Is the American coronavirus situation really Trump's fault?

Question

nightdrot · Accepted Answer

Voted "no." Under the American constitutional system, public health standards are overwhelmingly under the jurisdiction of state and local government. The Federal government has almost no authority in the area and the most it can do - and has done to date - is make policy recommendations and facilitate the delivery of medical equipment. This, given the evolving scientific knowledge, it has done well enough.

Cards on the table, I am a Republican who is no fan of Mr. Trump and did not vote for him. However, in this case I confess to a degree of sympathy for his situation. The public, which demands instant and easy answers and perfect security - none of which is attainable in an imperfect world of imperfect beings - is so grotesquely ill informed about their own constitutional system that they are holding the Federal government to account for things in which it has, at most, a quite circumscribed jurisdiction.

Furthermore, for an increasingly secular society the public treats science as almost a religion. Its' limitations are overlooked and the expectation that it should deliver instant answers being then blamed on the anything other than itself. This also prompting science to stray beyond its' competence.

Thus the legendary Dr. Anthony Fauci offhandedly recommending the abolition of the handshake. Such a simple thing and yet the handshake is an evolutionary development and a reinforcement to social trust. In a culture where social atomization is already an extremely dangerous problem - made worse by the technology man invented and uses but whose effects it does not fully comprehend - Dr. Fauci is suggesting using man as a lab rat in a giant social experiment.

As science, Dr. Fauci has a point. Germs are more easily transmitted by physical contact. He, like science generally, takes A+B=C questions and provides A+B=C answers. The problem being that man and society are infinitely more complex things and simple answers to such a complicated thing as man and society is apt to be disastrous in its consequences. The law of unintended consequences always pertaining.

Into this has been placed the Federal government and President Trump. Constitutionally, their authority is limited. Scientifically, the data is changing. (At one point Dr. Fauci was opposed to face masks. Now he predicts the end of civilization if everyone up to and including newborns and the family dog are not wearing them. This as the available scientific data changes.)

Yet because the President is the most prominent figure, the public demands a "plan" - as if sprung like Athena from the head of Zeus - that will solve everything. When this is not possible the public deems it an outrage when its simplistic thinking is not satisfied with a pat answer.

Given the real limits of science and constitutional authority, the President has handled the situation well enough. Not perfectly by any means. (Indeed, Mr. Trump's use of words tending to be like threading a needle with a sledgehammer, he has to some degree aggravated his own situation by suggesting more authority than he actually has.)

CONT.

SuccessfulHornDog · Accepted Answer

No it isn't, for many reasons.

Top scientists couldn't agree on how it would affect us
The WHO was co-opted by China and was lying
Why blame the Republican president but not blame the Democrat Governors and mayors of NYS, NYS, CA, LA where most cases and deaths are. CA is currently a wild fire of Corona Virus. Who knows how bad it will be before it ends there
Trump shut down the travel to prevent infection and the democrats called him a racist for it

