Saturday, Aug. 15, 2020 | 2 a.m.
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By most any measure, the recent interview of President Donald Trump conducted by Axios political correspondent Jonathan Swan revealed a man who is clearly overmatched by the responsibilities of his office.
Beyond the callous “it is what it is” statement regarding the appalling and growing number of COVID-19 deaths in our country, the interview revealed that Trump cannot intellectually process that the number of deaths per test is not the definitive measure of how well a country is doing to protect its citizens. Rather, it is number of deaths per capita, a figure that demonstrates how poorly the United States is performing.
When presented with this accepted scientific measure, the president whined, “No, you can’t do that.” He displayed a childlike graph with four large multicolored bars, and stated, “We’re lower than the world” and “We’re last, meaning we’re first.”
Adding to this fiasco, Trump initiated a frivolous and bullying lawsuit against Nevada’s mail-in voting policy (but not “red states” Florida and Arizona), he made a specious claim that the tragedy in Beirut was an attack and he continues pitiable attacks against scientists for their declaration of facts.
Furthermore, multiple states are now forming a testing consortium in partnership with private foundations and industry leaders because this administration’s response is failing to meet their needs. This is not “fake news.” Enough already.
As an independent voter, my mail-in ballot cannot get here fast enough.
