QOTD: "Failure Of Trumpian Mismanagement"

"As the rest of the world battles the coronavirus, President Trump is battling scientists. He is now taking aim at Anthony S. Fauci, who recently said: 'When you compare us to other countries, I don’t think you can say we’re doing great. I mean, we’re just not.'

Trump is angry because Fauci is describing reality. And the reality is this: Trump’s response to the pandemic, measured against the efforts of other developed countries, has been an unmitigated disaster. [snip]

On Sunday, Britain recorded 650 new cases of covid-19. Japan recorded 373. Germany had 138. And South Korea, a model in handling the outbreak, identified just 44. Add those four numbers up and you get 1,205 new confirmed cases. The populations of those countries put together is roughly identical to the population of the United States.

And yet, Sunday, the United States recorded 58,349 new cases — by far the highest number in the world. Compared with those peer countries with a similar combined population, the new caseload in the United States is roughly 50 times worse. [snip]

America is a rich country with low population density. While South Koreans are packed together with 529 people per square kilometer and Britain has 275, the United States has just 36. Arizona, which has one of the worst state outbreaks, has just 23 people per square kilometer. Those differences make physical distancing easier. Moreover, the dominance of car culture in the United States makes it easier to avoid crowded public transportation. And yet, due to an epic failure of Trumpian mismanagement, those advantages were squandered."  (our emphasis)  -- Brian Klaas, writing today in the Washington Post.

Klass gives a detailed comparison / contrast of the U.S. response to the pandemic with other developed nations, and the devastating contrast points to one conclusion: that mentally unstable con man Donald "COVID Donnie" Trump, in placing his political fortunes above the nation's health, has created an avoidable public health disaster.