WhiteSteve · Answer

I think he could have handled some things better, for sure. It feels like he had a desired outcome in mind that he tried to steer reality to, when this a situation that you should sit back and ride out reality in. I feel like he wanted to shut down medical advice if it didn’t agree with economic goals, and he quite simply chose business and economy over health. We can talk about low mortality rates and co-morbidities and all that jazz, but at the end of the day, nobody really knows what’s going on, in a way that seems to have scientists more stumped than with other viruses and such. So to me, if you don’t know for sure, you approach with extra caution, you don’t just wing it and hope for the best because you’re afraid of businesses going tits up if you play it safe. That said, it’s a tremendously difficult situation for anyone to manage, with no real correct answer to satisfy the requirements we’re collectively demanding, I just think at the end of the day it’s better for you and yours to end up destitute but alive than it is to be dead with money and possessions. People are way too afraid of society collapsing, we’re built to survive like wild animals, we just choose not to for the sake of comfort. So it’s the fear of that collapse that drives people to make these decisions that are detrimental to everyone’s health, and I just see that as a folly. As long as earth is still in existence and habitable, we gon’ be aiiiight, haha. So for me, the answer is always is the real (our health and survival) over the artificial (economy, prosperity, comfort). But I mean, overall, Trump got stuck with this virus like every other leader did, so everyone gets a partial pass from me because nobody alive has ever dealt with this before, other than some suuuuuper old person who was an infant in 1918, haha. I just think a lot of his strongest supporters were emboldened by him to be reckless. Wearing masks, etc, it’s SOMETHING to try to help, and it’s not a new concept, many Asian cultures consider this common courtesy if you’re sick and going into public, and of course medical personnel have been wearing masks as long as any of us have been alive, it’s not like this is some wild concept out of left field. It’s just a minor inconvenience that, for some reason, people have chosen as their hill to die on, which makes no sense to me, but whatever. Every excuse against them sounds like just that —an excuse—, and a reach, at that. Everyone should know by now that this is more to protect others from you in the event you are asymptomatic but contagious, so not doing it is really just kind of a douche maneuver and a middle finger to others. I just did an hour of cardio wearing one yesterday, I’m about to go do it again right now, WITH ASTHMA, and I was just fine and not really hindered at all, so please miss me with the “it’s too hard to breathe” shit, just be honest and say you don’t like it for whatever reason and you can’t be fucked to take one for the team. So as that relates to Trump, I feel like he bristled at the masks and closing high-risk businesses or amenities, and I’ve never seen a president with a more cult-like following than this one (not everyone, but a significant amount), it’s monkey see, monkey do, and I just think that was absolutely the LAST message that should have been put out into the world when you’re already dealing with a population of inherently selfish people who will ultimately just decide to do what’s most comfortable for themselves if not forced or strongly encouraged/facing ostracization by not complying. Honestly, my problem has never been so much with Trump as much as it is the people who comprise his strongest following. Like him or not, I think we can all agree Trump is kind of a crude guy. Some of us see it as indecency and poor role-modeling, others get riled up and applaud his irreverence and think it’s just what the world needs more of. But he knows what his base likes, and those are the people who bother me the most. Just something in their attitude towards life and people, it’s just... sub-admirable, to be polite. Again, that’s not everyone, but these people who think it’s just great that we’re back to talking brashly and antagonistically... there’s a place for bravado and overconfidence and just not giving a fuck, I personally love that shit in a lot of instances, but it’s just being used in the wrong ways against the wrong targets for the wrong purposes. I guess I just feel like Trump brings the worst out of a lot of people, in a way I’m not used to seeing from a political figure. And in the coronavirus sense, I feel like there was a period where he wasn’t totally on board with what the doctors were saying, he maybe didn’t say “don’t wear a mask”, but he’s one of those negative-space guys where I’m more troubled by what he DOESN’T say that he SHOULD be saying. I think in this economy we can’t be spending too much on tin foil hats and claiming that this virus and the response is all some sinister scheme, New World Order shit lmao, that we’re all being duped and controlled... again, just be real and say you don’t feel like wearing a mask because it’s uncomfortable and inconvenient, and you still want to go to restaurants and movie theaters, you don’t need to go through all this bullshit to convince me that we’re all under the invisible rule of The Pentaverate lmfao

cc-catlady · Answer

It is partially his fault by how he enforced the rules to restrict us from spreading it by how he waited to long to do that, if he did that sooner and take it serious when he knew it was out there at the time he was told about it, America might have possibly not have had the economy nearly shut down like it was in March. The medical field are the ones who are mostly at fault, because the patients who had corona without it being a discovered illness then, the doctors who treated them just gave them a diagnosis of what the doctor only thought they were right about giving them. If the doctors didn't have the logic of thinking the rare flu they gave patients as their diagnosis was not worth questioning further with research and an educated explanation they should have been able to provide since they did go to school for a long time to become a doctor, if they made the choice to see what they claimed to help their patients who believe them and trust them to make sure that patients health is what they can live with. If the doctors didn't take advantage of the power they get from what they were giving to do good with, and didn't just do what they need to with this job without ever going the extra mile when needed to make sure we will stay healthy by using what is possible for them to work with when they treat patients and know all the work was done right morally and logically. Instead they aren't doing that and think what they say is right always and it can never be wrong, this is how they get arrogant and didn't take corona serious enough when they first were caring for patients who had it because at that time not a lot of people had it, and eventually they stepped it up with taking corona serious from how thousands of people had corona and now them diagnosiding this as their own assumption to be true is what needs to be researched and discovered as covid 19 because they knew this illness wasn't just going to go away, no we all were going to be apart of its new appearance it showed to make 2020 a devastating year for history. Moral of this answer always do whats right even if it makes you show everybody you're not perfect, and have to speak out on what you know is necessary to do what is right, even if it takes more away than it would have if you just did what had to be done. We need to start doing whats right again, instead of doing what makes us look good, if we do what is right and have to sacrifice with it. If people were making that choice we wouldn't have our world with corona around as a result that shows we are selfish and it is created from how we have been to our society. Wake up everybody start taking responsibility for your wrongs and make a fucking change. We don't put this solution out there to know about and try to take effort in, NO, for that laziness corona being around to live with is what we deserve for how shitty we are in society

