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More than 195,000 Americans have lost their lives to the coronavirus, and it is now estimated that more than 50,000 of them could have been saved, if Donald Trump had chosen a different strategy than the one he admits to having chosen in the next book “Rage”, written by famous journalist Bob Woodward.
This is where Donald Trump admits how he deliberately downplayed the dangers of the coronavirus.
– I always wanted to tone it down. “I still like to tone it down, because I don’t want to panic,” Trump said in an interview with the March 19 report.
In public, the president chose to make a completely different presentation, as that the coronavirus was nothing worse than a common flu, that it would soon disappear and that the authorities had it under total control.
World-class praise
– I did not lie
During a press conference on Thursday, the president was questioned by journalists present. Here he re-emphasizes that he toned down the situation so as not to create panic.
Why did you lie to the American people? asks a journalist.
– It’s horrible to say. I did not lie. I wanted to keep calm. Bob Woodward is a man I respect. I thought it would be interesting to talk to him. I don’t know if the book is good or bad. If Woodward thought the statement was stupid, he should have said so. You are a shame, replies the president.
He points out that several months have passed since the interviews with Woodward, and ensures that the journalist’s silence about his statements shows that he did not react to them. In that case, you should notify the public immediately, believes the president.
– I didn’t want to jump up and down to say “dead, dead.” We couldn’t have done a better job with the virus. I’m proud, says Trump.
When asked why he said the virus was like the flu, the president points out that many people also die from the flu each year.
– Influenza is also a big problem in this country.
Anger against Trump is growing
– contemptuous
– How big is the scandal?
– It’s more than despicable. It is a neglect of duty of service. It’s a shame, said Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden during an event in Michigan.
Hilmar Mjelde, a senior researcher at the NORCE research center, believes that the scandal is not particularly great when we talk about the reaction of voters:
– The real scandal is the crisis management itself. Trump and the federal state have underperformed entirely, Mjelde tells Dagbladet.
– We were hoping that this type of revelation does not mean anything for Trump’s popularity, and it may well be true this time as well, but I think we perceive a different dynamic with everything that has to do with covid-19, says Anders Romarheim, researcher and an American acquaintance in the Department of Defense Studies (IFS), part of the Norwegian Defense College (FHS)
– Led people behind the light.
He tells Dagbladet that Trump in general has a loose relationship with the absolute truth.
– Treat the truth as relative, and in many fields it works well. But now people are dying by the hundreds of thousands, Romarheim tells Dagbladet.
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“It is not long before the United States surpasses 200,000 crown-related deaths, and in such a context it becomes more suspicious and less credible to blame the Democrats and China, which in practice is what it still does,” he says.
Trump still uses the term “China virus” about the coronavirus, and the book suggests that he knew it was more dangerous than he said, and that he calmed him down to avoid panic. Of course, there is something you can do if panic is the most dangerous thing to happen in a given situation. If you’re going to empty the premises of a full stadium and yell “fire,” people will die, but in Trump’s situation, deliberately guiding people behind the light is pretty dramatic.
– Will be remembered
Romarheim continues:
– And why should we believe in Trump now? How do we know that what you are telling Woodward is not an attempt at strategic communication? There is also the possibility that there is something manipulative about this. Even after understanding how big this crisis has become, it may be that Trump is trying to erase some of the impression that he didn’t care, he says.
Romarheim says he believes Trump is thinking tactically and strategically about his legacy.
– Everyone understands that the political leaders who rule during the covid-19 pandemic will be largely remembered for their response to the crisis. That applies to Erna Solberg and that applies to Donald Trump. Then, of course, you will try to shape your own narrative, says the researcher.
– Accept it
That Trump has neglected his responsibility has been clear for half a year, says lead investigator Mjelde.
– If Trump loses, it is for this reason: that the United States is the epicenter of the pandemic, something that the United States should not have been, says Mjelde.
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Trump himself claims that he underestimated the dangers of the crown so as not to create panic in the population. During a press conference at the White House on Wednesday, he stated:
– The fact is that I am a cheerleader from this country. I love our country and I didn’t want people to be afraid. She did not want to cause panic in the country or in the world.
– We wanted to show confidence. We wanted to show strength, he continued.
That Trump said this on television shows that Trump did not think he said anything controversial, says lead researcher Mjelde, who believes Trump voters will accept it as well.
– It’s called motivated interpretation. Those who vote for Trump do so for reasons other than the management of the pandemic, such as Trump’s economic policies, judicial appointments and public order attitude.
– After all, they believe that Trump is better than a president who will be Biden, so what the media calls a scandal is not necessarily perceived as such by voters. Many of them will accept Trump’s response, says Mjelde, who believes Trump is still well positioned for reelection.
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– treason
Among Trump’s political opponents, however, the tone is far from good.
– It’s a damn truth that President Trump lied and that people died. It just makes me mad. How many people would have been alive today if I had only told the truth to Americans? says Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, according to AP.
– I knew how dangerous it was. While the deadly disease swept through our country, it didn’t do its job on purpose. It was a life and death betrayal of the American people, says Joe Biden.
– All I can think of is my father and the nearly 200,000 people who have lost their lives to COVID-19 as a result of this president’s gross negligence and lies. Trump had the power to save lives, but he did everything he could not to, writes Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, who lost her father this summer to the coronavirus, in Twitter.
Such are the “love letters”
Little trust
In the late 1780s, the United States created the presidency for crises like the one they are going through now, says Mjelde.
– But states are neither designed nor equipped to deal with it. The crisis is the responsibility of the president, and Trump has failed to deliver the goods, says the lead investigator.
He continues:
– The United States is a country where it is difficult to deal with crises. Trust in the authorities is low and therefore the stoning of land was more demanding on the government there than in Norway.
– But a stronger and more competent president could do it. The United States need not be so badly affected medically or financially.
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