I watched the Trump news conference. It was embarrassing to watch the blather , blather , blather coming from Trump who made no sense & put a cherry on top by assigning Pence (an evangelical that denies climate change) to be in charge of the US effort to control the virus.
America , what have you done to yourself !
38
I said it the day this man descended that escalator. I said it every day of the campaign season and every day of this administration, so I will say it again.
Donald J. Trump poses an existential threat to this nation and the world.
We need to do something about that. Because this outbreak will be followed by another crisis and each time we lose so much ground --resources, credibility, allies and actual people --that we're soon going to be incapable of dealing with anything.
The least capable man in the room is the one in the White House. Our lives now depend on his competency. Let's learn from this and ensure that never again will the worst candidate be the country's choice. There are consequences to elections, irreversible ones, deadly ones.
Vote him and the GOP out in November. They've imperiled us.
76
Appointing Mike Pence shows just how little Trump cares. He is more concerned about the stock market tumbling than an epidemic.
57
Is this the same Mike Pence that couldn't read the 'Do Not Touch' sign at NASA?
51
@Mike Appointed by a President who looked up at a solar eclipse!
28
Pelosi and her army of liberal is "playing it up" attempting to gain some political ground due to the virus. Its done more than they have in 3 years to hurt the Republicans and Trump. Trump is telling it straight not playing it down.
3
"A case in California may be the first infection without a known link to travel abroad."
Apparently sanctuary cities and open borders have turned California into an epicenter of third world pandemic.
California has put the rest of our country at risk, like China has harmed the rest of the world.
1
@Bhaskar
There has only been one coronavirus case in Central America - in Brazil.
This has absolutely nothing to do with sanctuary cities, much as you wish it did.
39
Democrats are politicizing a global health emergency for partisan gain. They are fanning the flames of fear and saying Trump isn't doing enough, even though he shutdown travel corridors associated with the flu (and was called racist by the Dems for it). In a nation of 1.3 billion people (China), they have 78 thousand cases. Let's say it's understated by 10x, so it's really 780 thousand. So less than 0.1% of China is infected, and the mortality rate (which skews to older men, who are also susceptible to plain old flu) is between 2-3% in China. So we are talking about a 1-2 in 100,000 chance of dying. Running the same math on the U.S. population implies 3,300 fatalities. That works out to 5-10% of the people who die from regular flu every year in the U.S. So why do the media and Democrats seek to sow paranoia? For ratings and to undermine the economy for political gain. Meanwhile the Trump Administration has taken action to reduce the risk, inform the public and prepare for potential spread.
5
@TL Like your hero Trump, you speak with a confidence that is not based on facts. There is much still unknown about the novel virus and Trump's false reassurances will not protect the public. A fatality rate of 2-3% is very high, if that is what it turns out to be.
36
@TL
And it's Democrats who are proposing to cut the CDC's budget by 16 percent?
Riiiiight.
The virus is out of control. Until it's under control, your numbers mean nothing. Why don't you arrange a tour to China if you're so confident? Things will be cheap.
36
I agree with the comparison of death rates (so far) of this Corona virus vs other diseases.
However, what aggressive steps has the Trump administration taken other than propose cutting public health funding and leaving important public health leadership positions vacant?
21
It was a masterful press conference.
Thank you, President Trump.
2
I’m looking for a masterful press conference when he announces his resignation.
44
All that is needed is a degree of competence - test kits whose results can be relied on would be a good start - and complete transparency. Without honesty and transparency - things most countries are not very good at - people worry, speculate and spread information that may not be reliable and often engenders panic. Singapore has shown the way. It was one of the first countries outside China to experience a huge initial surge in cases and multiple cases of local transmission. But its technological savvy, competence and utter transparency whether the news is good or bad has been a model for other countries. Infections have been sharply reined in through very effective contact tracing and the development of a type of serological testing that allows traces of the virus to be picked up even after someone has recovered. Work on developing an effective vaccine has been well under way in Singapore for weeks. China too has made huge advances in this regard. Build on these things, don't try to reinvent the wheel.
Some of this rests on the media. Go to the Singapore Straits Times and you can find regularly updated summaries of every fact and statistic you could wish for. I can't think of another country where this is true. The South China Morning Times in Hong Kong has had extremely useful and informative articles on developments I have not seen covered anywhere in the U.S. media, even if the S.C.M. Post's overall coverage lacks the clarity and transparency of Singapore.
