Trump Undermines CDC Director & Public Health Professionals to Support His October Vaccine Fantasy
Donald Trump wants the public to believe that the Covid-19 pandemic is waning and that life will soon return to normal with the approval of an effective vaccine before the November election. It's a fantasy concocted to help the President win reelection.
Trump continues to say that we are "rounding the corner" on the coronavirus, which infectious disease expect, Dr. Anthony Fauci has repeatedly dismissed as a pipe dream, warning that Americans will be living with the threat well into 2021. And Fauci has cautioned that downplaying the threat harms efforts to contain the virus. while we are waiting for a vaccine.
The President took his fight with the health experts in his administration to a new level yesterday, openly contradicting the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], Dr. Robert R. Redfield, regarding the importance of masks and the timing of an effective vaccine.
New York Times: "Mr. Trump lashed out just hours after Dr. Redfield told a Senate committee that a vaccine would not be widely available until the middle of next year and that masks were so vital in fighting the disease caused by the coronavirus, Covid-19, that they may even more important than a vaccine."
After Redfield's testimony, Trump said the director of the CDC had "incorrect information" and reiterated his contention that a vaccine was just weeks away, while also down-playing the importance of masks.
If the CDC director has "incorrect information," then where in the world is Trump getting his information from? The obvious problem is that the public is getting wildly conflicting information and advice. Polls have shown that few Americans actually trust what Trump says about the pandemic, but maybe a third still do and they are being led to believe that a vaccine will be available to them within weeks and that life is returning to normal.
That is a lie, a dangerous lie that will cost lives. And the terrible, cruel irony is that it will be the lives of those that trust the President the most.
By: Don Lam & Curated Content
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