Yup
Rick Smith
Los Angeles Times
Tuesday, MARCH 31, 2020 4:02 PM
Always the salesman, Trump touts products and promises at coronavirus briefings
By CHRIS MEGERIAN STAFF WRITER
WASHINGTON —
As TV cameras tracked him, President Trump walked from the Rose Garden podium to a nearby table for the dramatic unveiling of a new and improved product, one supposedly able to deliver faster, better results.
As the head of the Food and Drug Administration extolled the coronavirus testing kit, Trump opened a box, carefully pulled out the device and held it up for viewers to see on Monday, like a scene from a Home Shopping Network show.
After decades of slapping his name on skyscrapers, steaks, bottled water and silk ties, Trump remains a salesman at heart, and he’s used his daily pandemic briefings at times to push new products, promote unproven remedies and make exaggerated promises.
Even as he warned Tuesday of “very very painful” weeks ahead, possibly involving 100,000 American deaths, he promised a “burst of light” once the pandemic passes.
“Trump is most comfortable when he’s selling,” said Michael D’Antonio, who wrote a biography of Trump. “And when he doesn’t have something to sell, he sells himself. And that’s really the product that he always sells.”
While Trump has praised the doctors at his side, chiefly Dr. Anthony Fauci, who heads the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House response coordinator, he more often has shown disdain for specialists, whether it involves global warming or nuclear diplomacy.
“He’s more comfortable around salesmen than he is around scientists and physicians,” D’Antonio said. “He doesn’t understand this idea of seeking honest data so you can get your arms around a problem that’s difficult.”
Trump has promised a “very advanced” coronavirus vaccine in “record time,” for example. Although a crash program has found potential candidates, experts say necessary testing, dosing and production of a new vaccine will take at least a year.
He has announced “tremendous progress” on a nationwide website for coronavirus testing even though the website remained a pilot project in the San Francisco Bay Area.
And the president has touted drug regimens to treat COVID-19 patients, saying they “could be a tremendous breakthrough,” even though they have not gone through approved clinical trials to ensure they are effective.
The drugs, hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine, are normally prescribed as a prophylaxis or treatment for malaria and lupus, and some doctors fear the president’s endorsement will lead to shortages for patients who rely on them.
Despite the concerns, the FDA approved the two drugs for emergency use during the pandemic, and Trump announced Monday that his administration had secured millions of doses.
Trump has rejected bipartisan criticism that his administration botched its early response to the coronavirus by failing to make testing widely available, and that it is still struggling to supply desperately needed masks, ventilators and other equipment to hospitals.
On Tuesday, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, dismissed Trump’s claim that coronavirus testing kits are now widely available as “just not true,” adding, “No state has enough testing.”
And New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, compared the lack of federal leadership to coordinate distribution of medical supplies to “being on EBay with 50 other states, bidding on a ventilator.” New York has the nation’s worst outbreak, and Cuomo has said his state needs 30,000 ventilators.
Trump has lavishly praised himself for “tremendous” work while routinely blamed others — including China, former presidents, governors and reporters — for any problems. As in his business career — which includes a string of bankruptcies and lawsuits claiming fraud — he’s glossed over bad news and moved on.
“You never cop to anything, and you always declare that you’ve won, and you always point the finger at somebody else,” said Gwenda Blair, another Trump biographer. “And he’s remarkably good at that.”
Trump’s approach is evident in his shifting timeline for beating back the pandemic.
A month ago, he suggested the virus would disappear “like a miracle” as soon as warm weather came in April. But on Monday he extended social distancing guidelines until April 30, acknowledging the virus may not peak for several weeks.
It’s an approach that many American voters saw for the first time in the 2016 presidential race, Trump’s first official foray into politics after making his name as a New York developer and reality television star. At times he used his campaign to promote his products and properties.
During the Republican presidential primary, he held a news conference with a table piled high with Trump-labeled wine, bottled water and steaks in an effort to rebut charges that his businesses were unsuccessful.
“Trump steaks, where are the steaks? Do we have the steaks?” he said. “We have Trump steaks. And by the way, you want to take one, we charge you about, what, 50 bucks a steak?”