54
The problem for Trump is disdain for science. Leadership during a threat of extensive viral disease mandates having the strongest team of advisors and having proper resources everywhere. Leadership mandates planning (which has actually occurred quietly to some extent) and common sense communication. Worrying about the stock market is folly. Worry about supply chains, disruption of ability of workers to go to work where they must have contact with each other or the public, and disruption of supplies that inevitably come from overseas -- These are what leaders do.
If Trump were a leader, he would include a lesson to all on hand washing in news conference tonight. He wound demonstrate proper use of Purell. He would explain that anyone who has a fever with upper respiratory symptoms should stay away from others -- self quarantine. A person who is on self-quarantine should receive help from neighbors in order to obtain food and necessary supplies. People need to know the master plan for the US about what to do if they feel ill and do not seem to tolerate the infection -- Do they go to their doctor? Do they go to the ER? Can people go to work and do normal activities now? Yes, but be prepared in the near future for changes.
So far, we have a vacuum of leadership. The resources are there, with the CDC and WHO website full of information for people. Worrying about the value of stocks? No. Worrying about people? Absolutely.
25
Something like this seems to have been inevitable. Trump's appointees are mainly toadies and grifters. Foxes with eyes only on the main chance are guarding the henhouse. Crisis management to such people simply means avoiding prosecution. They don't have time in their day for problems much more complicated than the lavish redecoration of their offices.
26
I think we're in greater need of a Gun Violence Czar or a Hatred Against Those Who Are Different Czar.
I live in a city that has declared a state of emergency and life continues along in much the same fashion, with some precautions about international travel and some preparations for modified school schedules, if needed. The few individuals I see wearing masks in the general public are generally not wearing the right type of mask or wearing them in the right way to be effective. We need some prudent measures, but naming a Coronavirus Czar, who may not have appropriate scientific experience (based on this administration's prior actions), seems dubious.
18
I’m wondering how Trump will conduct his rallies? Will they be passing out medical face masks to the crowd of supporters? Will Trump wear a complete biohazard suit with respirator? Will he just FaceTime into the arenas? Holograms work too. That way he will be there or not. He could tell the people they should not worry because it’s all Fake News. It’s the Democrats fault. Build The Wall. Promises Made, Promises Kept. It’s just the common cold.
28
So why the sluggish reaction?
Well, look at where the president has focused his attention. He has been slamming "biased jurors," "crooked prosecutors" and a "biased federal judge." (Amy Berman Jackson.) Not content to stop with her, he has now blasted Supreme Court judges Ginsberg and Sotomayor. And, of course, who could forget his criticisms of Brad Pitt and the movie "Parasite?"
Indeed, while his scientists were struggling with the disease and its potential ramification on American citizens, he was off touring the Taj Mahal and proclaiming all will be well in April.
30
I think every Dem is praying for a serious impact by this virus, especially economic, to take the wind off Trump’s sails. They tried talking up a recession last summer to no avail. This is godsend for them. So, I will take the media’s hype with a grain of salt, once again.
5
"Trump reportedly furious about stock market plunging on coronavirus fears"
"President Donald Trump is reportedly furious that stocks have been plunging, believing that health officials' warnings have spooked investors, ..." "The president has reportedly cautioned aides against forecasting the impact of the virus over fears that stocks could fall further, The Washington Post said."
Donald Trump is the biggest spreader of lies and confusion in the world. Stupidest, most dangerous president ever!
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/trump-reportedly-furious-about-stock-market-plunging-on-coronavirus-fears/ar-BB10o1pg?ocid=spartandhp
26
I've been trying to fathom all the vitriol posted here about Mike Pence, and I finally figured it out. My fellow NYT readers think he is ill-suited to coordinate the US response to the coronavirus because he is a politician who obeys Mr. Trump's every word and who holds religious beliefs that are antithetical to the views of those who read this newspaper.
I am no fan of either Mr. Trump or Mr. Pence, but the appointment of the VP to manage the US response is appropriate in my view.
Pence is sufficiently senior to be able to command resources at will. He has management experience and has been on the job for three years. He does not have to be a scientist to appoint experts under him to handle various aspects of this alleged "crisis."
