From: Steve Jasper
Columbus
Facts matter. Science matters. Leadership matters.
If we needed any verification that these statements are true, then COVID-19 has provided the evidence.
Leadership is not a skill that is automatically conveyed to a person who happens to hold a particular position or office. True leadership is measured by how an individual responds during a time of crisis.
No one could seriously contend that President Trump was responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic.
Given the interconnectedness of the modern world, there is no way that the virus was going to be prevented from reaching our shores.
However, the President can be judged for his response to the virus, and in that, he has been woefully lacking.
In a time of crisis, the American people expect a leader who is direct, who will “tell it like it is,” even if that is painful to hear, and who is willing to take decisive action and lay out a pathway for getting the country through the crisis.
President Trump did none of that.
Instead, he resorted to his how-does-this- reflect-on-me mentality and his history as a pathological liar.
On Jan. 22, it was, “We have it totally under control.” On Feb. 2, it was “We pretty much shut it down…It’s going to be fine.” On Feb. 25, “We’re very close to a vaccine.” On March 6, it was, “Anybody who needs a test gets a test,” and on March 8, “We have a perfectly coordinated and fine-tuned plan.”
All of these statements, every last one of them, were contradicted by medical experts from the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Precious weeks were lost.
Then on Feb. 17 came the ultimate lie: “I’ve felt this was a pandemic long before it was called a pandemic.”
I don’t know about you, but I actually yelled at the television when I heard that one.
So, if we suspend reality and assume that this statement is true, then we are left with only one question.
Why did you not respond sooner, Mr. President? Why did you not respond sooner?
