Donald Trump has zero credentials to speak like he is a pediatric virology expert. He misinforms and misleads at every level

Maine Writer- As a registered nurse I know with complete certainty that Donald Trump has zero credentials when he speaks about anything regarding medical assessments. In other words, he cannot say who is at risk for becoming ill with the coronavirus.  Most especially, Trump is not a pediatric virology expert. Therefore, he has no authority to say whether or not children (or anyone else, for that matter) are at risk for becoming ill with the coronavirus.

"People are crying out for leadership," an echo opinion, from Sandy Gelrod and Crystal Carpenter, in Annapolis, Maryland.

Rather than lead, Donald Trump is missing the coronavirus leadership moment. Instead, Donald Trump misinforms and lacks leadership. An enlightened leader relies on experts and complements their support. Instead, Donald Trump assumes he knows information that he obviously does not, and cannot know and he ignores experts at every level.

This opinion letter was published in the Annapolis Maryland newspaper, Capital Gazette:  

Absent leadership

We are among the fortunate few who, despite the coronavirus pandemic, have not been threatened with the loss of a job or a home.

I am self-employed and we can afford our mortgage payments. 

Moreover, we’ve been lucky enough to achieve some sense of financial security. And, as we write this, our family is healthy. But there are so many of our fellow citizens who are not so lucky.

Others, less fortunate, have seen their economic situation change drastically in the past few pandemic months, through no fault of their own. More than 40 million Americans have filed for unemployment insurance benefits due to the economic crisis spurred by the spread of the coronavirus. Unless Congress extends this badly needed benefit to the unemployed, those benefits will expire by the end of July.

More than 20 million Americans, one in five of the 110 million who live in renter households, are at risk of eviction by Se[t/ 30, when the moratorium on evictions is due to expire. These people, our neighbors, can’t afford to buy food for their families and are facing homelessness. The lives they have worked to build are in grave danger.

This is a huge piece of the crisis America faces as we struggle to contain this deadly disease. Something needs to be done about this right now. People are crying out for leadership. Who can we turn to?

Here’s a thought. How about the president of the United States? And yet, not a single word from Donald Trump about it. Instead, he brags about being able to memorize and repeat five simple words. Instead, he sends federal troops into American cities to “dominate” peaceful protesters.

Instead, (stupid!) Donald Trump plots to repeal affordable premiums offered under Obamacare and take health insurance benefits from millions of us. Instead, he tweets baseless conspiracy theories. Instead, he talks about a “rigged” election. Instead, he demeans the Black Lives Matter movement. Instead, he defends the Confederacy. Instead, he makes up fabricated theories about who is at risk for being infected with the coronavirus! Instead, he touts hydroxycloroquine to treat the symptoms of coronavirus when there is zero evidence for the drugs' appropriate use for this purpose.

From Sandy Gelrod and Crystal Carpenter in Annapolis, Maryland