The absolute last thing ANY administration wants to do is to name an "expert" with NO political power and NO management experience to orchestrate a nationwide response, in this case to a health scare. If Mr. Obama had appointed Joe Biden to do something similar, that too would be highly appropriate.
19
If Pence fails, it will be his fault. If he succeeds, Trump will take the credit. It's another stroke of feral mobster genius from this President.
14
Great to have Pence in the lead. This self described " Evangelical Catholic" can lead the nation in praying this scourge away, hallelujah! LOL
11
Whats Pence going to do? Pray it away?
15
Don’t forget, Wilbert Ross of the donnie the dictator presidency has said that the corona virus will be good for the US economy and jobs.
Hmmm.
Hoping all republicans with stock portfolios remember this.
Hahahaha.
14
This tells you all yo need to know about how much Trump doesn't care one diddly about public health.
Not doubt part of his cabal's reasoning is that if you kill off a lot of poor people (who tend to shift to more liberal positions once they catch on to how the G.O.P. is screwing them) you secure your future as an autocrat.
11
Based on Trumps past practice, when we do get hit with the virus he will blame all the brown people for bringing this virus into the US.
12
Does this mean Mike Pence has to work with women or will he only be taking care of male patients?
20
"If you don't know who at the table is the mark, it's because it's YOU!"
Mike Pence is the designated patsy that Trump can blame when it all fails.
Pence's BEST move is to put his medieval religious bigotry in the closet and get REAL science and scientists, and bust his back to actually do what needs be done--he's got a lot of making up to do, both in his knowledge and to fix all the holes his boss created. Good Luck! But I expect he'll fail.
7
Trump seems to be psychologically unable to tell the truth. And all things are about him. If things go poorly with this virus, Trump will have Pence to blame. After that ridiculous press conference I started to wonder about his latest approval rating. Does anyone feel safer with Pence or Trump in office?
8
Trump, backed up against his goal line, looks like a fool, getting clobbered on first down so on second down he sprints to the locker room, handing off to the water boy on the way out.
Pence has zero history of health care experience on his record other than ignorance.
Congress stepping up to the challenge is our only hope along with the media calling for experts to take the field.
10
Mike Pence? That’s reassuring.
Pence a hypocrite evangelical christian who basically doesn’t believe in science and seems to have no respect for American healthcare or the medical profession.
Guess we’ll all just have to pray.
Pray that there are still some qualified professionals still left in the federal government that the incompetent conman trump hasn’t fired or driven out.
13
Pence in charge of the threat of this virus? Might as well hang it up ....we're dead in the water.
10
Trump must feel the virus isn't a significant threat. He appointed Pence rather then miracle boy Kushner.
13
There is something disturbing about having our lives depend on someone who believes in The Rapture.
13
Mike Pence is on the record as not believing in Evolution. How is a guy like that supposed to understand things like emerging spreading viruses with stronger potencies?
11
What the heck does Pence know about containing an epidemic? Trump needs to put someone in charge who has some experience and knowledge of epidemiology, not a political hack.
11
Trump and Pence continue to lend their names to help define kakistocracy.
10
I watched this press conference yesterday.
I've had many different emotions when watching President Trump on the news, or once,when I watched an entire rally-style speech. I am angered sometimes, sometimes I find him laughable, sometimes I feel very offended, or come away with dread because of his more tyrannical pronouncements.
Yesterday, I was both shocked and saddened, with a dose of horrified. I had thought given the gravity of the situation, he would have been properly subdued and reading a prepared remark from the teleprompter that was sufficiently on topic and credible to assure the country.
Instead, I saw a rambling idiot with a lot of political agenda meander around as if the most important part of this epidemic and soon pandemic was that we should all do our duty to keep the stock market up. Then, Mike Pence and then Alex Azar delivered the required adulations for the royal person while Azar started a slow shift to seem like a seamless transition and not a complete non sequitur to the message from the CDC.
When this guy got in office, many wondered how he'd perform in a severe crisis. Now we know. He's incompetent, uninformed, obsessed with enemies, and tyrannical. And he's delegating because he doesn't know how to perform under stress.
52 Republican senators did this country a grave disservice by not removing him from office. How many will die because he is not competent? Senator Kennedy was upset yesterday. Well, Senator, voting has consequences.
17
As Mao said, it's hard to 'win' against natural calamities. Perhaps covid19 is the ultimate weapon to rid us of the pest that is 45. The media should focus on getting accurate information from Dr Fauci and other experts, instead of political hacks like Pence and those clowns in the congressional briefing.
