A Complete Analysis Of Trump’s 167th Unpresidented Week As POTUS

The president who cried "hoax" failed to take the deadliest threat to America in our lifetimes seriously, and we're all suffering the consequences.

by: Ahmed Baba on April 6, 2020

President Donald J. Trump listens to a reporter’s question during the coronavirus update briefing Saturday, April 4, 2020, in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House. (Official White House Photo by Tia Dufour)

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Trump’s first major typo after winning the election was spelling Unprecedented incorrectly. He infamously tweeted “Unpresidented.” This typo is emblematic of his administration: An impulsive, frantically thrown together group of characters with virtually no oversight. After Trump was sworn in, I started writing the weekly “Unpresidented” column, analyzing every week of his presidency. This is week 167.

Donald Trump spent his entire presidency fear-mongering and exaggerating threats at the southern border, but when the greatest threat to American lives in our lifetime hit our shores, he called fears about it a Democratic “hoax,” ignored warnings, and failed to take adequate action. Now, we’re all suffering the consequences.

South Korea learned of their first case of COVID-19 the same day the US did on January 20. Unlike the Trump Administration, the South Koreans mobilized with mass testing and contact tracing to isolate known cases. They now have just over 10,000 cases and over 180 deaths. The United States now has over 300,000 cases and over 10,000 deaths.

This week, the White House delivered terrifying death projections indicating as many as 100,000-240,000 Americans could die due to the COVID-19 pandemic. President Trump tried to spin this and say that the number is low and due to their “great” response. That’s a lie. This was not inevitable. This is because of their incompetence and negligence.

As the humanitarian and economic effects of COVID-19 increase, President Trump’s botched response becomes clearer. New reporting this week further highlighted just how terrible the early response from the Trump Administration was. While China’s unwillingness to hand over a sample of the virus in the early days of the outbreak and their overall secrecy certainly played a role, the Trump Administration had some major failures of their own. The Washington Post‘s reporting revealed the early warnings and budget requests from HHS Secretary Alex Azar in January and February that President Trump ignored. That reporting, along with countless others, further showcases how the CDC’s creation of their own failed testing kits set us back in crucial weeks.

While we failed to widely test in January and February, President Trump was downplaying the threat in order to assuage stock market fears. On January 22, Trump said we have it totally under control. On February 2, Trump said we shut it down from China. On February 26, Trump said 15 cases would go down to zero in a couple of days. On February 28, Trump called fears about COVID-19 a Democratic “hoax.” As recently as last week, Trump said he hopes we’ll be able to crowd churches on Easter.

While this was ongoing, we failed to stockpile critical medical equipment, which President Trump spent this week blaming the states for. Trump attacked the states for not stocking up on PPE before this pandemic while the federal government was entirely unprepared themselves and they were aware of all the intelligence regarding the incoming
threat months ago.

Jared Kushner went as far as to say this: “The notion of the federal stockpile was it’s supposed to be our stockpile. It’s not supposed to be states stockpiles that they then use.” HHS then changed the language on their website to reflect Kushner’s statement.

This wasn’t the only effort to take the heat off the Trump Administration’s failed response. This week was full of deflections. President Trump repeated his claim that he inherited a broken system and that’s why testing was slow. He said he “inherited” broken tests, in spite of the fact COVID-19 was not infecting humans until late 2019, so it would’ve been impossible for President Obama to have had tests for it. For the last time, the CDC refused the testing protocols from the WHO and developed their own unreliable tests they had to fix. That’s why we’re here.

Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) attempted to blame impeachment for the Trump Administration’s failures. Did the 2020 impeachment trial ripple through time and space to force Trump to disband the NSC pandemics team in 2018? Did impeachment force the CDC to refuse WHO testing protocols? Did impeachment, which ended February 5, make Trump call coronavirus fears a hoax on February 28? No. No, it did not.

In Wednesday’s briefing, the opening statements had no health workers, but Secretary of Defense Mark Esper was there. President Trump used this briefing to talk about the border, cartels, and narcotic operations. Trump was clearly exploiting the ratings of the briefings in order to highlight his Administration’s various initiatives. This is why I began this week’s column referencing the caravan because even amid this pandemic, President Trump still finds time to fear monger about immigrants.

