Trump's quick-fix approach to COVID-19 could devastate America

Editor's note: Hannan Hussain is a security analyst at the London School of Economics - South Asia Centre, and an author. The article reflects the author's opinions, not necessarily the views of CGTN.

There is a reason why presidents shouldn'ttreat pandemics with sarcasm: the implications of doing so are oftendeadly.Days after U.S. President Donald Trump delivered hisshambolic COVID-19 press briefing on Capitol Hill, he put his nation in an even tighter spot than before.

For one, American scientists – always skeptical of the administration's COVID-19 response capabilities – are now refusing to be seen together in the same light as the government, let alone collaborate with it. Take the American Medical Association's example. It is highly unlikely that the research giant would flex a muscle for the federal government, afterTrumpnarrated his fictional tales of ultraviolet lights, disinfectants and COVID-19 treatmentwith embarrassing confidence.

"It is unfortunate that I have to comment on this, but people should under no circumstances ingest or inject bleach or disinfectant," said the chairman of the organizationin a recent press interview. "Rest assured when we eventually find a treatment for or vaccine against COVID-19, it will not be in the cleaning supplies aisle."

At a time when America needs federal weight behind its scientific community, Trump is fighting tooth and nail to dress their contributions against COVID-19 in malice. Note that until recently, this science-rhetoric discord featuredprominently within the president's own chambers, but was never quite an influence on researchers leading the country's top experimental treatment plans.

A case in point is the investigative arm of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), an institution actively engaged in the federal government's top anti-viral drug trials. Lead researcher Andre Kalilrevealed this weekthat the U.S. government was yet to receive even "preliminary findings" from randomized anti-viral COVID-19 drug trials.

This is a scathing indictment ofTrump's claimsthat his administration has already established"some great partnerships with leading technology companies" that allow the virus to be analyzed in real time.

Meanwhile, what merits significant concern is the inability of these qualified health experts to dominate national airtime as Trump dwells on his treatment euphoria 24/7.

President Donald Trump pauses as he speaks about the coronavirus in the James Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington D.C., April 2, 2020. /AP

Even a cursory look at the past two weeks would reveal that most experts who have worked with the Trump administration have been strong-armed into expulsion. Look no further than vaccine expert Rick Bright, who wasstripped of his directorship of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authorityfor resisting Trump's suggestion that dangerously random anti-malarial drug combinations deserve mainstreaming.

In fact, it is almost ironic considering how the president vowed torestore the "full measure of American strength and power and prosperity" based on science and science alone.The underlying truth is impossible to disguise: empirical evidence is still viewed with a vengeance within Trump's corridors, explaining why suddenly77 percent of all Americansdon't consider the White House a credible authority on COVID-19.

Meanwhile, United States' COVID-19 death count isfast approaching the 54,000 mark, and analytics from Johns Hopkins' Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) show that the country's infection curve hasn't fallen one-bit. In fact, daily COVID-19 infections hit a record 36,200 mark on Friday, making it America's highest ever tally since the outbreak first gained force in the nation.

Countless American citizens – panicked by Trump's boast and lies – are dialing up their states' emergency management lines, andinquiring whether to take any disinfectant to ward off the virus.Religious divisions are alsobeginning to dominate citizens' entitlement to critical care, as Trump chooses to offer no distinction whatsoever.

Even U.S. scientists, shunned by Trump, are joining the World Health Organization incalling for better antibody tests. A leadership that canforge transcripts,reduce empirical evidence to sunlight, and call the entire affair sarcastic is capable of inflicting any degree of damage to America's COVID-19 fight.

Most importantly, deep fractures appear to be penetratingTrump's own party ranks– which despite its share of well-documented controversies – present a sizable legislative clout to influence America's next steps on COVID-19. One of these steps includes anongoing battle over federal COVID-19 assistance to states and local governments, from which Trump stands conveniently distanced.

In one way,the president's criticsare right to claim that his veneer of popularity is starting to crack. But they keep forgetting the larger point: it is his administration that is going to command America's COVID-19 response during the summer.

Contrary to the claims ofactingHomeland SecurityUndersecretaryfor Science and Technology WilliamBryan,American allies do not have a"very good partnership"with the serving administration either.Some of its allies are busy rethinking their alignment with Trump's streak of fabricated medical prescriptions, given rebuttals fromBritish-based medical manufacturer Reckitt Benckiser, and theNew York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center, which enjoys enormous global outreach.

As George Packerwrites inThe Atlantic,"ordinary people with fevers and chills had to wait in long and possibly infectious lines, only to be turned away because they weren't actually suffocating." Leading presidential historiansalso warnthat Trump is behaving like the family member around the dinner table that "doesn't have a grasp of what reality is and is willing to speak with confidence despite it."

But in this case, it is different. This is no dinner-table affair. This is the president of the United States toying with the country' COVID-19 future.

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