By: Azhar Azam
*This is one of my opinion pieces (unedited) that first appeared at "China Global Television Network (CGTN)":
https://news.cgtn.com/news/2020-03-19/Trump-is-failing-at-defeating-the-invisible-enemy--OYTKY3F1Ze/index.html
Despite the spike in the number of coronavirus patients within the United States and its intrusion into the entire 50 states, the US President Donald Trump lends no time to take care of millions of Americans but clings days on rediscovering the disease’s country of origin or determining the nationality of Covid-19 by tagging it a “Chinese virus.”
Though he defends his repeated use of the phrase as a comeback to Chinese foreign spokesperson comments about probable US soldier’s involvement in the virus introduction – the racist tones and viral bigotry of his aides calling coronavirus “Wuhan virus” and “the Kung-Flu” tells of a cover up tactic to cloak the US administration’s real gaffes..
Snippy change in Trump’s behavior toward Beijing only emanated after his failure to preempt the lethal fallouts of the coronavirus in the US. Indeed since the onset of the Covid-19 crisis, his role has been lethargic and lacked the vital gravity needed to engulf a disease that is racing across the world, overwhelming healthcare systems and upending societies.
US president initially claimed that the coronavirus was “totally under control” and “to be down to close to zero” in the country. Just over a week earlier, he quoted the Surgeon General “The risk is low to the average America”, boasted of creating over 350,000 jobs and largely relied on the divisive travel ban measures on China and Europe including the UK.
Efforts by the White House officials to link the coronavirus outbreak with China are deliberate in a bid to stoke tensions with Beijing and distract the focus of the ordinary Americans from their blunders. In such an attempt, Trump misled the nation stating in his unusual Oval Office address that his early intense travel restrictions, which the European Union failed to take, prevented the Covid-19 to prevail in the US.
He made outlandish declaration knowing that the World Health Organization (WHO) had warned that such gauges are not usually effective in precluding the importation of epidemic cases but may have significant economic and social impact. So, the only major step Trump took was expected to do more harm than the good for Americans and the US economy and it did.
Chaotic president’s dramatic announcement to constrict most travel from Europe roiled the airports into mess, tanked the stock market and stunned the lawmakers on both sides of the Atlantic. The move infuriated the public health experts inside and outside of the US who slammed the decision, underscoring that the tack can theoretically just delay the spread of disease and could work strategically only if combined with the containment measures.
Trump, therefore, is only to blame himself for “Airlines and other” industries which he thought was affected by the “Chinese virus.” It is the result of his hawkish advisors that the country’s biggest airlines called on Washington for more than $50 billion in aid to endure the financial losses – which in fact suffered less from the pandemic and more from his slapdash decisions.
After a prolonged reticence over the prevalence of the illness and playing down the threat of the coronavirus in the US, Trump has finally realized that the Covid-19 “is a pandemic” and he always knew “this is a real.” However, in forcing him to understand the sensitivity of the situation and respond, the disease has infected more than 5,700 Americans and killed 100 of those.
In the grim nationwide circumstances, the US needs to implement lockdown and quarantine methods to safeguard the life and health of Americans. But following China, about whom the US congressmen and media have been overly clamorous until recently, would be extremely embarrassing for the Trump administration.
Though the US National Security Council on Monday denied the reports that there is going to be a “national lockdown” and the country was about to put in a mandatory two-week quarantine, Trump’s advice to the US citizens not to travel, stay home for the most part and “enjoy their living room” was none else than a suggestion to the people to voluntarily keep themselves in lockdown and quarantine.
While his guidance implicitly backed Chinese measures to control the spread of the coronavirus, Trump’s information on the disease and way of tackling the Covid-19 is steadily losing the trust of his compatriots who believe that their federal government was not taking sufficient steps to combat the public health crisis.
A NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll released on Tuesday showed that 70% of the Americans in March were concerned or very concerned about the increase of coronavirus in their community. An overwhelming majority of 60% wasn’t very much or not at all satisfied with the information they heard about coronavirus from the President Trump.
Instead of preparing the nation from the rising threats of coronavirus and taking effective preventive measures, the White House officials wasted several weeks in criticizing China or looking at the ways to count on its health crisis. Now with the dangers roaming on his skull, Trump now acknowledges “We have an invisible enemy” that “is a bad one,” “a very bad one.”
