Thread by @AmoneyResists

I’m getting a lot of angry MAGA people shouting that “the mass graves are not Trump’s fault!”

YES. THEY ARE. The coronavirus is not Trump’s fault. But our government’s HORRENDOUS response to it is 1000% Trump’s fault.

Let’s run through what is INDISPUTABLY Trump’s fault:

1.) The utter unpreparedness of the United States for a pandemic

2.) Disbanding the pandemic response office in 2018

3.) The loss of stockpiled respirators because the federal government let maintenance contracts lapse in 2018

4.) The failure to store sufficient protective medical gear in the national arsenal

5.) That states are bidding against each other for equipment, paying many times the retail price for things like masks and ventilators

6.) Travelers abroad being summoned home and forced to stand for hours in densely packed crowded airports alongside infected people

7.) TEN WEEKS of insistence to the entire country that the coronavirus is a harmless flu that would miraculously go away on its own

8.) The refusal of red-state governors to act promptly

9.) The failure to close Florida and Gulf Coast beaches until late March

10.) Holding daily “briefings” where he lies about the virus, boasts about how “great” he’s handled it, and baselessly attacks journalists

11.) Being incapable of valuing American lives over the revenue of his own properties or his own chances of winning reelection

12.) Pushing untested non-FDA approved drugs as potential “cures” already resulting in at least one American’s DEATH who didn’t even have COVID-19

13.) Refusing tests when they were offered to us in FEBRUARY so he could have companies he has ties to manufacture tests that he could profit off of

14.) Being incapable of accepting responsibility; showing empathy; or offering ANY condolences to those who lost loved ones

15.) Repeatedly blaming others for his own failures. Saying “impeachment distracted him” when he spent all of January, February and early March golfing and holding rallies with thousands of people in attendance (each event its own PUBLIC HEALTH HAZARD).

16.) Continuing to call the virus “a Democratic hoax” until LATE FEBRUARY

17.) Showing no awareness of or regard for his responsibility as President to PROTECT AMERICAN LIVES

18.) Continuing to sell millions of tons of PPE to other countries until EARLY MARCH

19.) Being so empty and devoid of humanity that he literally feels nothing in response to over 16,000 DEAD AMERICANS whose deaths were PREVENTABLE if he had simply listened to experts and taken this crisis seriously in JANUARY

20.) Putting uniquely UNQUALIFIED people in charge of our federal response to this crisis like Mike Pence and Jared Kushner—who have NO RELEVANT KNOWLEDGE, EDUCATION, OR EXPERIENCE—and can’t even grasp that the federal stockpile of medical equipment is for THE UNITED STATES

21.) Branding COVID-19 the “Chinese virus” or “Wuhan virus” in a disgraceful attempt at racist scapegoating that not only does nothing to help us combat the crisis, it has made Asian-Americans the targets of increasing levels of discrimination, prejudice, and hate crimes.

22.) Lying about “taking early action in restricting travel to and from China,” which was never done and all experts agree would have made little to no difference at that point because the virus was already present and spreading in the U.S.

23.) Repeatedly lying about the availability and frequency of testing. Saying “everyone who needs a test gets a test” while we are still short MILLIONS OF TESTS, which Pence promised would be available almost a month ago and still haven’t been produced.

24.) Telling the American people we must “reopen the economy” because “the cure can’t be worse than the disease,” which not only puts economic success above American lives, it ignores the fact that the death toll of reopening everything prematurely would be WORSE for the economy.

25.) Ignoring EVERY SINGLE PAGE of the pandemic response playbook that the Obama administration left for Trump’s team, which stressed:
—Pandemics can start ANYWHERE/don't respect borders
—Science MUST GUIDE decisions
—Federal/State collaboration is KEY
—Consistent messaging VITAL

26.) The playbook also stressed the CRITICAL IMPORTANCE of enacting social distancing measures AS EARLY AS POSSIBLE. “When it comes to pandemics, days—and even hours—can be the difference between saving thousands of lives.” Trump did NOTHING for 75 DAYS

This list, like Trump’s impeachable offenses, is the kind of list that could go on and on forever because Trump’s failures will only keep getting worse as the death toll continues to rise. He is quite possibly the most ill-equipped person ON EARTH to handle a crisis like this.

I will keep adding to this thread as Trump continues to fail us with his bottomless sociopathic incompetence. But first I want to share some resources I used to put this together as well as some other great threads and people to follow for updates on our response to this crisis.

This article by Laurie Garrett does an incredible job outlining all the ways that Trump sabotaged our ability to respond to the coronavirus. It’s infuriating but mandatory reading.
foreignpolicy.com/2020/01/31/cor…

This is a great Op-Ed from the Editor-in-Chief of Science Magazine on how the anti-science attitudes of Trump and Pence and their unwillingness/inability to defer to experts are costing American lives:
science.sciencemag.org/content/early/…

This article by Beth Cameron is critical. She served as the senior director for global health and biodefense on Obama’s WH security council and ran the pandemic response office that Trump closed in 2018. washingtonpost.com/outlook/nsc-pa…

This is a fantastic article by @brianklaas on how the Coronavirus is Trump’s Chernobyl. It will undoubtedly go down as one of the most catastrophic mismanagements of a crisis in history.
washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…

This is a must-read thread by @chrislhayes on how Trump has bungled this crisis beyond imagination with his “sociopathic governance.”

https://twitter.com/chrislhayes/status/1236492106455224320?s=21

This is a great thread by @briantylercohen summarizing every terrible thing Trump has done to put American lives at risk in response to this pandemic:

https://twitter.com/briantylercohen/status/1237171987941740545?s=21

This thread by @SykesCharlie lists every bone-headed and head-snappingly WRONG statement that Trump has made about the coronavirus since January (in order).

https://twitter.com/sykescharlie/status/1238132406642761728?s=21

Epidemiologists agree that the coronavirus won’t peak until Mid-May (at the earliest) in the U.S. and will get exponentially worse before then. This will become increasingly important as Trump pushes to reopen the country prematurely (for the second time).

https://twitter.com/mikiebarb/status/1238296293686075392?s=21

Terrific thread by @SethAbramson on Trump’s catastrophic notion of “reopening all businesses in the next week or two” (a power that—thankfully—Trump DOES NOT EVEN HAVE).

https://twitter.com/sethabramson/status/1242481954261532672?s=21

Fantastic thread by @jeremycyoung summarizing everything in the Official report on COVID-19 that led to the (substantially delayed) implementation of social distancing and shelter in place orders in the U.S. & why these measures are so important right now

https://twitter.com/jeremycyoung/status/1239975682643357696?s=21

I’m ending this (for now) with my favorite article on this so far, written by Peter Wehner, on how Trump’s response to the coronavirus—as horrific and tragic as it is—has one indefatigable silver lining: It is the end of Trump’s Presidency.
theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/…

This graph shows the price we are paying for having someone as grossly unfit for office as Trump in the WH during this crisis. It is surreal. As you watch this, please record your emotions and remember to VOTE in November.
Until then, stay safe everyone.

27.) Trump is now saying he faces “the most difficult decision of his life” about “when to reopen the economy.” [High drama and ALL about him]. In reality, this decision is:
a.) Easy (keep things closed) and b.) Isn’t even up to him—but state governors.
nytimes.com/2020/04/10/us/…