Apr 7, 2020 3 min read

In his April 5 letter, Bruce R. Wolf engages in a popular and despicable tactic of diehard Donald Trump supporters: referring to those who criticize the president when it is warranted as “haters.”

The letter writer alleges that the president has stood tall during the coronavirus, that it is his detractors who have engaged in “manipulation,” “distortion” and the provision of “misinformation.” In fact, it is the president who is guilty of these accusations. We need only look at his own words and actions.

President Barack Obama put into place a government office designed to provide early warning of pandemics and to recommend action to deal with such a plague. Trump disbanded it, yet when questioned, he denied knowledge of his actions. Prior to Trump’s inauguration, there was a briefing provided, warning of a pandemic, and the administration was placed on notice that this would happen in the future.

Yes, China was not forthcoming about the virus, but there was enough knowledge of what was taking place that health care scientists were sounding alarms by January. The president was aware, as demonstrated by his appropriate action on Jan. 31 to bar Chinese nationals from entering the country, yet day after day, week after week, Trump engaged in denial. He told us that coronavirus was “contained,” “under control,” “it’s going to disappear,” “we have very little problem in this country,” “15 people, and the 15 within a couple of days is going to be down to close to zero, that’s a pretty good job we’ve done,” “one day, it’s like a miracle; it will disappear,” “anybody that needs a test, they get a test” (not accurate even now). He likened the virus to the flu and noted that we do not shut down the country for the flu. He told us that the virus would weaken when we get into warmer weather in April. 

The president now tells us that he knew we were facing a serious situation: a pandemic, before anyone called it a pandemic. Daily news conferences are de facto campaign rallies for the president in which he reads from a piece of paper word without emotion. Every such event features the president telling us what a great job he and his administration have done, and going off script to attack reporters and elected officials whom he despises, this while health care professionals are forced to stand next to him as the insults are hurled. 

Many diehard Trump supporters have cited the tragic deaths of four Americans in Benghazi, Libya, to explain their contempt for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, yet they have expressed no such disdain for a president whose dithering has surely cost, and will continue to cause us to lose countless lives to coronavirus. Trump was slow to call for any action and has only recently come to recognize the seriousness of the disease and the need for the American people to severely limit visits to public places. He is itching to reopen the country and get our moribund economy back on track. There is every reason to believe that he will do so prematurely: on his timetable, not that of the virus, and that the American people will pay with the misery of serious illness and death.

Mr. Wolf condemns those with ulterior motives who would take “cheap potshots” at the president, yet the facts alone are sufficient to condemn Trump’s response to the greatest crisis in a century.

Oren Spiegler

Peters Township