Pundits who chose to praise President Trump’s “new tone” were once again left disappointed, as briefing after briefing unraveled into egomanical ramblings. “Did you know I’m number one on Facebook?” Donald Trump said in one of the briefings after projecting potentially hundreds of thousands of deaths.

In his effort to deflect, President Trump went as far as to call it a false story that he disbanded the NSC team responsible for global pandemics in 2018. John Roberts from Fox News was the one who brought it up. Trump can’t rewrite history and manipulate objective reality with words.

There was another recurring theme this week: President Trump’s touting of the anti-malaria and lupus drug, hydroxychloroquine. While Dr. Anthony Fauci and other scientists have asserted the drug is unproven, this hasn’t stopped President Trump and his surrogates to push this drug based on anecdotal evidence of success.

We need to know if, and how many, people working in the White House have financial ties to the various companies developing medical equipment and drugs to combat COVID-19. If this is the case, it should be publicly disclosed.

With another hard week ahead, let’s dive into the Unpresidented week we left behind.

Jump to

Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday

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Social Distancing Guidelines Extended, State Lockdowns Increase

Day 1,166: Monday, March 30

President Donald J. Trump, joined by Vice President Mike Pence and members of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, listens to a reporter’s question at the coronavirus (COVID-19) update briefing Thursday, March 26, 2020. (Official White House Photo by Tia Dufour)

Monday’s top stories:

NBC News: Trump extends social distancing guidelines as governors warn of shortages
Newsweek: Arizona joins Virginia, Maryland and D.C. in enacting stay at home order amid escalation in COVID-19 cases
The New York Times: Restrictions Are Slowing Coronavirus Infections, New Data Suggest
The New York Times: The Lost Month: How a Failure to Test Blinded the U.S. to Covid-19
CNN: First US service member dies from coronavirus
CNBC: Lockdown could last up to 6 months, UK warns, as US and Europe also gear up for extended restrictions
CNN: Exclusive: Justice Department reviews stock trades by lawmakers after coronavirus briefings
AP: FBI reaches out to Sen. Burr over stock sales tied to virus
AP: New Trump mileage standards to gut Obama climate effort
ABC News: Inside Trump’s reelection effort amid the pandemic: Digital canvassing, virtual trainings and marathon press briefings
CNN: Trump falsely denies saying two things he said last week
The Washington Post: Trump blames hospitals for mask and ventilator shortages
Business Insider: Trump berated Yamiche Alcindor, telling her to ‘be nice’ and not ‘threatening’ at a coronavirus briefing, but she refused to take the bait
HuffPost: Liberty University Students Showing Signs Of COVID-19 After Returning To Campus
CNBC: Italy’s death toll surpasses 10,000 as prime minister warns of rising ‘nationalist instincts’
BuzzFeed News: Judges Struck Down Bans On Abortions During The Coronavirus Outbreak In Texas And Ohio
CNN: Hungarian parliament votes to let Orban rule by decree
Bloomberg: Israel PM Netanyahu to Enter Quarantine; Awaiting Test Results
Rantt Media: Who Is Dr. Anthony Fauci? (Record And Background)

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A Dire Death Projection

Day 1,167: Tuesday, March 31

President Donald J. Trump, joined by Vice President Mike Pence and members of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, delivers remarks at a coronavirus (COVID-19) press briefing Friday, March 20, 2020, in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House. (Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead)

Tuesday’s top stories:

Trump Refuses To Extend The Obamacare Enrollment Period

Day 1,168: Wednesday, April 1

President Donald J. Trump addresses the nation from the Oval Office of the White House Wednesday evening, March 11, 2020, on the country’s expanded response against the global Coronavirus outbreak. (Official White House Photo by Joyce N. Boghosian)

Wednesday’s top stories:

