Trump, the Wall and COVID-19

President Trump’s political volatility is remarkable. First, he issued an executive order to eliminate the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, later reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court, which protects young people who came to the United States as children, referred to as “Dreamers,” then he backs down and even offers them citizenship. Then came the meeting with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, where they both commended each other for the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. Today, he is going after our country again.

Johns Hopkins University’s COVID-19 tracking ranks the U.S. as the country with the highest number of infected persons — more than 3.7 million — and 140,000 dead; in second place, Brazil with 2 million infected and 79,000 dead; in third place, India with 1 million infected and 26,000 dead; in fourth place, Russia with 770,000 infected and 12,000 dead; in fifth place, South Africa with 364,000 infected and 5,000 dead; in sixth place, Peru with 353,000 infected and 13,000 dead; in seventh place, Mexico with 344,000 infected and 39,000 countrymen who have lost their lives. Chile, the United Kingdom and Iran follow.

As Trump goes on the campaign trail, he has begun to minimize the unquestionably overwhelming numbers. Last week he remarked that instead of looking at the numbers in the U.S., we should examine the situation on Mexico or Europe. “Why don’t they talk about Mexico? Which is not helping us. And all I can say is thank God I built most of the wall, because if I didn’t have the wall up we would have a much bigger problem with Mexico.”

He argues that he contained COVID-19 with the wall in Arizona, without giving any evidence other than his word. In a country where 1% of the population has been infected and where the health care system is private, they are experiencing a complicated situation.

Faithful to his controversial style, he claimed that COVID-19 will disappear like a “miracle.” He further maintains, “I’ll be right eventually. It’s going to disappear — and I’ll be right.”

Like a politician, he gives a speech to the Latino community in support of the “Dreamers,” and to the Republican audience on Fox News, he hardens his stance on migration and downplays the health crisis. He should separate the politician on the campaign trail from the head of government who must look after his citizens — the same ones who will judge his role as leader at the polls in November.