BeMuse · Answer

Each governor runs their own state. Governors are responsible for their own management practices and where those responsibilities have been delegated to country officials those responsibilities are transferred. At the Federal level the most important thing that could have been done was to shut down all international air travel. In the passed when such an action has been taken it was the responsibility of the United States Federal Aviation Administration. So that would rest with Stephen Dickson. I believe he reports to the US Department of Transportation, so if you want to shift the blame to someone higher up it would fall on the Secretary of Transportation Elaine L. Chao. Not that there was any congressional support to take such actions to begin with… I think it would have been nice to have a well spoken diplomatic president with a medical background to unify the country in that moment, but the rare moments when trained medical professionals, scientists, or engineers run for office the media destroys them like the did with Dr. Howard Dean. It seems that the powers that be want wealthy business men and lawyers to control power, not scientists and engineers. So what do you expect when a real crisis occurs? You’re going to have a bunch of businessmen and lawyers running around like chickens with their heads cut off with a total lack of education on such topics and no good ideas of how to solve the problem.

Conspiracy_Theorist · Answer

Here's what Trump was doing about coronavirus while Democrats, liberals and their media were obsessing about impeachment:December 31: China reports the discovery of the coronavirus to the World Health Organization. January 6: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a travel notice for Wuhan, China due to the spreading coronavirus. January 7: The CDC established a coronavirus incident management system to better share and respond to information about the virus. January 11: The CDC issued a Level I travel health notice for Wuhan, China. January 17: The CDC began implementing public health entry screening at the 3 U. S. airports that received the most travelers from Wuhan – San Francisco, New York JFK, and Los Angeles. January 20: Dr. Fauci announces the National Institutes of Health is already working on the development of a vaccine for the coronavirus. January 21: The CDC activated its emergency operations center to provide ongoing support to the coronavirus response. January 23: The CDC sought a “special emergency authorization” from the FDA to allow states to use its newly developed coronavirus test. January 27: The CDC issued a level III travel health notice urging Americans to avoid all nonessential travel to China due to the coronavirus.

goaded · Answer

Europe and the US were hit by the same variant of the same virus at about the same time. Since the beginning of June, the number of deaths from covid-19 has increased in the EU from 284 per million to 333, an increase of 17%; in the US, over the same time period, the number rose from 315, to 625, an increase of 98%.

Why June? Because more than 80% of the deaths so far in New York, New Jersey, Italy, Spain, and the UK had happened by then. They had successfully flattened the curve, they had learned, through painful trial and error what worked.

Did states in America accept this hard-earned knowledge? Were they enthusiastically encouraged and supported to manage the pandemic in the ways known to produce positive effects? What pressure was brought to bear on them? Was the pressure to follow scientific advice, or to re-open economies, despite it? Were leaders leading by example?

We all know the answer to those questions.

A 17% increase on 109,000 deaths (the US number as of 1 June), is less than 140,000. The current toll is over 213,000. That's 73,000 Americans who would still be alive, had there been competent leadership.

Hell, yes! Trump is absolutely to blame for the situation.

Anonymous · Answer

No doubt not 100%. He could have done much better, but likely most presidents woulda fucked up somewhere among the line. The truth is the ONE thing people should have listened to him on from the beginning is China. BOTH SIDES are 100% to blame on that for not taking action years ago. Nothing like Democrats taking selfies with CCP associates but at the same time, walking into a TEXAS airport to see CHINESE signage. Yah. Then people wonder why Houston specifically had somebody sneak stuff by. Both sides are full of shit. Wake up and see the truth.