CNN: US coronavirus cases pass 200,000. More states are saying stay at home
CNN: Coronavirus live updates: Cases top 860,000 globally
Politico: Trump rejects Obamacare special enrollment period amid pandemic
The Washington Post: Social Security recipients who don’t usually file tax returns will automatically get $1,200 payments, Treasury says in reversal
CNN: Documents show backlog of 160,000 coronavirus tests at just one lab company
USA TODAY: Worried about paying rent on April 1? What states are doing, and not doing, to help
The Washington Post: Anthony Fauci’s security is stepped up as doctor and face of U.S. coronavirus response receives threats
The New York Times: C.D.C. Weighs Advising Everyone to Wear a Mask
CNN: Trump uses coronavirus briefing to unveil new military counternarcotics mission
CNN: Fact check: Trump again misleads on ventilator shortages and coronavirus timeline at off-topic briefing
CNBC: US, Italy and Spain have the most coronavirus cases. These charts show their infection curves
Los Angeles Times: ‘Coronavirus coup’? As outbreak grows, authoritarians around the world seize the moment
Sky News: Coronavirus: Anger is growing at China over COVID-19 and its apparent cover-up attempt
The Washington Post: Opinion | CNN, MSNBC refused to carry full Trump coronavirus briefing. Yay!
TheHill: Pentagon looking to provide up to 100,000 body bags for potential civilian use
The Washington Post: Protective gear in national stockpile is nearly depleted, DHS officials say
Vanity Fair: “The Campaign Panicked”: Inside Trump’s Decision to Back Off of His Easter Coronavirus Miracle
Axios: Scoop: Netanyahu shared fake video as proof of Iranian virus cover-up
Mediate: Devin Nunes Says Closed Schools Are ‘Overkill’ During Coronavirus
TheHill: Bill Gates calls for nationwide shutdown: ‘Shutdown anywhere means shutdown everywhere’
MarketWatch: Traffic at Walmart, Costco and Target falls for the first time in weeks as coronavirus stockpiling behavior shifts

The Monumental Million Milestone

Day 1,169: Thursday, April 2

Civil protection volunteers engaged in health checks at the “Milano Malpensa” airport. – Milan, Italy, 5 February 5, 2020 (Dipartimento Protezione Civile/Creative Commons)

Thursday’s top stories:

The Washington Post: Live updates: Coronavirus cases exceed 1 million and death toll passes 50,000 worldwide
NBC News: A record 6.6 million Americans filed for unemployment last week
USA TODAY: More than 1,000 in US die in a single day from coronavirus, doubling the worst daily death toll of the flu
CNN: Pelosi announces House committee on coronavirus crisis to exercise oversight of pandemic response
ProPublica: In Desperation, New York State Pays Up to 15 Times the Normal Prices for Medical Equipment
Politico: Navy fires aircraft carrier captain who raised alarm about virus outbreak
Bloomberg: China Concealed Extent of Virus Outbreak, U.S. Intelligence Says
CNN: Experts tell White House coronavirus can spread through talking or even just breathing
The Wall Street Journal: Questions About Accuracy of Coronavirus Tests Sow Worry
ABC News: How Trump has contradicted himself, in his own words, on the coronavirus crisis
HuffPost: Florida Governor Exempts Religious Services From Stay-At-Home Order
CNN: Fact check: Georgia governor says we only just learned people without symptoms could spread coronavirus. Experts have been saying that for months
The Daily Beast: Seventy Spring Breakers Ignored Warnings and Charted a Plane to Mexico—Now 41 Have Coronavirus
Vanity Fair: Anger Builds in Congress Over Richard Burr’s Coronavirus Stock Trade
Reuters: Why is New Orleans’ coronavirus death rate seven times New York’s? Obesity is a factor
The Daily Beast: Secret Service Signs Mysterious $45K Contract for Golf Carts Near Trump’s Virginia Club, Says Report
NBC News: Coronavirus cases in Iran top 50,000
Politico: Chinese county goes into coronavirus lockdown amid fear of second wave

Negligence

Day 1,170: Friday, April 3

President Trump and Vice President Pence, joined by members of the Coronavirus Task Force, meet with representatives from pharmaceutical companies Monday March 2, 2020, in the Cabinet Room of the White House. (Official White House Photo by Joyce N. Boghosian)

Friday’s top stories:

Looks For Jobs

Unpresidented // Coronavirus / Donald Trump

by: Ahmed Baba

Ahmed Baba is the Co-Founder and President of Rantt. Writer of Unpresidented, Ahmed documented and analyzed every day of the Trump presidency. He's also a columnist at The Independent and his work has been cited in The New York Times, The Washington Post, BBC, Rolling Stone, BuzzFeed, The New York Post, The Huffington Post, Yahoo News, Blavity, Newsweek, The Telegraph, and more. He can be reached at [email protected] or found on Twitter @AhmedBaba_.

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