The Twitter handle ("twitter handle"? so 2017) of
Republican senator Joni Ernst of Iowa reads "mother, soldier,
leader." She's a mother and former soldier- but she's no leader.
Unsurprisingly, Ernst employed the GOP's go-to response, defending President Trump by attacking the Democratic Party. She replied in part
Hours before the President announced major restrictions (except for American citizens, holder of green cards, and a few others) to travel from China, three major USA-based airlines announced on their own that they would suspend flights between this country and the world's largest totalitarian regime. The American government did not end passenger flights particularly late nor particularly early compared to other governments.
CNN's Dana Bash: You said in 2014 that Obama showed "failed leadership" with Ebola, when only 2 Americans died. Would you say Trump's showed failed leadership with coronavirus as 130,000 Americans have died?— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) July 5, 2020
Sen. Joni Ernst: "No, I think that the president is stepping forward" pic.twitter.com/WQqSC82OSt
As the video indicates, Bash asked the freshman senator
You criticized President Obama in 2014 for his handling of
the Ebola outbreak, saying he exhibited "failed leadership." Only two
people in the US died from Ebola. Right now there are almost 130,000 Americans
dead from the coronavirus. So if President Obama showed failed leadership, then
do you think President Trump is showing failed leadership now?
For a leader even of the Republican variety, there are only two possible answers: a) yes, him too; or b) no, and neither did
President Obama. Ernst gave neither, and when her response was a string of
words signifying only avoidance and timidity, Bash followed up with a question
ending in "is the President exhibiting failed leadership?"
Unsurprisingly, Ernst employed the GOP's go-to response, defending President Trump by attacking the Democratic Party. She replied in part
.... of course, the pushback we got from the Democrats after
the President did shut down travel from some of those hotspots, it was an
extremely difficult environment to operate and we know different today than we
did at the start spread of the virus and we should continually learn from those
efforts and make sure we are doing the right thing.
Hours before the President announced major restrictions (except for American citizens, holder of green cards, and a few others) to travel from China, three major USA-based airlines announced on their own that they would suspend flights between this country and the world's largest totalitarian regime. The American government did not end passenger flights particularly late nor particularly early compared to other governments.
And that pushback from "the Democrats?" There was a grand total of two, both US
Representatives (neither a presidential candidate) who criticized Trump's action.
Moreover, as The Intercept reported on April 20, the first indexed case of Covid-19 in at least 13
states and territories has been traced to Italy. Further
In the six weeks prior to the European travel bans, the U.S.
was exposed to a massive amount of travelers from a highly infected region.
During that time, there were almost no checks in international airports for
passengers coming from Europe, as American authorities focused their screening
efforts on China travelers. The China travel restrictions were mostly cosmetic
anyway — the Chinese government banned flights from the Hubei region on January
23 and was sharply reducing its cases through harsh lockdowns and quarantines.
The Trump administration appears to have considered — and
rejected — an early European travel ban in January. The Washington Post
reported that Matthew Pottinger, the deputy national security adviser, had
proposed a travel ban on affected European countries in late January, which was
supported by health officials but was rebuffed by Trump and Treasury Secretary
Steven Mnuchin. As Trump faces increased criticism for a period of calamitous
early inaction, he has sought to focus the blame on China, and on Saturday he
published a tweet trying to discredit a New York Times story on the role of
European travel in New York’s epidemic.
(Note: This does not exonerate Beijing, the regime most
responsible for SARS-CoV-2.)
As cases of Covid-19 surged in Tulsa, this is how President
Trump continually learned and made sure he was doing the right thing fewer than
three weeks ago:
Covid-19 has become a growth industry in Oklahoma. Cases had not been rising in South Dakota, a (lack of) trend the President's visit- with few masks donned and little social distancing, as in Tulsa-F on July 4 to Mount Rushmore aimed to reverse. This is the only sense in which there is any validity to Joni Ernst's remarks. Donald Trump is in fact "stepping forward," striving to send the numbers of those infected to dizzying new heights.
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