Coronavirus outbreak illuminates the depth and incompetence of the Donald Trump administration

This echo opinion letter was published in the Massachusetts newspaper The Daily News, reporting in Amesbury and Newburyport.

"The distractions he’s created and ensuing turmoil could be considered a dereliction of duty, but it’s more..."

To the editor:  The coronavirus outbreak illuminates the depth and incompetence of the Trump administration and the importance of citizens looking beyond the charisma of a candidate and judge him or her for coherence of thought along with judgment of those who he/she chooses to make critical decisions regarding the health and welfare of our country.

We know the president loves to use chaos to distract from the incompetence which emerges each day, whether it be the disaster of his border policies, or his ongoing exposure to criminal activity ranging from his impeachment to the Mueller Report and his coverups of relationships with porn stars and associations with indicted/convicted felons.

The distractions he’s created and ensuing turmoil could be considered a dereliction of duty, but it’s more an assault on the American people and our allies. 

We know the administration refused the offer of sorely needed testing kits from the World Health Organization (WHO) back in January, and The New York Times recently reported that “for weeks thousands of flu samples sat in Seattle as researchers sought to test and flag them for the coronavirus. The CDC wouldn’t allow it.” Considering the coronavirus hotspot Seattle has become, well, we all know what is said about hindsight.

But when it comes to the safety and protection of our nation, hindsight shouldn’t be the norm. This administration has made excuse after excuse along with the constant finger pointing to anyone but those they see in the mirror. Our safety has been ceded to the chaos wrought in the very departments that are responsible for the dire situation we’re in as part of Trump’s anarchic leadership style. To wit:

Since 1942, 16 directors of the CDC have served the country. In Trump’s first three years, he’s had four directors or 25% of the total over 78 years of past administrations.

Under Trump’s first three years there have been five secretaries of Health and Human Services. That’s the same number under the previous 24 years of both Republican and Democratic administrations.

Last, the FDA, which falls under HHS and is responsible for approving the desperately needed coronavirus tests, has had five commissioners over Trump’s three years compared to eight for the previous 24 years of Clinton, Bush, and Obama.

Leadership matters at all levels and Trump’s individual lack of it has produced chaos at the upper organizational levels of the three most critical federal government departments that state and local governments rely on most in these types of crises. It’s no wonder the most serious health threat to our country in generations is being addressed so incoherently. We can only hope the voices of reason and science that have grown louder the past few days continue.

Gary Tirone  Newburyport