The U.S. death toll from the Coronavirus continues to climb — early this Saturday, the official U.S. toll passed the official toll in Italy and became the highest confirmed individual country fatality count in the world — but President Donald Trump remains laser-focused on… his trade deals, which frequently haven’t even proven all that earth-moving. This Saturday morning, the first public comments from the president featured a random quote from someone who called into a show on C-SPAN to prais one of the president’s trade deals, which Trump was… watching, apparently? Throughout the crisis, Trump has prioritized his concerns for economic growth above concerns about the literal life-and-death scenarios regularly unfolding across the country.
Trump tweeted:
‘“Trump did a deal with Japan. A lot of our product goes to Japan, and we are booming in North Dakota.” Jim on C Span, Washington Journal. Our Trade Deals will be having a big impact on our Country as they kick in!’
“Trump did a deal with Japan. A lot of our product goes to Japan, and we are booming in North Dakota.” Jim on C Span, Washington Journal. Our Trade Deals will be having a big impact on our Country as they kick in!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 11, 2020
Vague promises of barely in-force trade deals bringing good tidings for the U.S. at some undetermined point in the future aren’t going to solve the life-and-death problems plaguing the United States. According to an Axios count, more than 1,000 Americans have died each day from the Coronavirus since April 1, and the single-day death toll in the U.S. passed 2,000 on Friday — and this is what Trump’s tweeting about. More New Yorkers died this past week alone from the Coronavirus than died on 9/11, and this is what Trump’s tweeting about — his useless trade deals that, in many cases, solve the supply chain problems that he himself enacted with his administration’s tariffs regimen.
Previously, Trump has insisted that the horrors of the Coronavirus “must be quickly forgotten” once the thick of the crisis passes. Imagine if any other president in any other crisis throughout U.S. history had insisted that the crisis must be forgotten once it passed. A pledge never to forget has become a plea to forget because it might make Trump look bad and put a damper on economic booms.
Once we OPEN UP OUR GREAT COUNTRY, and it will be sooner rather than later, the horror of the Invisible Enemy, except for those that sadly lost a family member or friend, must be quickly forgotten. Our Economy will BOOM, perhaps like never before!!!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 8, 2020
Check out Twitter’s response below…
