Trump Administration’s ‘Weaponization’ of Covid-19

Abstract

This commentary explores how the Trump administration transformed the COVID-19 pandemic into a political tool, using it to advance divisive agendas and bolster partisan support. The article highlights President Trump’s initial dismissal of the virus as a minor issue, the administration’s mishandling of preparedness, and the reliance on disinformation. By politicizing mask-wearing and reopening strategies, Trump shifted public discourse, prioritizing economic interests over public health. This dangerous rhetoric led to a sharp rise in infections and deaths, disproportionately affecting Black and brown communities. The analysis calls for voters to consider the administration’s failings as a vital factor in future elections, urging the public to understand the life-or-death stakes involved.

By now we all have had to quickly adjust to the challenges resulting from Covid-19, a viral pandemic that has brought about health and economic crises of grave proportions, particularly impacting our elderly and black and brown lives. While doing so, unfortunately, President Trump has managed to turn this viral threat into a weapon of opportunity to push forth broader political agendas while dividing the nation along partisan lines.

Take for example the president’s race-baiting rhetoric from the outset in January, referring to the virus as the “China Virus,” leading some of his supporters to viciously seek out and target people who appeared of Asian descent. Instead of focusing on preparedness, such senseless rhetoric simply reflects his ability to spur divisiveness by attributing the virus’ spread to a particular ethnic population. Remember, this is the same president who declared in early February that, because only 15 reported cases of infections had been reported at that time, this virus was akin to just another flu-like virus. By late February he continued to minimize the impact of this virus, predicting that by April the number of cases would be “close to zero” and would “miraculously” go away, in time for Easter weekend and church services to resume. Lest we forget, the president must appease the religious base to bolster his bid for a second term presidency.

Unfortunately, as the number of cases continued to climb, the obvious blowback from his delayed response began to emerge: the country was not prepared to deal with the exponential rise in Covid-19 cases and deaths, although the Obama administration actually provided the Trump administration with a pandemic game plan for addressing pandemics (entitled: Playbook for Early Response to High Consequence Emerging Infectious Disease Threats and Biological Incidents). Instead of making use of this document, the president reverted to his usual playbook of falsehoods, blaming the Obama administration and claiming: “…the shelves were empty…,” leaving him with a “…stockpile with a cupboard that was bare.” To say the least, the president began weaponizing this pandemic from the outset by playing the blame game, first blaming China (a country’s efforts which he initially applauded) and the World Health Organization; and to further gin up his base, the “liberal media,” “the radical left,” and of course, Obama. Additionally, under the pretense of Covid-19 the president also weaponized the pandemic to push forward his anti-immigrant agenda.

Meanwhile, the rate of US infections and deaths continued to climb. Despite little coherent communication from Washington, by mid-March state and local leaders, willing to risk the backlash from the president, took matters into their own hands by issuing “shelter-in-place” orders. Needless to say, the president’s resistance to issue a national directive to this effect and his subsequent rush to “reopen America” was driven by one motive—garnering a second term in office with the belief that economic policy should supersede health policy. Continuing with his “strong man” antics, President Trump continues to focus on appealing to his base by refusing to lead by example, choosing to go unmasked and only recommending, not mandating, mask wearing and social distancing for the rest of America, despite public health experts’ insistence that doing so serves to mitigate viral spread. He claims wearing a mask “…would send the wrong message” of weakness and make him look ridiculous. Unfortunately though, because of our president’s failed leadership coupled with petulant antics, the rapid rise in infections and deaths (and subsequent severity of the economic fallout) that could have been mitigated actually occurred; by May 29, the number of reported infections skyrocketed from 15 in mid-February to over 1.7 million, and 101,635 reported deaths.

From shutdowns to re-openings, back to shut downs

Indeed, sheltering in place, exercising safe practices, i.e. wearing masks and social distancing for two months proved to be an effective approach for slowing the spread of the virus. However, by early May, with the American population experiencing cabin fever and the effects of an impending economic recession, the president capitalized on this mood by pushing, and at times, bullying states to reopen. And while reopening the economy and returning to ‘normal’ was the consensus across the country, doing so with a nationally deployed plan should have also been paramount. Yet, with the Memorial Day weekend approaching, a population weary from sheltering in, and the president’s constant rally cry to “liberate the people,” many governors not willing to risk the president’s ire, began moving towards reopening, even states (i.e. Arizona, California, Florida, and Texas) that had yet to meet the official White House’s flexible and vague criteria, which called for a two-week downward trajectory of cases.

Unfortunately, such reopenings mirrored strategies of “kicking the can down the road,” with Washington leaving it up to the governors, who in turn and in many instances left it up to the local officials to set the requirements. Subsequently, and not surprisingly, such ad hoc re-openings—and mixed-messaged public health directives with little enforcement teeth needed to ensure compliance—led to increasing spikes in infections (at a faster rate than the rate of testing). Coupled with the re-openings were the widespread protests against systemic racism and police brutality that resulted after the May 26 video release of George Floyd’s slow death at the hands of police in Minneapolis.

By then, and considering his bleak poll numbers, the president’s tunnel vision seemed to get the best of him as he was solely determined to resurrect the economy, apparently by any means necessary. This was evident as he insisted on returning to the campaign trail, starting with his June 20 rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma and a week later in Phoenix, Arizona. What did these two rallies have in common? No social distancing and essentially non-masked attendees, all implicitly encouraged by the president. Furthermore, it was reported that, hours before the Tulsa rally even began, six of his staff members who arrived earlier to set up for the event tested positive for the virus. Still, the president went forward with these rallies as planned. As the country neared the July 4 holiday weekend, by June 30 it became apparent that the initial reopening for Memorial Day weekend was too soon as spikes in new cases of infections surged; by June 30 nearly 2.6 million cases were recorded, a 53% increase over the 1.7 million recorded on May 29. And while the death rate appeared to be slowing, during this same period reported death rates grew by 25 percent, going from 101,635 to over 127,000. As such, with the July 4 weekend approaching, at least 15 states began pausing or reversing their re-openings with 40 states experiencing surges in cases. On the positive side, however, on July 1st the president finally announced that he may even consider wearing a mask, although as of this writing, that has yet to occur.

In short, this pandemic has been utilized by President Trump and his supporters (who are encouraged both implicitly and tacitly by the president) to divide the nation— i.e. the mask vs. non-mask wearers—along partisan lines. The numerous “anti-lock down” groups (cheered on by our president) that show up at state capitols and city halls, un-masked and toting their guns demanding governors and mayors to return to “normal” vividly highlights even more how our country’s leadership weaponizes this pandemic to divide the nation along political ideological lines. Unfortunately, such partisan battles only serve to pit ideological loyalties against sound public health advice.

Indeed, reviving the economy and getting America back to work is crucial for the nation to thrive, but as health experts continue to insist, doing so without carefully balancing public health policy tends to lead to greater spikes in infections and deaths. Therefore, in the final analysis of what has transpired, I implore America to remember that as we approach the November election, let this pandemic —and how it has exposed the failed leadership of our president—serve as a reminder to vote as if your life depends on it…because it does.