Coronavirus

‘It’s a great success story’

Written by SK Ashby

Over one million coronavirus infections have been formally identified in the United States -- which is almost certainly fewer than we actually have -- and at least 60,000 Americans have died as a result so far (also an undercount), but you wouldn't know it if you listened to Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Kushner appeared on Fox News this morning where he boasted that the Trump regime's response to the virus has not only be good, but better than good.

President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, who has been largely absent amid the coronavirus crisis in recent weeks, said on Wednesday that “this is a great success story” as the death toll nears 60,000, with more than one million COVID-19 cases recorded. “We’re on the other side of the medical aspect of this,” Kushner said in an interview with Fox News. “We’ve achieved all the different milestones that are needed. The federal government rose to the challenge, and this is a great success story.

This isn't categorically wrong just because the federal government has done a poor job; it's wrong because Trump's government has done virtually nothing.

They did not 'rise to the challenge.' They didn't even rise up off the couch.

Testing has been left up to states. Obtaining ventilators has been left up to states. Sourcing personal protective equipment has been left up to states. Deciding when and how to reopen businesses has been left up to states.

Trump literally golfed through the first half of March when the virus was spreading far and wide.

Trump held a press briefing to discuss his plans on Monday and the plan is that there is no plan.

Previous reporting tells us that Trump more or less placed Jared Kushner and his former frat bros in charge of their response so Kushner is hyping his own response more so than he is the federal government's. Kushner is very proud of the fact that he read a book about pandemics once and then decided he knew better than actual experts in the field with lifetimes of experience. Previous reporting also tells us that Kushner privately told Trump that the media was hyping the virus in March while Trump was still golfing.