Obama-era automobile emission rules. Whereas automakers were to increase fuel economy by an average of 5% per year through 2026, it was changed to 1.5%. The Trump administration noted that the change would be the equivalent of 2 billion additional barrels of oil consumed and nearly a billion metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions.
My Administration is helping U.S. auto workers by replacing the failed Obama Emissions Rule. Impossible to satisfy its Green New Deal Standard; Lots of unnecessary and expensive penalties to car buyers!
In the weeks preceding the unconstrained outbreak in the United States, Trump repeatedly downplayed the threat of the virus and claimed that his administration had done a great job in containing it.
China has been working very hard to contain the Coronavirus. The United States greatly appreciates their efforts and transparency. It will all work out well. In particular, on behalf of the American People, I want to thank President Xi!
Cryin’ Chuck Schumer is complaining, for publicity purposes only, that I should be asking for more money than $2.5 Billion to prepare for Coronavirus. If I asked for more he would say it is too much. He didn’t like my early travel closings. I was right. He is incompetent!
Among other remarks, he also claimed that warm weather would kill the virus, without evidence, saying, “Looks like by April, you know, in theory, when it gets a little warmer, it miraculously goes away.” He also claimed about US cases that “We’re going down, not up. We’re going very substantially down, not up.”
The remarks were all made in late February. By March 1, there were 98 confirmed cases in the US. Mid-March, Trump said he’d score his administration’s response to COVID19 a 10/10. By the end of March, there were over 160,000 confirmed cases.
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic and US stimulus packages, Democrats pushed for increased funding for absentee and vote-by-mail options. The proposal was for $400 million to be distributed through the federal Election Assistance Commission and subsequently distributed to the states to ensure that voting would be possible for all, with equal access, even if the pandemic persisted. Critics said the funding suggested was still far too little for such a nation-wide initiative.
During a Fox & Friends interview, Trump declared, “The things they had in there were crazy. They had things – levels of voting that, if you ever agreed to it, you’d never have a Republican elected in this country again.”
Trump openly admitting if we made voting easier in America, Republicans wouldn't win elections
Trump: "The things they had in there were crazy. They had levels of voting, that if you ever agreed to it you'd never have a Republican elected in this country again." pic.twitter.com/x5HmX6uogo
When asked about his comments at a press conference, Trump said, “I think that mail in voting is a terrible thing. I think if you vote, you should go, and even the concept of early voting is not the greatest.” Several states allow for voting by mail, and Oregon, Washington, and Colorado do so exclusively.
He had also questioned the validity of mail-in ballots during the campaign.
On March 29, Trump tweeted multiple times to brag about his press conferences’ ratings amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Because the “Ratings” of my News Conferences etc. are so high, “Bachelor finale, Monday Night Football type numbers” according to the @nytimes, the Lamestream Media is going CRAZY. “Trump is reaching too many people, we must stop him.” said one lunatic. See you at 5:00 P.M.!
“President Trump is a ratings hit. Since reviving the daily White House briefing Mr. Trump and his coronavirus updates have attracted an average audience of 8.5 million on cable news, roughly the viewership of the season finale of ‘The Bachelor.’ Numbers are continuing to rise…
On that day, the United States reported a total of over 161,000 confirmed cases and 3,000 deaths, more than 9/11.
He later again boasted of his television ratings on April 21, when the US had 824,229 confirmed cases and suffered 45,536 deaths.
I’ve had great “ratings” my whole life, there’s nothing unusual about that for me. The White House News Conference ratings are “through the roof”(Monday Night Football, Bachelor Finale , @nytimes) but I don’t care about that. I care about going around the Fake News to the PEOPLE!
Dr. Robert Redfield, appointed to head the Center for Disease Control in 2018, had a long and controversial history with his approach to AIDS.
Dr. Robert Redfield / Wikipedia
During his tenure as a Major at the Walter Reed Medical Institute, Dr. Redfield was one of the architects of Army policy regarding AIDS. It included mandatory testing with no confidentiality, and those that tested positive were quarantined, faced various administrative punishments, or were dishonorably discharged. Redfield explained, “The reason we have done what we have done is that we think it’s good medicine – and it’s medicine that might work in the civilian sector, as well.” He was a proponent of H.R. 2788 that sought to allow HIV testing without consent and force states to have doctors report the names of positive cases.
Redfield wrote an introduction to the book Christians in the Age of AIDS, which read:
It is time to reject the temptation of denial of the AIDS/HIV crisis; to reject false prophets who preach the quick-fix strategies of condoms and free needles; to reject those who preach prejudice; and to reject those who try to replace God as judge.