Ultimately though, they need to get their shit together soon, because China doesn't give a fuck about abortion, diversity, religious stuff, or whatever other minor social BS both sides obsess over. The time we take bickering over it is time they use to be worse than both sides combined. Which is actually kinda what they are. They use that time to build things. Fast. To invest in other nations, even close allies like Australia and Britain VERY quickly. Meanwhile America doesn't make shit and our money is basically paper while there's may be the first to be digitalized/crypto. If the world joins China, how tf will America mantain what they have? Time to put emotions aside and face the REAL enemy. Its not dems or gop. IT'S THE CCP!

wkozak · Answer

On the one hand, I would like to say that this pandemic and its effects revealed the problems of the health system and the accumulations of problems in previous eras, as Trump has no hand in these repercussions and the rapid spread of the virus, so the responsibility lies partly on the American awareness, some countries such as Germany faced the pandemic and they successed, because the awareness of people beside the precautionary measures from the Government, the both of them cooperated and won against Covid-19, so don't blame Trump and the government if you don't have the awareness of people, by the way the media was filled with information about how to protect yourself and your family from Coronavirus, so you should be awared about what you must do.

wankiam · Answer

he saw what china got right and he saw what Europe got wrong but his first reaction when a month later it came to america was one of playing it down. the situation in america could have been avoided but now over 200000 people have paid the price and i would struggle to see how many of those deaths couldnt be attributed to trump and his administration... would biden have done any better? not so sure he would

genericname85 · Answer

no, it's not trumps fault. it's the WHOs fault, who fools people with idiotic and meaningless statistics.

there has never been a "pandemic" (by the definition of 2009). covid has never been a considerable threat. it's just artificial blown up by several really idiotic and unscientific methods.

trump event straight up called bullshit on it... i don't give this man much credit but i gotta say he was right when he said "without measuring like madmen, we wouldn't have a pandemic".

Tamera952 · Answer

Yes, it really is. Just like everyone else outside of Wuhan, they had no control over the virus or it spreading -- EXCEPT when it showed up in their respective nation, & when it crossed over into our country -- From then on, YOU BET YOUR ASS he is responsible for our response (or our lack of) and for underhandedly lying about it, downplaying it, & dismissing the information. Not to mention all the other shady things he did with PPE, ongoing obfuscation, pitting the states against each other, & continuing to try to silence medical professionals. He 100% fucked it from the get-go for MONTHS.

walt0462 · Answer

NO why would it be President Trump's fault for the coronavirus he wasn't one of the scientist that created/released this virus as soon as President Trump had positive conformation of the Seriousness of this virus in China he immediately Banned/Blocked all travel to and from China back in January when even all or the majority of his politically opponents were still saying (well into March) it was completely safe to continued traveling to and from China and that President Trump was being a racist when he issued the Ban/Block All traveling to and from China

crmoore · Answer

No. It was expected to kill a million Americans at least, but it's only killed 200,000. And that's WITH people defying social distancing and going out protesting constantly. Not to mention, Trump has limited power to do anything. He can employ federal policies like a national travel ban from China, but he doesn't have the authority to cause lockdowns or make people wear masks. That's a state-level thing, and that's even arguably unconstitutional.

For perspective, 200,000 deaths is approximately 0.06% of the population or America. This is a success, despite all the ignorant people out there who insisted on protesting in certain ways during a global pandemic.

ChineseWASP2 · Answer

No it’s not Trump’s fault and I’m Chinese myself!

Coronavirus is “China’s fault” but more broadly speaking it is an inevitability of altering the environment we live in. China just has too many people. The effort of supporting all those people creates a disease like the one we’re seeing now!

Long story short coronavirus is China’s fault but at a deeper level it is the problem of trying to support the population of people we have in this world. We cannot give everyone the same quality of life so we have to learn how to keep some people poor and some people rich. If everyone was the same rich the planet will be screwed.