At that point, Trump steaks were no longer available for purchase, and the meat on the table appeared to be from a different brand.
Like any aggressive salesman, Trump enjoys a good cross promotion, and he’s invited business leaders to the White House to burnish their own brands while showering him with praise.
At Monday’s briefing, Trump introduced Mike Lindell, the founder of My Pillow, which has agreed to produce cotton face masks during the pandemic.
“Boy, do you sell those pillows. That’s unbelievable what you do,” Trump said.
After plugging his own company, Lindell plugged Trump too.
“God gave us grace on Nov. 8, 2016" — the day Trump was elected — “to change the course we were on,” he said.
The president then invited executives from Honeywell, Jockey International, Procter & Gamble and United Technologies to promote their own work and praise his administration.
Trump hosted a similar parade of corporate executives on March 13, a performance that led to a brief boost in the stock market after sharp declines.
The next day, Trump said he was “honored” by the market rebound and suggested it made financial sense for companies to associate themselves with his administration.
“Those great companies that were there, they couldn’t have been too unhappy either, when you think about it, because they’re all very big, publicly listed companies,” he said. “So they did a good job.”
It was a sign, at least in the president’s eyes, that the Trump brand hadn’t lost its luster.
Rick Smith
Casper (WY) Star-Tribune
Monday, April 6, 2020
OPINION
Trump administration's chaotic pandemic response is no surprise
By Robert Reich
The utter chaos in America’s response to the coronavirus pandemic — shortages of equipment to protect hospital workers, dwindling supplies of ventilators and critical medications, and jaw-dropping confusion over how the $2.2 trillion of aid in the economic relief package will be distributed — was perhaps predictable in a nation that prides itself on competitive individualism and hates centralized power.
But it is also tailor-made for Donald Trump, who has spent a lifetime exploiting chaos for personal gain and blaming others for losses.
“I don’t take responsibility at all” for the slow rate of coronavirus testing in the United States, he said last month.
On Friday, when asked if he could assure New Yorkers there would be enough ventilators this week, when virus victims are expected to overwhelm city hospitals, he replied, “No. They should have had more ventilators.”
Trump has told governors to find ventilators and other life-saving equipment on their own. He refuses to create a central bargaining agent for what’s needed, arguing that the federal government is “not a shipping clerk.” This has left states and cities bidding against each other, driving up prices.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo described how ventilators went from $25,000 to $45,000: “Because we bid $25,000. California says, ‘I’ll give you $30,000,’ and Illinois says, ‘I’ll give you $35,000,’ and Florida says, ‘I’ll give you $40,000. ... And then FEMA gets involved, and FEMA starts bidding! ... So FEMA is driving up the price. What sense does this make? We’re literally bidding up the prices ourselves.”
New York state is paying 20 cents for gloves that normally cost less than 5 cents, $7.50 for masks that normally go for about 50 cents, $2,795 for infusion pumps that normally cost half that, and $248,841 for a portable X-ray machine that usually sells for $30,000 to $80,000, according to ProPublica.
Who’s pocketing all of this money? An array of producers, importers, wholesalers and speculators. State laws against price gouging usually don’t apply to government purchases.
Some of it may be finding its way into this fall’s election campaigns. Veteran Republican fundraiser Mike Gula and Republican political operative John Thomas just started a company selling coronavirus testing kits, personal protective equipment and other “hard-to-find medical supplies to beat the outbreak.” Thomas told Politico the new company is probably “the largest global supply chain for COVID-19 medical supplies right now.”
Asked how the company had found such equipment, Gula said, “I have relationships with a lot of people.”
Thomas told The New York Times: “In politics — especially if you’re at a high enough level — you are one phone call away from anybody in the world.”
Meanwhile, Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner, who’s one phone call away from anyone, is running a shadow coronavirus task force that’s been enlisting the private sector and overseeing the Strategic National Stockpile of medical supplies, all out of public view. “It’s supposed to be our stockpile — it’s not supposed to be states’ stockpiles that they then use.” Kushner said cryptically last week.
