May 15: On This Day In 2020

The Lancet, the highly respected British science journal, founded in 1823, concluded that 40% of the U.S. Covid deaths on Trump’s watch would have been averted had we matched the success of similar nations; in other words, if the Trump Administration had enacted better policies, and Trump had served as a better exemplar of proper behavior.

They found that Trump’s “inconsistent and incoherent national response” undermined the nation's pandemic management. Five months into the Covid crisis, OTDI 2020 they summarized his initial errors:

“The Trump administration further chipped away at the CDC's capacity to combat infectious diseases. CDC staff in China were cut back…leaving an intelligence vacuum when COVID-19 began to emerge. In a press conference on Feb 25, Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, warned US citizens to prepare for major disruptions to movement and everyday life. Messonnier subsequently no longer appeared at White House briefings on COVID-19. More recently, the Trump administration has...undermined the CDC's leadership and its work during the COVID-19 pandemic."

At the end of his term, btw, they identified a few other ways the Trump Administration had failed our citizens and harmed our health, including:

• Enacting discriminatory healthcare policies based on race and wealth

• Pushing deficit-inducing economic policies which lead to cuts in food subsidies and health care

• Encouraging racist and nativistic views which lead to violence and death

• Forcing migrants to endure unsafe conditions

• Taking away reproductive and other rights from women

• Weakening coverages of the Affordable Care Act

• "Trump's hostility to environmental regulations has already worsened pollution—resulting in more than 22 000 extra deaths in 2019 alone.”

• Imperiling efforts to fight AIDS, malaria, and other deadly diseases (in addition, of course to Covid)

It’s an incredibly comprehensive look at the enormous damage the Trump Administration inflicted upon the health of this nation. What can be done about all of this? How to fix it? We encourage you to read it in full. But we’ll also summarize their conclusion here: Defeat Donald Trump.

“Americans must put a president in the White House come January 2021, who will understand that public health should not be guided by partisan politics.” The Lancet’s advice still applies to this coming January 2025 too.

Dive Deeper

• In 2020, The Lancet’s summarized Trump’s disastrous Covid response to date

• The WaPo has the story on their critique of Trump's pandemic management

• In 2021, The Lancet assesses Trump's full term and its horrific impacts on American health

• ABC News covers their report

• The Hill has their angle too

Summary: Trump refuses to wear a mask even in a mask factory because...it

smudges his makeup