8
I've been reading a lot that this assignment is Trump setting Pence up for failure as some sort of clever plot. I don't buy it. When has he ever appointed anyone even remotely qualified? This seems par for the course to me.
77
A knee jerk response is not appropriately dealing with an epidemic. It becomes a crisis when the country is unprepared, and when the president cuts budget funds to the CDC, NIH, and foreign aid, the three prongs we need to combat the pandemic.
4
Trump and his administration is about to start killing more Americans. To put a science denying religious & political yes man in charge of fighting a potential widespread epidemic with a mortality of 2% is beyond reckless. Trump withdrew from the climate change fight, accepted the argument against vaccines because of a belief that they can cause autism although this has been disproved, and he has rolled back protections of the water we drink and the air we breathe. It has to end.
9
Enough of this farce of the Limbaughs, Pences, Azars and Trumps, all brutus ignoramuses trying to politicize a public health issue. Please, let independent health professionals keep us up to date, and scientific recommensations; not hacks trying to use the coronavirus issue to divide us and 'protect the stock market' as their first aim. What next, is Trump going to tell us about the weather conditions, just because he himself is a 'weather vane'?
8
Wasn't Pence the negligent governor of Indiana when it experienced a very nuge outbreak of HIV and hepatitis because of sharing needles in large swaths of rural Indiana? And this is the person we're supposed to trust with a national outbreak? Give me a break!
7
I find Trump's boasting incredible. Last year it was 'we have some of the best climate in the World'. Now it's 'we have some of the best quarantine facilities in the World'.
5
Pence will spend all his time worried about being left alone with any women team members instead of keeping us "safe".
5
Awesome! Pence can fend off the Coronavirus with a prayer circle!
The power of prayer people!
Don't underestimate it!
It's been incredibly successful in alleviating gun violence.
Or at least, it's what this administration offers up as a response, anyway.
5
I expect him to hire a DOCTOR from the previous DHS epidemic security team who can effectively manage a cross functional team and will tell Americans the truth about what we can do to protect our ourselves, our families and others.
Pence is Trump’s #1 sycophant who hasn’t uttered one word of his own in over three years.
5
our fearless leader has chosen his fall guy for this crisis. welcome to under the bus, mr. pence.
5
My partner is a health care professional in a major city hospital. Not a word about the virus has been uttered to the hospital employees.
Where are the unions in this issue? I certainly don't trust the hospital administration who care little for the safety of patients or staff.
This is what fear looks like.
7
"You can easily judge the character of a man by how he treats those who can do nothing for him". Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
This quote says everything you need to know about the person at the top. It took three years, but finally we will see Trump's true character and leadership ability. So far I'm a little worried about what I see and read. Remember, China initially downplayed the threat of the virus and tried to silence concerned doctors. How did that work out?
7
The reason why Covid 19 is becoming a pandemic is that lots of folks get it and barely get sick - and they are importantly among the ones who spread the virus. So everyone you know can expect to know someone who gets sick with it. A small fraction will die but total deaths will be a great many. The societal response to this will be hugely disruptive. Not everyone can be tested. Not everyone can be accommodated in hospital. Mature and well informed leadership will be essential to minimize harmful impacts. But the only thing the Republicans will manage well are the voter suppression opportunities. Despite hugely incompetent, crude and offensive leadership, expect Mr Trump to be re-elected. More questionable judicial appointments, further hollowing out of the security and defense establishment, the state department is already on life support - what's left of it, the CDC, and all the vital organs of a properly working government - even weather forecasts - sacrificed so that the only government offered narratives will be compatible with Mr Trump's latest uninformed musings.
6
That is a brilliant move, appointing Pence! He can use the one skill-set he has honed over the past 3 years on the virus -- blending into the background and willing himself to disappear.
9
Few things are less reassuring than Donald Trump reassuring the American public that the U.S. is prepared for an infectious disease pandemic crisis.
Pence will be an epic scapegoat when the time comes.
3
Wow. Do I feel better. Pence knows what he is doing. After all, he believes in conversion therapy for gays and transgendered, so I guess we can all go through a similar process if the virus hits. After all, he has such incredible medical knowledge.
