Oh really? Here’s truth
LEFTIST LIE #1: Trump has blood on his hands because his denials and delays have cost thousands of lives because of his inaction. Is any of this true? Let’s see.
Beginning on January 6th, Trump’s team made repeated offers to send CDC officials and scientists to China to assist in characterizing the novel coronavirus. China repeatedly refused the offers.
On January 15th the first COVID-19 patient enters the U.S. Trump immediately orders selected airports in the U.S. to begin screenings for Coronavirus. By January 17th the screenings had begun. On January 31 Trump imposes travel restriction on all flights from Wuhan. On Feb 9th, Trump imposed travel restrictions on Iran. On March 11th Trump imposes travel restrictions from 26 European countries. Trump was the first leader to impose travel restrictions to protect citizens from coronavirus.
LEFTIST LIE #2: Trump dithered in Late January after his Trade Advisor, Peter Navarro and HHS Secretary Alex Azar briefed him about the Virus
Trump was the first leader to ban in-coming travel from other high risk countries. On Jan 31 Trump banned all travel to/from China for which he was called a racist and a xenophobe by Nancy Pelosi, Joe Biden, Chuck Schumer and others. . On March 11th Trump banned all travel from 26 European countries. In all cases, these bans were described as unnecessary. For example, here’s what the main stream media had to say:
- USA Today (1 Feb), “Coronavirus is scary, but the flu is deadlier, …”
- Los Angeles Times (Jan 24), “Should you panic about the coronavirus from China? Here’s what the experts say.”
- The New York Times (Feb 5),
- “Who Says It’s Not Safe to Travel to China?”
- “Why we should be wary of an aggressive government response to coronavirus
- “Beware the Pandemic Panic”
- Washington Post:
- How our brains make coronavirus seem scarier than it is
- Get a grippe America. The flu is a much bigger threat…”
- Associated Press: “Is the new virus more ‘deadly’ than flu? Not exactly”
- CNN: “What’s spreading faster than coronavirus in the US? Racist assaults and ignorant attacks against Asians.”
- VOX: “Is this going to be a deadly pandemic? No!”
- Reuters (Feb 3), “WHO says widespread travel bans not needed to beat China Virus.”
LEFTIST LIE #3: Trump lied about the travel ban when he claimed that all travelers returning from China were to be banned.
Trump’s ban allowed U.S. citizens to be repatriated provided they undergo a two week quarantine. Non-citizens were not allowed in.
LEFTIST LIE #4: Trump waffled and was indecisive. A strong, decisive leader would have locked the country down in mid-February.
On Feb 24th Nancy Pelosi visits San Francisco’s Chinatown encouraging large groups of people to celebrate the event. She later blame’s Trump early “denial” for the spread of the coronavirus. On Feb 27, Trump asks congress for $2.5 billion in supplemental funding to combat coronavirus outbreak, Pelosi tables the request and proposes a ban on flavored cigarettes instead.
LEFTIST LIE #6: Trump failed to get testing started soon enough.
In the December-January timeframe Trump instructed the CDC to begin development of coronavirus screening tests. However, China refused to give the CDC actual samples of the virus! When they did, the CDC botched the development. In addition, long-standing FDA regulations prohibited private industry from developing these tests. In mid-March, Trump reversed these regulations allowing state officials to take charge of coronavirus tests developed by private labs in their states.
LEFTIST LIE #7: Trump should have locked down the U.S. by mid-February.
By March 3rd there were only 102 cases in the United States. Italy was the first country to enter a lockdown on March 8th. Spain didn’t lockdown until 14 March. The U.K. locked down on 23 March.
The U.S. is a federal republic and Trump has no power to shutdown a sovereign state. But the President can facilitate state shutdowns by declaring a national emergency. On March 13th Trump did exactly that so that by March 16th, 48 states had begun targeted shutdowns (e.g., restaurants, nightclubs, movie theatres, etc.,).
LEFTIST LIE #8: Trump Was Responsible for the national PPE’s stockpile depletion.
The national stockpile of PPE, including N95 masks was depleted by the Obama administration’s response to the H1N1 influenza outbreak in 2009 and the SARS outbreak two years later. The stockpile was never replenished by the Obama Administration. Here’s what USA’s fact checker reported:
Our [USA’s]rating: True
We rate this claim TRUE because it is supported by our research. There is no indication that the Obama administration took significant steps to replenish the supply of N95 masks in the Strategic National Stockpile after it was depleted from repeated crises. Calls for action came from experts at the time concerned for the country’s ability to respond to future serious pandemics. Such recommendations were, for whatever reason, not heeded.
LEFTIST LIE #9: Trump is overly-optimistic. We need serious leadership not flag-waving polyannas.
On Feb 24th Nancy Pelosi visits San Francisco’s Chinatown encouraging large groups of people to celebrate the event. She later blame’s Trump early “denial” for the spread of the coronavirus. Here’s what Dan Crenshaw, ex-Navy Seal and Texas Congressman said about leadership, “Exuding positivity and calmness in crisis is exactly how we ask our SEALs to lead. When bullets are flying past my head, I don’t need to raise my voice,” Crenshaw continued. “Calm breeds calm. Panic breeds panic.”