Trump Can Not Be Trusted To “Re-Open” The Economy.

On April 10, when asked by a reporter which metrics President Trump would use to make the decision to “re-open the economy,” he pointed to his head and said, “the metrics right here.” While many thought the answer was a very bad one, I disagree, because it is the true answer, and it is all we need to know.

Trump has spent the last couple of months “managing” the Coronavirus pandemic in a very public way, showing us exactly what is in his head. From the beginning, he has been very clear in words and actions that the primary “metrics” in his head are those impacting his re-election. In February when he should have been acting quickly and decisively and following health experts or the NSC pandemic “playbook” created during the Obama/Biden administration, his head was elsewhere.

Trump held multiple campaign rallies after January 10, when his former Homeland Security chief Tom Bossert publicly said we, “we face a global health threat… Coordinate!” During those rallies, Trump consistently downplayed the threat and claimed the media’s coverage of the threat was a “hoax” intended to harm his re-election.

It has gone on that way ever since, with Trump blaming China, impeachment, and even said on March 11 that the pandemic was, “something nobody expected.” Finally, when unable to deny the expanding number of deaths, he began talking up the worst-case scenario number of deaths he had called a hoax just weeks before, and claimed if fewer than 200,000 die it will mean he and his team did “a great job.”

Every step taken has been made with his own re-election foremost in mind. At every stage, he has put Trump first. It is undeniable that we have witnessed an American POTUS make decisions that prove he is willing to sacrifice American lives to save his re-election. As we get closer to the election and the economy gets worse, we have no reason to trust that he will do anything else when making decisions about people returning to work.

Democrats, and Biden in particular, must be relentless in pointing out his #TrumpFirst actions. Every statement made against public health officials, every rush back to do a campaign rally, every push to open sooner or without following guidelines, MUST be met with a solid, ongoing, party-wide condemnation and message that Trump is threatening lives for his own benefit.

This is no time to be cautious, to wonder if the virus really will be seasonal and then they will look like the scared people Trump claims Democrats are. Trump will be relentless in undermining health officials every step if he thinks it is to his benefit. Democrats must hold him accountable.

If he opens too soon and/or in the wrong ways, this will get worse again. Democrats have to do all they can to discourage him, to raise the risk of him being wrong. Biden must lead this, but all in the Democratic Party must follow his lead and make the case every day.

There is a small chance it changes anything, but lives are on the line. People have died because of Trump and they will die in the future. Democrats are his only counterbalance, because even with their constituents lives in the balance, there is nobody in the GOP who will stand up to Trump. Nobody.