Thread by @JYSexton

Trump endangered so many lives because he approached this pandemic like a corporate boss.

He recognized the danger, but worried about his wealth and brand. He weighed widespread death against short-term profit and, like always, chose profit.

themuckrake.com/main/corporate…

Rather than construct a real and honest strategy, Trump made a calculated, corporate decision to deny the problem and rely on public relations strategy to cover up any damage. That mindset has infected our system and set the table for a pandemic like this to run wild.

As I talk about in the article, this failure has reflected the corporate way of failing in the face of crisis. They deny until they can’t and then hope PR can stop the bleeding. They say nothing except meaningless, corporate rhetoric. It’s the roadmap of this response.

The frightening thing is that Trump’s corporate, hypercapitalistic, anti-human ethos resides in power, and his authoritarian instincts could lead us from a corporate strategy to something much more dangerous. As his failure continues and grows more obvious, he will get worse.

I keep saying it because people need to hear it. Trump is an insecure authoritarian. He’ll sabotage the response and as it becomes more obvious he’ll scapegoat conspiracies and vulnerable populations. He’ll build a defense of rage. And he won’t hesitate to seize power.

This corporate mindset was always about short term profits while risking long term consequences. It’s never been about anything but extreme profit buttressed by PR. These corporations and the Republican Party suppressed healthcare and laid the groundwork for this pandemic.

I tracked the damage this short term profit/long term consequence mindset, where it came from, what it’s wrought, and how it led to Trump, this poisonous corporate environment, and our current crisis in my new book American Rule.

It’s...disturbing.

penguinrandomhouse.com/books/611439/a…