Gratifying as it can be to see a braggart brought low, it’s best to note Donald Trump’s whimper of a rally in Tulsa and sliding poll numbers with only the passing mention they deserve. Keep the focus instead on his malfeasance and corruption and what it means for the American people.
Let’s start with the immediate crisis. The carnage about which Trump bellowed in his 2017 inaugural address is nothing compared to what has actually come to pass with the deaths of more than 125,000 Americans from COVID-19 since March. In all but decreeing there will be no federal role in fighting a pandemic that has ravaged the economy and will have long-term negative effects on almost every aspect of American life, Trump has abdicated his responsibilities as chief executive. He has MAGA’d us so thoroughly that instead of flattening the curve the country now faces what one expert calls an ongoing “forest fire.” On a day in late June when Italy reported 135 new cases, the United States reported 35,000; it was up to 45,000 a few days after that, a new record high. The CDC now estimates our total number of actual infections is likely ten times as high as the official count of 2.3 million. Trump has spread misinformation, sidelined experts, and is ending aid for testing in order to keep the true number of cases from being known, since that would reflect badly on him.
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