He also regularly denounced use of condoms and needle exchange programs to prevent its spread throughout his career. The CDC says that proper use of condoms can reduce risk of HIV transmission.
Upon taking office, Redfield claimed that his views had since changed.
Redfield’s predecessor, Brenda Fitzgerald, was appointed by Trump in 2017 and resigned after a report of conflicts of interests involving her investments, including various tobacco stocks.
Vice President Mike Pence, leader of the COVID-19 task force, also has a controversial record with public health and science.
The Fake News Media and their partner, the Democrat Party, is doing everything within its semi-considerable power (it used to be greater!) to inflame the CoronaVirus situation, far beyond what the facts would warrant. Surgeon General, “The risk is low to the average American.”
In 2018, the White House global health security team, an office within the National Security Council, was disbanded. When asked about its closure amid the COVID19 pandemic, Trump replied, “Well, I just think it’s a nasty question…I don’t know anything about it. I mean, you say we did that. I don’t know anything about it.”
When the reporter asked to confirm that he didn’t know about a reorganization of the National Security Council, Trump continued, “It’s the administration, perhaps they do that, let people do, you used to be with a different newspaper than you are now, you know things like that happen.”
When the reporter persisted, her audio was cut as Trump said, “we’re doing a great job.”
While the original pandemic team was disbanded, it was then restructured into what was intended to be a leaner and more effective organization. John Bolton, Trump’s national security advisor from April 2018 to September 2019, stated that the change did not reduce the administration’s effectiveness against COVID-19. Bolton published The Room Where It Happened in June 2020 about his time in the administration, which sought to block its release.
Claims that streamlining NSC structures impaired our nation's bio defense are false. Global health remained a top NSC priority, and its expert team was critical to effectively handling the 2018-19 Africa Ebola crisis. The angry Left just can't stop attacking, even in a crisis.
The 2020 federal budget proposal for 2021 also included cuts to the Center for Disease Control. During a hearing about the proposal on March 10, 2020, the acting director of the White House Office of Management and Budget confirmed that they still sought the same cuts to the CDC. On that day, the United States had over 1,000 confirmed cases of COVID19.
HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE & AZITHROMYCIN, taken together, have a real chance to be one of the biggest game changers in the history of medicine. The FDA has moved mountains – Thank You! Hopefully they will BOTH (H works better with A, International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents)…..
Trump also falsely claimed that chloroquine had been approved by the FDA for treating COVID-19.
Hydroxychloroquine, a less toxic derivative of chloroquine, is an anti-malaria and arthritis medication. Azithromycin is an anti-bacterial drug intended to defend against secondary infections. They both have risk of various side effects. The more severe for hydroxychloroquine include allergic reactions, hypoglycemia, permanent eye problems, nerve damage, psychosis, seizures, and heart failure.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, flatly denied that there was any conclusive evidence to support the claim, noting that no clinical trials have been completed. Fauci explained during a subsequent press conference, “You really can’t make any definitive statement about it.” Still, Trump continued to express optimism about its efficacy. “May work, may not work, but I feel good about it,” Trump said.
The World Health Organization has not approved use of the drug for COVID-19. Its Director General noted, “small, observational and non-randomized studies will not give us the answers we need. Using untested medicines without the right evidence could raise false hope, and even do more harm than good and cause a shortage of essential medicines that are needed to treat other diseases.”
Nevertheless, there has been a run on hydroxychloroquine, with reports of hoarding and border crossing into Mexico for purchases. A man died from ingesting cleaner that contained a chemical he confused with what Trump promoted.
In a later press conference, Trump said he may take the medication, even though he hadn’t yet asked his own doctors about it: “If it were me – in fact, I might do it anyway. I may take it, okay? I may take it. And I’ll have to ask my doctors about that, but I may take it.”
Trump doubles down on hydroxychloroquine, saying he may take it as a prophylactic.
TRUMP: I may take it. Okay?… I’ll have to ask my doctors about that but I may take it.
Career scientists have warned that the science is unsettled + lupus patients currently need the drug. pic.twitter.com/ZBx6xHvvNG
Trump had a financial interest in Sanofi, a French company that produces the brand-name version of hydroxychloroquine. While some trials showed promise, others didn’t; a Brazilian trial for chloroquine was halted when 11 patients died after 6 days.
In August, Trump’s testing chief Brett Giroir said it was time to “move on” from hydroxychloroquine.
