Trump’s Bluffing Does Not Help Anymore

Bluffing does not help anymore. Now that the death toll in the U.S. due to the coronavirus has risen to almost 1,000, even President Donald Trump must face facts: The epidemic will hit the country hard. And even though the virus came from outside the country, there is a lot of evidence that the consequences are much greater because of wrong policy choices, and because of a bad system of health care coverage and social security that certainly does not encourage people to acknowledge they are symptomatic.

For the record: Almost all countries in the world are suffering from the results of the virus and not a single country has a completely successful method to keep it out. A rapid full lockdown, as happened in some Asian countries, seems to limit the outbreak, although it remains to be seen whether or not the virus will surface again once the restrictions are lifted. In any case, such a lockdown is more difficult to actuate in European countries or in the U.S., with their individualism and freedom of movement.

Easter

But it did not help that Trump initially acted as if life and the economy in the U.S. would continue as usual, and that the virus was the fault of others: of the Democrats, China, Europe. In the worst crisis of his presidency, he has now largely blocked international air traffic and declared a national emergency. Also, Congress has set up a huge financial aid package and citizens will get some of their COVID-19 medical expenses reimbursed. Plus, the power of the American political system became apparent in the fact that individual states had already taken their own measures. However, the president insists that everything will be back to normal in many places around Easter (April 12).*

That is nonsense. New York is hit particularly hard; half of all infections have been identified there. And Gov. Andrew Cuomo is telling the truth: The rest of the country will follow. Because no matter how rich the country is, American employees are continuing to go to work with symptoms of COVID-19 because they do not get sick pay, or if they do, they get it for a short time only. And since tens of millions of people do not have health insurance, they are not quick to seek treatment. That doesn’t just apply to New Yorkers.

For years, Trump and his Republicans have systematically frustrated the path to mandatory health care coverage for everyone initiated by Trump’s predecessor, Barack Obama. It would be extremely good for the Americans to close ranks on this issue, so that in a rich country like the U.S., a future health crisis will have a less dramatic impact.

*Editor’s Note: President Trump has since backed down from this stance and extended the date to April 30, 2020