When looking back on historical events, we always look to how those in power took action. How did Bush react to 9/11? How did Stalin react to Churchill’s “Iron Curtain” speech?
How did Trump respond to the COVID-19 pandemic?
The following is a timeline of President Donald Trump’s responses to the coronavirus as cases grew in the United States, presented by CNN:
Some highlights.
As you can see, Trump initially did not find cause for concern over the coronavirus, and did not see a pandemic coming. It was, in his words, "totally under control."
As cases grew, he still treated the virus as nothing to worry about, even comparing it to the flu and saying it's not as bad.
The first time Trump actually seemed to be taking this seriously, was March 11. There were 1,281 confirmed cases and 36 confirmed deaths, when he states, "This is the most aggressive and comprehensive effort to confront a foreign virus in modern history."
Over the next few days, he's delivering facts and proposing guidelines to follow.
Then he contradicts an earlier statement on May 17 saying that he knew it was a pandemic long before it was a pandemic just by looking at other countries...but did nothing about it?
My favorite here is on March 23, when he called a reporter a terrible reporter because he had asked Trump what he would say to scared Americans watching at home. A perfectly reasonable question, because Americans are scared and want hope from the President, obviously.
Trump's vague response to the eight Republican governors who, over April 4, refused to issue the statewide stay-at-home order was that: 1) there's a Constitution, and 2) they're doing great.
Trump said that the coronavirus is an attack that is far worse than Pearl Harbor or 9/11, and could have been stopped in China.
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