But who gets to be rich and who gets to be poor? That is a delicate game that I cannot answer. Do Western nations get the be rich and everyone else lives in squalor? How is that fair? What is fair in this planet? The question is still left without an answer...

infinitelyaddison · Answer

I chose "other". Trump, being the highest elected official in a place of authority that this country has, has A LOT of say in the what gets implemented to stop the spread of Covid-19. HOWEVER, the other people in the US are just as responsible for it. It's a two way street, people.

jshm2 · Answer

Yes. Not only because it was his piss-on trade war that exacerbated the situation, but his administration undermined and then defunded the research labs, WHO, and CDC response - making the outbreak into a global pandemic.

Not only that, but the clown was responsible for a lot of the misinformation about the virus.

Archerer · Answer

He handled it horribly, and I do blame him because he should recognize how stupid and ignorant the average American is. He didn't lead them the way he should have and as the leader of America, he needs to take the responsibility. I blame him, but I also blame Americans in general for being so stupid.

If a child falls into the pool and can't swim, do you blame the father for not paying attention? Or was the kid stupid for being so close to a pool? Trump is daddy, Americans are the child... And the rest of the world is looking in shock at a daddy watching his child drown and pretend like nothing is happening... We are all throwing life savers and begging daddy to help, but he just thinks the child will learn to swim, a miracle.

bluetoblack99 · Answer

No and fuck no. I really like how left protects and downplays the fucking People’s Republic of China’s for being absolutely 100% at fault for this entire thing.

Assuming a democratic president would of magically “prevented the entire thing” is the most stupid, asinine and wistfully immature assumption possible. There is no way of knowing HRC, Biden or Obama would of done a “better job” other than your inherent hatred of Trump.

0oGreyo0 · Answer

I mean we knew about it since October 2019. We should send people overseas to investigate.

Also, a lot of our jobs are overseas and we didn't have shit. And you saw what happened March and April.

The government had to LIE AND HORDE supply until they got more shipments in may

In the 3rd week of March, they said don't wear mask because it can land on the mask lol.

The 2nd week of April they said to wear a mask it goes 6 feet.

I don't know seems like both parties were retarded here democrat and Republican. I would have done better than 80% of government

NamerOfStars · Answer

Not really, no. For the average (wo) man in the street, the President has a much smaller effect on their day-to-day lives than the governor does. But since the secondary function of the President is to be the government's whipping boy...

Liam_Hayden · Answer

Of course not. It is nature. Now if you want to talk about missteps, yes, he made some, all verbal, but none was as egregious as the ones made by the Five Dunce governors, Cuomo, Wolf, Whitmer, Murphy, and my very own Newsom, all of whom sent the infected back into nursing homes.

OfDeath · Answer

You have to wonder whether or not he would have been able to close the borders earlier if he had tried. Would the democrats have tried to block it? Could they? But it also needs to be asked did they know the same information he did? And if they did, would they have wanted to take swift action?
It's a complicated question.

CreamySeed · Answer

Viruses gunna virus. With an interconnected world the spread is inevitable. The USA over counts infection rate and cases possibly even deaths as our for profit healthcare system has financially incentivized labeling deaths and intubations as covid. Not Trumps fault but doesn't mean he’s not an asshole.

RolandCuthbert · Answer

These questions are always stated weirdly.

We know that the virus began in China. But it was always going to spread to the United States.

He is responsible for our response. He lied to the public about the seriousness of the virus. And it is breathtaking to see supporters defend him, even as he admitted to lying.

Anonymous · Answer

The world coronavirus situation is squarely the fault of the People's Republic of China.

FakeName123 · Answer

Yes and no.

Could he have done some things better? For sure.
Are the local governments such as state governors, etc. as well as wrong information by the CDC and WHO at least as responsible? Absolutely.

LisaLisa89 · Answer

There are many bad things about Trump, including some of his handling of the Covid-19 crisis.
But it would be unfair to blame him for it, just as it would be unfair to blame other extremist leaders like Johnson or Putin. Trump did not create the virus or spread it, although his wayward advice has clearly not helped to control it.

memer2020 · Answer

sort of yes , he refused to take it seriously but if there is anyone we have blame more than trump , it's his supporters

seriously these uneducated religious people are questioning qualified doctors and medical professionals , like they know better than anyone else

Astarlessnightsky · Answer

Yes, to some degree. He reacted way to slow and made things worse in the beginning by denying the existence, as well as advising harmfull and dangerous treatments.

