Recent polls show that with the elections less than a month away, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has opened up a double-digit lead over US President Donald Trump. Although one of the factors was Trump’s terrible performance at the first presidential debate, the most pressing concern for Americans remains the atrocious US response to the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic. The US is the worst-affected country in the world both in terms of the cases of the infection and deaths. And all of that was before Trump himself came down with the virus. Since then, there have been allegations of a cover-up, with top White House officials contradicting his doctors about everything from Trump’s health to when he knew he was infected. Indeed, the latest reports suggest that the president and his close advisers may have been mingling with people even after their first positive tests. Over 20 positive tests have been linked to a ‘superspreader’ event at the White House last week, which is more than the daily running average for the entire country of Australia.
Trump’s sickness is also unlikely to generate any sympathy votes, as the US president continually refused to wear a mask, often discouraging the practice in his presence, and even criticised Biden for wearing one. This is not even the first instance of a Trump event turning deadly. Several infections were traced back to Trump rallies earlier this year, and one of his prominent supporters, former presidential candidate Herman Cain, died of Covid-19 a few weeks after being seen mask-less at a Trump rally. Also notable is a recent poll that said most Americans feel that Trump got sick because he had not taken the virus seriously, even though it has killed over 214,000 Americans. Meanwhile, over half of Americans also said they believe Trump has been lying about the virus and his administration’s response — hardly a vote of confidence for what is already considered one of the most dishonest and inept administrations in US history.
Indeed, the ineptitude of the government is best shown by the fact that the debates and a huge investigative story about Trump’s taxes early in the week both seem like ancient news.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 6th, 2020.
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