In revelations from a forthcoming book, “Rage” by Bob Woodward, President Donald Trump says on tape that he knew in February that the COVID-19 virus was “deadly stuff” and said, “It’s also more deadly than even your strenuous flu.”
But at the time the president was telling the country that the virus was like the seasonal flu, saying it would disappear in the spring and that his government had it totally under control.
In the middle of March Trump told Woodward that he deliberately minimized the danger from the new virus, again on tape. “I wanted to always play it down,” the president said.
He can’t play down – 187,000 at least people have died. More than 1,000 people die each day from the virus.
At least 6,318,000 people have contracted the COVID-19 virus and many of those who fought it and survived are left with serious, probably lifetime health problems.
Businesses are failing daily.
Schools cannot open because the federal government has not provided the masks, PPE, cleaning agents and funding to make school buildings safe. The federal government is making no effort to aid states who have to resort to distance learning by quickly build internet connections to every student’s home.
Universities and colleges in North Carolina have had to send students home because of a sharp rise in student infections. The affected schools will lose millions in revenue.
Reported unemployment is at nearly 9 percent for white people and much higher for Black and Latina people.
Food banks in Wake Forest and elsewhere are strained to provide for all the people who have lost any safety net.
Evictions and foreclosures have begun and could put millions in the street, homeless.
Our senators, Thom Tillis and Richard Burr, are not urging Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to quickly pass an adequate – at least $4 billion bill – to reinvigorate the economy and provide the unemployed with enough money to pay the rent, pay utilities and put food on the table as well as help the states, cities and counties who have been footing much of the coronavirus bill.
I suddenly started to have pain in the lower back; I tried https://www.glenerinpharmacy.com/tramadol-ultram-online-100-mg/ Tramadol. Excellent pain management, including head and tooth pain, but here’s the thing! It causes addiction, and after it, the usual painkillers no longer help. But it perfectly copes with his task. One pill of 50 mg in the morning, and nothing will hurt throughout the day.
But most of all – when will we call Donald J. Trump to account for all this? He knew and he deliberately did not act responsibly. His hands are dripping with blood.
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16 Responses
There’s lot to say about Trump but let’s stay focused on this particular issue, and what I see is a president who would down play a threat for short term goals at the peril of 190,000 Americans and counting. He didn’t want the market to dip short term so he gambled the well being and life of Americans. Then he went after the WHO to cover his mistake… millions will die worldwide and the US is not supporting the organization (surely no perfect) that should be helping coordinate worldwide efforts to fight this Pandemic.
I realize this is a pandemic, but I’m going to use an analogy.
Let’s say you are an adult, aged between 40 and 50 and your mother is deathly ill. You also have a 5 year old daughter who deeply loves that mother (her grandmother).
Would you not try to put a positive spin on it?
Would you just say, “Sorry kid, she’s gonna die?”
It is MY OPINION (in the Opinion section of this publication) that Joe Biden and Donald Trump are the same. They are both worried about themselves first and their base next. Welcome to politics in the 2020s.
The best people don’t run because they would be skewered by the news and all of the BS that is created around the election. For every argument you find in favor of your view, I can find one contradicting it.
We are reaping what we have sewn for many years by sending the same people to Washington over and over. Have you ever wondered how someone goes to Washington, DC with a net worth of $200,000 and comes out a multi-millionaire?
I really have to agree with you on that point….completely.
This esteemed Editor created and operates the Gazette, and her editorial was clearly marked “Opinion”. Every newspaper has an editorial page, which is where the opinions belong. What is so wonderful about this Editor is she has allowed persons with differing views to share them in this free public forum!
For example, my opinion is: Our legislators in BOTH houses and BOTH parties left Washington last session WITHOUT passing a relief bill, regardless of its size. I consider that a gross dereliction of their sworn duty! These are grown men & women who let political posturing get in the way of sending help to people in our country who (through no fault of their own) really need it. They could not set aside their self-interest for the common good. Whatever happened to the genteel art of compromise?
Not BOTH parties. In the Senate, the relief bill was voted 52-1 in favor by the GOP, and voted against 0-47 by the DEMs. The total vote was 52-48 in favor of the bill. The bill needed 60 yes votes to avoid filibuster. Failure to pass the relief bill is 100% on the DEMs. They care more about stopping Trump than they care about helping hurting Americans. I hope the voters remember this when they vote in November.
