The ignorant and the gullible are on the march in America. They are coming to his rallies and buying his snake oil. Donald Trump has his eye on the prize: the November election. That is quite a prize for a serial killer who has already helped the pandemic take the life of more than 90,000 Americans—and this year is not even half over.
Is this not the guy who belittled the declaration of the pandemic and cut off the U.S. funding of the World Health Organization? Do you know that his followers think America is lucky to have him? They can watch people close to them dying and they think Trump is a gift from some funny farm Heaven.
These people are mixing and drinking their own Kool-Aid. Trump says he is taking an anti-malaria pill. Maybe he will also drink bleach.
He is promising his followers a vaccine by the end of the year. He sees the race for a vaccine as an economic contest to make money for Americans, instead of something that will be distributed freely around the world. In addition to this miracle of medical science he is also promising his supporters a miracle economic recovery in the next year.
Trump supporters tell us that we are lucky to have a businessman like Trump running things. They think that, as a businessman, he can help the economy to recover. He is certainly no businessman. People who really understand Trump know he is just a gambler who typically uses other people’s money. As a developer, he is used to promising much and delivering little.
If Trump had been more of a scholar, he would understand why the lack of organization in his country during the Spanish flu epidemic of 1918/1919 killed so many. It is disgraceful that his ignorance, disinterest and partisan approach make it impossible to create a co-ordinated approach in 2020.
But maybe the real villains in this event are Trump’s supporters. Theirs is hardly a statement of political allegiance. Trump is not political. He is too selfish and self-centered to be part of any party. And yet, it is likely die-hard republicans that are giving Trump a narrow edge—while helping him do irreparable damage to their party.
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Copyright 2020 © Peter Lowry
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