Trump’s ‘Atavistic Scramble for Power’ Will Lead to More COVID-19 Deaths

“The fear is that Trump will be content with allowing the race to develop and distribute the vaccine to devolve into a global contest — and that poorer countries will be left behind in the rush to procure doses. In essence: that the president’s ‘America First’ view of world affairs as an atavistic scramble for power will lead to unnecessary suffering and death.”

Politico

Cuomo’s Favorability Sky-High

71%

A new Siena College poll in New York finds Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s favorability rating has soared to 71%, up 27 points in just a month to its highest level since early 2013. That’s driven entirely by his response to COVID-19, where a stunning 87% of the public approves of his handling of the situation. His support is so broad that even 70% of Republicans approve of his work on the virus.

Trump Has the Death Touch — Literally

“It was inevitable that Trump would face a crisis immune to tweets or stupid memes or insulting nicknames. The damage he does to everyone and everything around him has become an iron law of American politics, an invariable and inevitable process. Still, I didn’t think it extended to everyone in the country; that it would produce actual bodies stacked like cordwood in a preventable, slow-rolling pandemic. When I wrote ‘Everything Trump Touches Dies,’ I didn’t mean it literally. … Donald Trump seems intent on proving me wrong.”

Rick Wilson

Trump’s Personality Flaws on Full Display

“For a narcissist, the most immediate personal need is the most important one. So Trump viewed the burgeoning crisis as a threat to him, not the nation, and he took the steps he usually does in so many circumstances: He denied the threat, claimed he knew better than the experts, and relied on bluster and BS. He did all that instead of adopting early measures that could have slowed the transmission of the virus. … But beyond the narcissism, two other fundamental elements of Trump’s character are likely shaping his response: his obsession with revenge and his sense of fatalism. And both are exceedingly dangerous for the American public.”

David Corn

Most Say Trump Should Have Responded Sooner

53% to 34%

“By a 53% to 34% margin, more believe a quicker response from the federal government could have slowed the spread of coronavirus in the U.S. than say it is so contagious that nothing could have prevented it spreading the way it has. Some 30% of Republicans join 73% of Democrats in saying the government could have made a difference had it acted faster.” — Fox News poll