It’s horror enough that in the face of a pandemic, President Trump spreads lies about the coronavirus that directly threaten the ability of millions of Americans to protect themselves from illness and death. Clearly obsessed with his re-election and the economic effects of an outbreak, he has tried to substitute his self-serving fantasies for the hard truths Americans need to hear; in doing so, he has made himself an accomplice to the spread of the virus. But as unforgivable as his public behavior has been, we are learning on a daily basis more and more details about the way his denialism and incompetence have, behind the scenes, sabotaged the efforts of our government to contain and mitigate it. Just this past weekend, The Washington Post and Politico published important stories detailing how the administration’s fumbled and dilatory response to the coronavirus threat can be traced straight to the top.
Yet, because the disaster has not yet occurred, because many hold out hope that the administration will still change course under the pressure of criticism, and because of the critical role the federal government must play in fighting this pandemic, the president has so far escaped the level of criticism his words and actions deserve. It should not be controversial to say that a president who puts his re-election effort ahead of his constitutional obligation to defend American lives has committed an impeachable offense — and yet, you will listen in vain for any prominent Democrats to make this case. The question of whether his incompetence has made it inevitable that many more Americans will sicken and die than if a competent presidential effort had been made is vital if we are to have accountability in our government. Yet, perversely, Trump is somewhat protected from such an indictment by the very crisis his own actions have served to worsen.
While every American should be rooting for this administration to correct course and get the coronavirus response right, what we know thus far means that believing that this course-correction will actually happen is itself a delusion that eerily parallels the president’s own apparent faith in the power of magical thinking. The mistakes the administration has made already make it far more likely that the coronavirus will be much deadlier and economically destructive than if a sane and reasonable person had been president. It’s important to recognize the truth of this, and how it happened, because the facts really only lead in one direction: that the incompetence of this president and his administration will continue, founded as they are in the basic unfitness of Donald Trump.
But while the president bears direct responsibility for the actions of himself and his administration, it’s also important to recognize that the coronavirus fiasco is also a symptom of a larger political crisis involving the anti-government ideology of the Republican Party. For decades, a core belief of the GOP has been that the government can do no good; ancillary to this, and also as a fundamental belief in its own right, the GOP has also opposed universal health care. We now face a crisis that brings the moral bankruptcy of both positions into stark relief. Believing neither in a larger public good served by a government elected by the people, nor in a mutual obligation to take care of such a basic need as health care, the Republican Party bears substantial responsibility for the crisis now unfolding.
This responsibility, you may not be surprised to hear, also encompasses the GOP’s support of this president through all his previous failures and lawlessness, culminating in the Senate’s acquittal of Trump in his impeachment trial. It is no coincidence that the very thing that stood at the center of his impeachment — his placement of personal interest above the public good — is the same behavior now undermining the U.S. effort against the coronavirus, as Josh Marshall and others have pointed out. A few months ago, the GOP had a chance to remove this man from office for offenses against the American people that are now being repeated in the coronavirus response, but declined to do so. Having ensured that we are saddled with his inept leadership in the face of our current crisis, they share culpability for what is happening now and in the future.
So clearly to blame, Trump and his allies are bound to use this pandemic to press a narrative that the Democrats are actually at fault, both as a matter of self-preservation and because they have made clear their contempt for the two-party system and its reliance on factuality and electoral competition. Indeed, this initiative has already begun, as President Trump blames “the Democrat policy of open borders” for the presence of the virus in the United States. Threatened with a crisis that demands democratic accountability, Trump and the GOP will do what they can to deny Americans that accountability.
In the face of such attacks, and given the pressing need for a strong governmental response to the coronavirus, the Democrats can’t be stuck playing defense or downplaying the president’s contributions to this crisis. As David Dayen writes at The American Prospect:
But though this crisis doesn’t fit the normal economic measures to prevent suffering, that doesn’t mean nothing can be done. Public-health and targeted economic plans must be implemented as soon as possible. If the Trump administration refuses, voters loom to show their wrath in November. Democrats must take immediate action that will not only aim to arrest the catastrophe, but signify that self-preservation aligns with progressive values and economic ideas [. . .] Those who believe in the progressive conception of government need to drive the conversation.
There is no better argument for universal health care than a pandemic that threatens our entire populace. Similarly, the benefits of sick leave benefits for all workers become glaringly obvious, both in moral terms and as a benefit to everyone in society, as workers who are able to stay home won’t sicken others, and are spared the unconscionable choice between making rent and working while ill.
Likewise, Democrats should embark on a coordinated, large-scale effort to counter the lies and disinformation issued by Trump and his lackeys. In the best-case scenario, this would push the Trump administration towards truthfulness; in the worst, it would at least provide Americans with a reliable source of information about what’s happening and how to protect themselves. They need to make the case that we face a political crisis that is exacerbating a medical one.