Coronavirus: When Did He Know?

With each passing day, it becomes more obvious. The Trump administration knew about the dangers of the Coronavirus outbreak far sooner than they admit. From a 2019 report , which Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar presented to Congress last April, to a detailed memo from White House Economic Advisor Peter Navarro, it is obvious that Trump's response was to ignore the problem.

That report, which the administration attempted to withhold from the American people, flatly warned that global pandemic was on its way and the United States needed to be prepared.

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Despite this, Trump has repeatedly stated that nobody knew this outbreak was coming, only to now claim that he knew “long before”, that a pandemic was on its way. In fact, he said he knew before many people realized it because it was already in a lot of other countries, and not only that, he said, "pandemics are bad."

So, which is it, Mr. Genius?

The facts don't lie. They support that the administration knew, yet chose to ignore the warnings. This means they ignored the risks, where thousands died and several thousands more were sickened by what could have been a preventable situation.

To deflect from this, Trump holds a daily Coronavirus briefing that seeks to twist the narrative with a public relations blitz of lies, distortions and berating of any member of the media that dares to question the administration’s failure to launch an adequate response in time.

During these briefings, Trump has repeatedly, and erroneously claimed that the federal government has no role in the Coronavirus response, while at the same time calling himself “a wartime president”. He has stated that the issue of testing is up to the individual states and health organizations. This position has been backed up by his son-in-law and White House advisor, Jared Kushner, who claimed essential medical supplies were federal property, and not to be used by the individual states.

Of course, there is plenty of blame to spread around for the administration’s failed response. Predictably, Trump never misses a chance to blame President Obama, despite being in office for over three years. Republicans in Congress have also played the blame game by stating that the impeachment hearings prevented Trump from focusing on the Coronavirus response.

Despite the obvious failures, Trump’s approval rating has risen to a high of 49%, largely due to the daily briefings keeping him in the public eye.

This was the same approach that garnered him so much attention during the 2016 campaign. The press covered each gaffe, misstatement and outlandish comment ad naseum, keeping him in the news.

With facts of his failure to respond and further deaths on the horizon, it is up to the media to take a stand. They need to stop giving him free airtime. They need to stop covering these briefings that have been nothing more than a replacement for his campaign rallies. All he offers is BS, his own unsupported medical advice, and flat-out lies.

Trump knew about the Coronavirus long ago and DID NOTHING! And now, we all are paying the price.