So, thanks to a lack of a national health care plan, which could contain and give ready information to the public, and also give low cost health service, and the CDC having its budget cut in 2018, and how expensive it is to get tested for the virus, 3400 hundred dollars, and most insurance won't cover this yet in other countries with a national health care system, this is covered, we are going to have sick people who can't get the proper treatment because they won't have the money to do so. Bravo. I feel so safe.
6
Again, no mention of FEMA or Homeland Security or even ICE, which means an entirely NEW agency will be formed , totally unprepared which will of course, totally excuse them from the ineptness that will mire the entire response in the deepest swamp possible.
6
Mike Pence as governor of Indiana, once stopped a needle exchange program and thus created an Aids epidemic. Where does Trump find such uniquely qualified talent to handle an epidemic?
8
What kind of professional background does Pence attain to be the charge of such possible pandemic? Zero. He will become the scapegoat of the issue just like Li Ke Qiang in China. Xi and trump both try their best to steadying their position/power instead of solving the issue professionally and effectively.
4
It's unfortunate that we live in a time when our 'new normal' of exhaustively divisive politics can't even be set aside for something as apolitical as a public health crisis.
3
Trump would have done nothing if his stock market had remained unaffected. But, since he has boasted about the market for three years, taking credit for it at every opportunity, he cannot afford to let it fall. So, he hopes this news conference and appointing Pence will calm the market and get it back on track. If not for this, the administration would not have addressed the virus at all.
65
Here's the actual Trump record on protecting its citizens and public health:
In 2018, the Trump administration fired the government’s entire pandemic response chain of command, including the White House management infrastructure.
In May 2018, Trump ordered the National Security Council’s entire global health security unit shut down, calling for reassignment of Rear Adm. Timothy Ziemer and dissolution of his team inside the agency.
The month before, then-White House National Security Advisor John Bolton pressured Ziemer’s DHS counterpart, Tom Bossert, to resign along with his team.
Neither the NSC nor DHS epidemic teams have been replaced.
The global health section of the CDC was so drastically cut in 2018 that much of its staff was laid off and the number of countries it was working in was reduced from 49 to merely 10.
Meanwhile, throughout 2018, the U.S. Agency for International Development and its director, Mark Green, came repeatedly under fire from both the White House and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
And though Congress has so far managed to block Trump administration plans to cut the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps by 40%, the disease-fighting cadres have steadily eroded as retiring officers go unreplaced.
Trump - and his GOP aiders and abetters - are singlehandledly responsible for 'small government' incompetence, negligence and abandonment of the American people.
Americans will die because Donald Trump and the GOP hate the government.
3202
@Socrates
Oh come on-whattabout the stock market? Oops....
154
@Socrates
Just scary and disgraceful stuff.
95
@Socrates
"Americans will die because Donald Trump and the GOP hate the government."
They don't care much about the health and safety of the American people, either.
375
I'm sure Mike Pence has ample experience coordinating medical emergency response to global pandemics and other emergencies so I feel totally at ease. In case he does fail though, Trump - after disbanding the departments who actually do deal with situations like this can then say, hey wasn't my fault - this is the perfect set up.
10
I lived in Indiana when Pence was governor.
Pence is a hypocrite evangelical who basically doesn’t believe in science or respect the medical profession. You couldn’t pick someone more out of touch and incompetent.
Pence with the incompetent conman trump has gutted or shut down several key medical government agencies in the last three years that were specifically created to fight, you guessed it, pandemic and broad based diseases.
If you’ve listen to trump lie over that last two days about this crisis, you know that he and Pence are clueless.
I can only hope there is still some medical professions left at trump hasn’t fired or driven out of the federal government.
6
Pence is being set up as the fall guy. Look for Tulsi Gabbard as the Republican V.P. candidate come November.
4
I take great reassurance in Mike Pence’s elevation to Czar. He has proven himself adept at licking spittle which will surely come in handy.
3
"As recently as last weekend, the president grew furious that he had been sidelined from a decision to return some Americans infected with the virus to the United States... Officials in the White House have since wrestled with how best to present Mr. Trump with information during a fast-moving situation, one aide said."
And we are to believe that Trump is giving us the facts? Or that he's not spinning the facts? Maybe this is what Ms Conway meant by "alternative facts.
6
If he wanted to truly appoint someone truly has the experience to coordinate an effective government response, he could have appointed Dr. Anthony Fauci. But that might have made too much sense.
