Trump attacks “Do Nothing” Democrats for pandemic inaction after spending weekend playing golf

If Donald Trump wonders why even longtime Republican supporters of the president are now expressing uncertainty about his competence to lead the nation during the worst epidemiological crisis America has faced in decades, he needs to look no further than his own Twitter feed.

Just as major sports organizations have suspended competitions and promoters have canceled events that attract large crowds at a time too dangerous to risk the chance of exposure to the COVID-19 virus, the American people expect the president to suspend partisanship and political gamesmanship and name-calling at a time when they expect a leader to be dedicating 100% of their time and efforts to devising plans to achieve the best possible outcome for the greatest number of people in fighting the burgeoning pandemic.

Instead, Trump continues to engage in the same tired routine of baiting Democrats and blaming them for inaction after his own administration’s molasses-slow, chaotic and incompetent response to a global crisis the possibility of which they had been warned about well in advance of the first reported case of coronavirus hitting our shores.

Rather than spend his time consulting with any government experts who hadn’t already been fired because of Trump’s uncertainty about their political loyalty or because they valued facts and science over political dogma, the president instead pretended he could wing his way through the crisis in his standard B.S.-slinging improvisational mode.

Trump fired America’s pandemic response team. Demand he reassemble it to confront the coronavirus pandemic immediately!

After Trump stunned White House staff yesterday by saying that he would be holding a press conference today to unveil his plans to combat the financial damage from the economic fallout of the outbreak, CNBC revealed that no plan actually exists at this point.

“That was news to everyone on the inside,” one official said.

“It’s not there right now,” another official admitted. “A lot of details need to be worked out.”

“The White House is not ready to roll out specific economic proposals in its response to the widening impact of the coronavirus outbreak,” CNBC reported adminstrastion officials as saying.

Meanwhile House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) “are floating a series of legislative reforms designed to combat the spread of the coronavirus and provide economic relief to those most directly affected” according to The Hill.

“While the Democrats’ legislation is not yet drafted, Pelosi and Schumer huddled Monday night with the various committee leaders working on it in an effort to tie up loose ends. And Pelosi said the legislation could be drafted — and maybe even receive a vote on the House floor — by the end of the week,” an article at The Hill said.

“We are putting it together; it’s not like we just woke up this morning and started thinking about this,” Pelosi commented with a subtle reference to Trump’s failure to recognise the implications of the epidemic in time to make plans to combat it.

On Twitter this morning, Trump tried to spin the typical grinding gears of legislative discussion and drafting of measures into a counterbalance to the accusations of laziness and inaction that have been dogging his own reputation as he spent the weekend playing golf rather than doing his job.

At this point, one must for the umpteenth time remind the reader that the so-called “Do Nothing Democrats” in the House have 395 bills of passed legislation sitting on Senate Majority Leader “Moscow” Mitch McConnell’s desk that he has refused to act upon.

By focusing on his petty political fights instead of his primary responsibilities to lead and protect the nation, Trump is simply proving why he is so unqualified for the job he has and wants America to reelect him to.

It’s up to us to put a leader in the White House who is able to handle any challenges that come their way. If by now, you don’t realize that Donald Trump is not that person, then no masks, disinfectants, or anti-viral agents will be able to help you.

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Original reporting by Mike Calia at CNBC and by Mike Lillis at The Hill.

Vinnie Longobardo

is the Managing Editor of Washington Press and a 35-year veteran of the TV, mobile, & internet industries, specializing in start-ups and the international media business. His passions are politics, music, and art.