*This is one of my opinion pieces (unedited) that first appeared at "China Global Television Network (CGTN)":
https://news.cgtn.com/news/2020-03-19/Trump-is-failing-at-defeating-the-invisible-enemy--OYTKY3F1Ze/index.html
Despite the spike in the number of coronavirus patients within the United States and its intrusion into the entire 50 states, the US President Donald Trump lends no time to take care of millions of Americans but clings days on rediscovering the disease’s country of origin or determining the nationality of Covid-19 by tagging it a “Chinese virus.”
Though he defends his repeated use of the phrase as a comeback to Chinese foreign spokesperson comments about probable US soldier’s involvement in the virus introduction – the racist tones and viral bigotry of his aides calling coronavirus “Wuhan virus” and “the Kung-Flu” tells of a cover up tactic to cloak the US administration’s real gaffes..
Snippy change in Trump’s behavior toward Beijing only emanated after his failure to preempt the lethal fallouts of the coronavirus in the US. Indeed since the onset of the Covid-19 crisis, his role has been lethargic and lacked the vital gravity needed to engulf a disease that is racing across the world, overwhelming healthcare systems and upending societies.
US president initially claimed that the coronavirus was “totally under control” and “to be down to close to zero” in the country. Just over a week earlier, he quoted the Surgeon General “The risk is low to the average America”, boasted of creating over 350,000 jobs and largely relied on the divisive travel ban measures on China and Europe including the UK.
Efforts by the White House officials to link the coronavirus outbreak with China are deliberate in a bid to stoke tensions with Beijing and distract the focus of the ordinary Americans from their blunders. In such an attempt, Trump misled the nation stating in his unusual Oval Office address that his early intense travel restrictions, which the European Union failed to take, prevented the Covid-19 to prevail in the US.
He made outlandish declaration knowing that the World Health Organization (WHO) had warned that such gauges are not usually effective in precluding the importation of epidemic cases but may have significant economic and social impact. So, the only major step Trump took was expected to do more harm than the good for Americans and the US economy and it did.
Chaotic president’s dramatic announcement to constrict most travel from Europe roiled the airports into mess, tanked the stock market and stunned the lawmakers on both sides of the Atlantic. The move infuriated the public health experts inside and outside of the US who slammed the decision, underscoring that the tack can theoretically just delay the spread of disease and could work strategically only if combined with the containment measures.
Trump, therefore, is only to blame himself for “Airlines and other” industries which he thought was affected by the “Chinese virus.” It is the result of his hawkish advisors that the country’s biggest airlines called on Washington for more than $50 billion in aid to endure the financial losses – which in fact suffered less from the pandemic and more from his slapdash decisions.
After a prolonged reticence over the prevalence of the illness and playing down the threat of the coronavirus in the US, Trump has finally realized that the Covid-19 “is a pandemic” and he always knew “this is a real.” However, in forcing him to understand the sensitivity of the situation and respond, the disease has infected more than 5,700 Americans and killed 100 of those.
In the grim nationwide circumstances, the US needs to implement lockdown and quarantine methods to safeguard the life and health of Americans. But following China, about whom the US congressmen and media have been overly clamorous until recently, would be extremely embarrassing for the Trump administration.
Though the US National Security Council on Monday denied the reports that there is going to be a “national lockdown” and the country was about to put in a mandatory two-week quarantine, Trump’s advice to the US citizens not to travel, stay home for the most part and “enjoy their living room” was none else than a suggestion to the people to voluntarily keep themselves in lockdown and quarantine.
While his guidance implicitly backed Chinese measures to control the spread of the coronavirus, Trump’s information on the disease and way of tackling the Covid-19 is steadily losing the trust of his compatriots who believe that their federal government was not taking sufficient steps to combat the public health crisis.
A NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll released on Tuesday showed that 70% of the Americans in March were concerned or very concerned about the increase of coronavirus in their community. An overwhelming majority of 60% wasn’t very much or not at all satisfied with the information they heard about coronavirus from the President Trump.
Instead of preparing the nation from the rising threats of coronavirus and taking effective preventive measures, the White House officials wasted several weeks in criticizing China or looking at the ways to count on its health crisis. Now with the dangers roaming on his skull, Trump now acknowledges “We have an invisible enemy” that “is a bad one,” “a very bad one.”