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**Editor's note: **Dr. John Gong is a professor at the University of International Business and Economicsand a research fellow at the Academy of China Open Economy Studies at UIBE. Dr. Xiaopeng Yin is a professor at theUniversity of International Business and Economics and the executive associatedean of UIBE's Global Value Chain Institute.Thearticlereflects theauthor's views,andnot necessarily those of CGTN.
There is an inherently fundamentalreason to the fiasco playing out in America concerning the government's handling of COVID-19-with over a million infections and over a hundred thousand deaths so far -that has everything to do withthe White House's poor leadership, a leadership that putspolitics abovepublic health and partisan interests abovepeople's safety.
President Trump's "assurance" that thiscorona "flu" will simply disappear like a miracle was a naked attempt to prop up the stock market so that he can boast about the economy in the coming presidential election.
His fabrication of a Wuhan laboratoryvirus leakage conspiracy theory and the "Chinese virus – China plague"hate speech was a despicable plot trying to pass the buck to a foreign country so that he can dodge responsibility in front of American voters in November.
His chanting of "LIBERATE MINESOTA," "LIBERATE MICHIGAN,"and "LIBERATE VIRGINIA"to those gun-carrying demonstrating provocateurs in his political base at a time when COVID-19's rampage across America still shows no sign of abating is yet another example of his putting politics ahead of people's safety.
And yesterday, President Trump was at it again.
Two years ago, the Republican National Committee(RNC) and the city of Charlotte in North Carolina signeda contract that Charlotte wouldhosttheRNCconventionat Spectrum Center from August24-27, where the official nomination of the 2020 Republican presidential candidate wouldtake place. Following the great American tradition, this would typicallybea moment of celebration andparty unification, where in this case Trump would officially acceptthe GOP presidentialnomination. After a series of speeches by close supporters, theconvention is supposed to culminate with a dynamite speech by Trump himself with a huge electrifying crowd cheering.
But this time around,North Carolina's Democrat Governor Roy Cooper wasnot goingto allow an exuberant crowd of thousands of people packed in a basketball stadium, understandably due to the coronavirus situation. His proposal was for a much smaller audience in thestadium in compliance with mask-wearing and other social distancing measures.
Protesters attended a Black Lives Matter march in Vienna, Austria, 4 June, 2020. /AFP
"Itis unfortunate they(RNC)never agreed to scale down and make changes to keep people safe. Protecting public health and safety during this pandemic is a priority,"Cooper said in a statement.
Trump went ballistic about Cooper's intransigence. So the latest solution from the RNC is to have two sessions. While the convention business, rules and platform voting will still be held in Charlotte, Trump's acceptance speech will now be held on August27 at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida. We aresure that the RNC will seemore people than the stadium's full capacity of 15,000 people can hold.
Like many New Yorkers, Trump follows thetradition of high-profile financiers in the city who have ditched the Big Applefor Florida as the newly adopted home state for its warmer climates andlower taxes.
Incidentally, this year marks the 60thanniversary of "Ax Handle Saturday"in Jacksonville where more than 200 white men, many of them Ku Klux Klan members, wieldedbaseball bats and ax handlesto chase and beat civil rights protesterson August27,1960.
Sixty years later on the exact same date, Trump will deliver his 2020 GOP presidentialacceptance speech, against thebackdrop of a wave of protests against police brutality and racial discrimination in the wake of George Floyd's death. Maybe ReverendAl Sharpton will show up, demonstrating with a big crowd on that day.
Trump's wanton neglect of public health and safety to embrace a speech opportunity resonateswith his previous action of teargassing peaceful White House demonstrators for a photo opportunity at St. Joseph's Episcopal Church in early June. It is time for American people to deliver a verdict on him.
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