ssongsongie · Answer

He definitely could've done a better job in handling it but it's also the citizens who are involved.

codydevan88 · Answer

in the age of information people still think the president makes decisions that effect something other than social climate. amazing...

pigoat · Answer

Trump called china up and told them "let's do this thingy" and they released it I got this source from different GaG users  rofl

codyccc · Answer

I blame the American education system for putting out such intitaled ignorant people religion for undervalueing science and making people think "god will protect them" and the police for bringing the country to the edge of civil war and sewing discontent so governments can't effectively govern there people

007kingifrit · Answer

no, america has one of the lowest death rates, lowest deaths per capita and an economy that has survived in decent shape. 200k dead sounds like a lot but its not and its the best we could reasonably do

monkeynutts · Answer

Your economy and population size is probably the real clincher. To many variables, it demonstrates that America and the rest of the world could be better prepared for random catastrophes.

Not_Average · Answer

Of course not. There's no legitimacy to back that claim.

Lu_Ke · Answer

Brazil pm said is just goes away.4.8million. cases
Sweden did nothing. 93K cases.10.2 million people.
Finland did do lot of things. 10k cases. 5.5 million people.

Well USA has lots of republicans that believe their president blindly.

Jack9949 · Answer

It affected every country in the world. He shut travel down early. He signed the Defense Production Act. Of course not!

bulletbob555 · Answer

No but denying to this day and not ordering lockdown earlier has made it worse. So did calling an early end to it his fault. Everything he has done has been the wrong way to go about it

YHL6965 · Answer

Yes and no. I'll just say that idiots choosing to group up to loot and burn buildings during a freaking global pandemic definitely did not help. (Who would have thought?)

josephinelcajon · Answer

No and he was right to prevent panic by withholding some information which is text book cold war era teachings! Fauci even told him to not say much! (not that I believe that pharma hugger)

joeldalton · Answer

Not particularly. Respiratory viruses do what respiratory viruses do.

cth96190 · Answer

Of course it is not Trump’s fault. It came from China, which has bought the Democrats.

CuriousMufuxka · Answer

No. It's the stupidity of "usual" people that believes wearing a mask will defeat an invisible disease.

Anonymous · Answer

I dont think it's completely his fault it would have arrived no matter what.

In saying that I think he has handled it very poorly. He has downplayed it, asked his followers to drink bleach, and hasn't really done any good.

thegirlfromthething · Answer

It’s not totally his fault but he could have handled it better, especially by serving as a better example to the public.

Anonymous · Answer

Between his initial denial, slow reaction speed, failure to enact any federal mandate, and constant intentional misinformation, it seems pretty clearly his fault.

Twalli · Answer

He could have stopped it from getting as bad as it did.

Dave31989 · Answer

he's the president, he let it in, he didn't wear a mask, and even called it a "democratic hoax"

the entire virus, and its effects on the American people, is his fault, whether it came from china or not

AmazyingOnlyMe · Answer

He is the person that it’s president of the usa. So yes he has a lot to be blame for..

captain_voidwalker · Answer

Nope everyone's corona virus situation is China's fault

Ad_Quid_Orator · Answer

In part but the main problem is an unwillingness to embrace rugged collectivism by individualistic snowflakes.

BleuNiles · Answer

Fault, no but his handling of the entire situation and lying about facts were egregious  in my opinion as a nurse on the frontlines.

Sabretooth · Answer

he's pretty much sided with it-he was made aware of it in November.

Anonymous · Answer

Nope, It's his fault cause back in February he knew about the Coronavirus and did nothing about it, this guy knows him to let the cat out of the bag?

Jersey2 · Answer

It all the people who keep going out to bars, restaurants and parties. Pure and simple.

tHISpLACEiSbONKERZ · Answer

For sure. But he got what he deserved, the virus, I really hope COVID claims him and that gold digger who he calls a wife.

British_Empire_1707 · Answer

not. Americans are generally idiots and reacted as predicted during the crisis

Anonymous · Answer

I hope he never recovers

Anonymous · Answer

Why, is trump chinese?

Girther10 · Answer

It is as much Trumps fault as it is your fault.

Is the American coronavirus situation really Trump's fault?

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