Even amidst a deadly global pandemic, President Donald Trump is refusing to let up on his angry political ranting. This week, he announced in one of those rants that he would be suspending U.S. financial support for the World Health Organization over their supposedly China-centric response to the Coronavirus pandemic. In reality, Donald Trump himself publicly touted the Chinese response in the early days of the pandemic, and this Wednesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) condemned Trump for trying to push off his own failures onto the WHO. She insisted that Trump’s suspension of their U.S. funding would be “swiftly challenged,” although it’s not immediately clear what form that challenge might take.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi:
"The truth is that in January Donald Trump was warned about this pandemic, ignored those warnings, took insufficient action and caused unnecessary death and disaster."— Amy Siskind 🏳️🌈 (@Amy_Siskind) April 15, 2020
She insisted:
‘This is another case … of the President’s ineffective response, that ‘a weak person, a poor leader, takes no responsibility. A weak person blames others.’ This decision is dangerous, illegal & will be swiftly challenged.’
Pelosi: Trump's halting of WHO funding is "senseless."
"This is another case … of the President's ineffective response, that 'a weak person, a poor leader, takes no responsibility. A weak person blames others.' This decision is dangerous, illegal & will be swiftly challenged."
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) April 15, 2020
In other words — Trump isn’t going to just get away with running the federal Coronavirus response on the basis of half-baked conspiracy theories. He alleged that the WHO’s behavior has included “severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of the coronavirus,” but that’s simply not true. He himself waited until mid-March to even implement federal social distancing guidelines meant to help stem the spread of the Coronavirus. Meanwhile, the WHO had been working on virus response for months, amidst his own claims that lasting concern about the virus was a “hoax.”
As Pelosi put it:
‘We can only be successful in defeating this global pandemic through a coordinated international response with respect for science and data. But sadly, as he has since Day One, the President is ignoring global health experts, disregarding science and undermining the heroes fighting on the frontline, at great risk to the lives and livelihoods of Americans and people around the world.’
Is that a threat? Because the things they "need" are paid for my me and my fellow taxpayers. We hold you personally responsible for the tens of thousands of American deaths.
You are making it easier for all Americans to see that you are personally responsible for the deaths.— Cheri Jacobus (@CheriJacobus) April 14, 2020
The WHO is hardly the only political opponent that he’s attacked while Americans suffer and die in the wake of his inaction. Trump has also repeatedly belittled a slew of governors across the U.S. This week, he even claimed that he had “total authority” over the question of when governors reopen their economies after Coronavirus-induced social distancing measures — which he definitely does not, under any remotely legitimate interpretation of any portion of American law.
This is key. There isn’t a political debate over whether China lied. China lied. U.S. intelligence knew that.
Trump decided to believe President Xi instead – because he gets rolled by dictators every single time. https://t.co/HpURRODnZo
— Jon Favreau (@jonfavs) April 15, 2020
He tweeted:
‘Cuomo’s been calling daily, even hourly, begging for everything, most of which should have been the state’s responsibility, such as new hospitals, beds, ventilators, etc. I got it all done for him, and everyone else, and now he seems to want Independence! That won’t happen!’
Cuomo’s been calling daily, even hourly, begging for everything, most of which should have been the state’s responsibility, such as new hospitals, beds, ventilators, etc. I got it all done for him, and everyone else, and now he seems to want Independence! That won’t happen!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 14, 2020
These are ludicrous assertions. None of the orders that have shut down the economy ever even came from the president in the first place. The federal government has simply issued guidelines that have been used like reference points for the implementation of social distancing measures. Trump already wanted to end those guidelines, and they’re currently set to expire at the end of April, with Trump chomping at the bit in the meantime to get the economy roaring again no matter the human toll.
President Trump says U.S. is pulling funding to WHO because the group praised China's "transparency."
Below is President Trump's tweet from January 24 praising China's transparency. https://t.co/zVew3c212c
— Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) April 14, 2020