Oh, and let’s not forget the giant coronavirus bill Trump signed into law on March 27. It created a $500 billion fund that Trump and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, will distribute to the private sector. Most of it will backstop up to $4.5 trillion of subsidized loans (i.e., bailout money) coming from the Federal Reserve, also distributed by the Treasury.
In a signing statement, Trump said he wouldn’t agree to provisions in the bill for congressional oversight — meaning the wheeling and dealing will be in secret. When House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she’d form a special select committee to watch how the money is spent, Trump accused her of conducting “partisan investigations in the middle of a pandemic,” adding “Here we go again. It’s witch hunt after witch hunt after witch hunt.”
Is there any doubt Trump will try to use this money, as well as his son-in-law’s secretive dealings, to improve his odds of re-election?
Trump was impeached a mere three and a half months ago on charges of abuse of power and obstructing a congressional investigation. Eight months ago, he phoned Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy, seeking dirt on Joe Biden and threatening to hold up military aid to get it.
In June 2016, Kushner and Trump’s son Donald Jr. met with Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya after an intermediary contacted Trump Jr. with a promise to provide material that would “incriminate” Hillary Clinton and be “very useful to your father,” adding that it was part of the Russian government’s “support” for Trump.
Donald Trump calls allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 election a “hoax.” He called his impeachment a “hoax.” He initially called the coronavirus a “hoax.”
But the real hoax is Trump’s commitment to America. In reality he will do anything — anything — to hold on to power. In his mind, the coronavirus crisis is just another opportunity.
Rick Smith
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Rick Smith
Washington Post
Friday, April 10, 2020 at 3:51 p.m. EDT
EDITORIAL
The coronavirus doesn’t discriminate along racial lines. But America does.
THE NOVEL coronavirus, as far as we know, does not discriminate along racial lines. But America does — and the data so far show that black people are dying at a disproportionate rate. The first thing to do about it? Get more of that data, and fast.
The numbers trickling in from cities, counties and states in recent weeks are alarming: Chicago’s population is about 30 percent black, but so are nearly 70 percent of those in the city killed by the virus. Milwaukee County looks worse: Black people make up 26 percent of the population, and a whopping 73 percent of covid-related deaths. In Michigan, it’s 14 and 41; in Louisiana, it’s 32 and 70. Maryland has a 30 percent black population and reported Thursday that black residents account for 40 percent of the state’s deaths.
We don’t know the federal statistics yet, because there aren’t any. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention typically tracks the location, age and race of those affected by disease outbreaks — but this time it has left out the last of the three. Several members of Congress have sent a letter exhorting Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar to change that. He should. Those numbers are essential to understand what’s happening in some of this country’s most vulnerable communities.
There’s the possibility of a race gap in testing and treatment: Medicine is far from immune to implicit biases, and doctors worry the subjective criteria for coronavirus care amid shortages will lead to similar dismissals, to deadly effect. There’s also the possibility that preexisting inequities are making this crisis’s impact unequal. Black people already suffer lopsidedly from obesity, diabetes, asthma and hypertension, all likely associated with worse outcomes from a lung-attacking coronavirus. This reality isn’t an accident but, rather, a result of economic and environmental conditions imposed on minorities over the nation’s long history of discrimination.
Those same conditions — substandard housing, lack of access to medical care, lack of proximity to grocery stores — also may make infection more likely today. It is difficult to remain six feet away from others crammed into a single minimarket for essential goods. Food stamp recipients aren’t allowed to pay for groceries online and have them delivered. Black Americans tend to occupy jobs, from bus-driving to caregiving, that put them at higher risk than those laboring at their laptops. Undocumented immigrants are likely in danger, too, as living in the shadows discourages them from obtaining testing and treatment.
Until we know what is happening, to whom it is happening and where it is happening, we can’t begin to sort through these issues. We can’t know where to amp up testing, where to dispatch additional food aid, where to send emergency health support. Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, acknowledged this week the toll covid-19 is taking on minorities and noted that “there’s nothing we can do about it right now except to give them the best possible care.” Giving people the best care is fundamental. But if we start collecting the numbers, they likely will point to more that can be done.