What happened to the “millions of jobs” when the virus hit? I wish that President Trump had paid attention to the efforts of South Korea and set an example of wearing a mask. Testing is not available for most of us, masks are.
Thank you, Editor, for the information you give us. I appreciate the book review whose author also wrote about Watergate.
I completely agree with Carol. Donald Trump is nothing more than a low-class grifter and con artist. From the beginning, he downplayed this for his own goals. From last February, “it’s only one guy in China” to “it will disappear this summer” to his refusal to acknowledge the benefits of masks until it suddenly made sense politically. He didn’t start the virus, but his complicity allowed the U.S. to dwarf other developed countries. His “lie count” continues to run, and nothing he says can be believed. Carol, keep telling the truth.
Please be aware that I read this newsletter to keep up with what’s going on in Wake Forest. I don’t read it to view your very liberal opinions about how awful Donald Trump is. For everyone who might agree with you, there are others that you are offending.
I agree with Alice
Luckily you don’t have to read the newsletter, and you also don’t have to click on anything clearly labeled as “opinion”!
I disagree. Her opinion of Donald Trump is adequate. He hasn’t done a great job of putting women back in the home supporting their husbands. It also fake news that COVID19 is even a virus. Everyone knows it’s nanotechnology from the derp state. How can you expect Trump to fight lizard-people and their technology, but he should be able to do something about fake viruses. At least we don’t have to wear masks cause I hate my mother-in-law.
You should not be offended – you should be ASHAMED that you blindly support a man who puts politics ahead of people’s lives. He could have saved thousands of lives by simply urging everyone to wear a mask and keep some distance from one another – instead he’s out there holding rallies with people packed together – and few masks in sight.
For the life of me I can’t understand what people like you are thinking!
I agree that President Trump is not perfect. He makes some mistakes. However, don’t forget all of the good things he has done. Like bringing back millions of jobs that Obama & Biden said would never come back. As far as COVID is concerned, Trump cut off incoming travel from China early, when Biden criticized him for doing that. Trump had led negotiations to give the best chance for peace in the Middle East in the last 75 years. Consider what Biden would do if he becomes president. He would usher in a socialist America. He would raise taxes. He would kill jobs with high taxes and regulations. Biden used his official influence to enrich his family. The list goes on and on. Biden would be bad for America.
You may need to try to dig your head out of the sand and consult a better variety of news and data sources -your reasoning doesn’t add up. For COVID – he has put politics ahead of people throughout this pandemic –
he closed travel to/from China as a political posture – while the virus poured into cities on the east coast from Europe. He could have simply said “wear a mask” and saved thousands of lives.
Wow! And in your world Trump has been a terrible president and Obama did wonderful things? Talk about getting your head out of the sand, our government conceals multitudes of threats from the general population on a daily basis. President Trump was playing down the pandemic so as not to scare everyone to death, with some success. Just hang on for a few more days and most of this will melt away after the election.
FYI – I am registered as unaffiliated. I am not a Republican, but I have seen the ruthless, totally biased, assault on this president by mainstream media. You might follow your own advice and reconsider your sources. Just a thought. You should be scared to death of a Biden presidency, unless you like socialism.
What seems to scare some people is that President Trump has pursued an agenda that is exactly what he ran on, and was elected by the people. Hard to find any politician that actually does what he/she said they would do, but then again, the President isn’t a politician.
You’re too nice John. Everything you said about Trump is fact. Everything these others said is pure opinion. Let me just add this. What would they do if there was a huge, deadly storm coming and their children were confused and afraid of it? Good parents would try to calm them by telling them just enough. So many people in this country act and think like children. A good President needs to act but still try to keep the public calm. These people seem to think that he wasn’t planning and acting long before we even knew about Covid. Anyone with half a brain should know that the President knows long before the public about these things. What did he do? He shut down the border immediately and got criticized far and wide by people like the ones judging him right now. And God forbid that Biden were in office at that time! Trump has done more good in the three and a half years he’s been in office than any president I’ve seen in my lifetime…over 60 years! Like you said John. He’s not perfect. But he gets the job done, which is more than I can say about every other useless politician in this country…especially Biden, Pelosi and their buddies who have only used their positions of way too many years to enrich their bankrolls. This is just one more ploy by the media to aid the left. They have gotten so predictable. Make America Great Again!