8
The only thing Trump cares about is getting re-elected. He keeps pouring money into the stock market so he can say how great his economy is. He has already made comments on how this virus is no biggie and how he doesn't want it to tarnish his chances for re-election.
Appointing Pence to spearhead this - Oh I just felt so much safer now. NOT!
If Trump were serious, he would re-establish the funding for the CDC and EPA he cut and re-appoint the proper doctors and scientists, but of course we all know how he feels about facts.
10
Amid all the hype, let’s put this in perspective. As of today there are 60 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the US.
And 2,700 total deaths worldwide from it. Which is 3% of the total deaths of influenza in the US alone this flu season. More people have died in the US this year from the flu than all the confirmed corona virus cases in the entire world. Trump is right-this is media frenzy about something that will very likely quietly disappear by April.
Even if it disappears by April it will be back again next winter...then what? Not such a rosy picture after all.
1
Appointing Pence as head of a task force to coordinate responses to the virus is insane. Qualified professionals are needed. Pence has no more credibility than Trump, he will white wash, contradict, feed the public misinformation and silence the scientists. His claim to fame in Indiana was fighting abortions even when incest was the cause.
11
One of the worst HIV outbreaks in recent years happened in Indiana during Mike Pence’s governorship, because of policies he enacted. Health care costs are also some of the highest in the country in Indiana.
Pray for us, y’all. Because that’ll also be Mike Pence’s approach to this.
10
Trump picked Pence because Pence is the only one he can count on to report directly to him and not to the American people. The way I see it, we the people, will never find out the truth because Trump will downplay whatever Pence tells him. He's already claimed there are only 15 cases in the U.S. when in realty there are at least 60, 45 of which are in quarantine. He's acting like a child when it comes to protecting American people. He admitted he's so afraid that this crisis will tank the stock market and make it hard for him to get reelected. One can only hope.
12
I've long thought that Trump and Pence, two people I consider to be in the wrong jobs at the wrong time, have always been one significant crisis from a truly worst case scenario. Only time will tell if this virus is that crisis, but at this point, all we can do is hope and pray that it is not, or that they will somehow prove more competent than expected.
7
Even though Trump can have little control over the spread of this virus and its effect on the "Economy" it is informative for all Americans to see how this president and this congress react to a force Mother Nature has initiated. Even Trump can't blame this coronavirus epidemic on Obama and the Democrats, or will he?
8
Stop with the Pence bashing. Any intelligent person would recognize that he will be putting together teams of experts to combat the virus from several angles.
I am sure there will be people on the left who hopes he fails.
Well, Mike P. has expertise in how to cause an outbreak - we shall see if he has a clue how to contain one.
5
These the same Democrats complaining who want unfettered borders . Let anyone in this country without following any immigration protocols. Come one come all.
Trump Names Mike Pence to Lead Coronavirus Response; "The risk to the 'White' [sic] American people remains very low," Trump said, as he unveiled his big announcement: Vice President Mike Pence will head the government effort.
"Had I not made a decision very early on not to take people from a certain area, we wouldn't be talking this way. ... I took a lot of heat; some people called me racist."
1
When faced with a health emergency it is always good practice to appoint a religious fanatic with no training in science or for that matter no belief in science to head the effort to combat the emergency.
5
Bibles and paper towels for everyone!
6
People vote with their pocketbooks, if the economy tanks trump is toast.
2
Pence's speech was another sycophantic, toadying display of the need to flatter Trump at all costs. It was shockingly unassuring with regard to the problem at hand.
5
Pence, to whom science is anathema, will commence a prayer circle shortly in a valiant effort to combat the spread of the coronavirus. Yet another bonehead move by the stable genius.
6
My educated guess on this topic is that the “uproar” by the left about Trump’s handling of the coronavirus will fall the way of the mueller probe (“no evidence of Russian collusion”), impeachment (acquitted by the senate and a decrease in public polling for impeachment), and everything else the left has screamed about for the last 3 years. At what point will democrats realize they are on the losing side of the constant “the sky is falling!?”
I doubt that prayer will help.
"This virus is fake news. No big deal. Therefore I can put Mike Pence in charge."
2
Trump the germaphobe needs a scapegoat, above all else. Plus, his minders are telling him he needs a new VP running-mate for the election, preferably a woman (?!?!). Win-Win!
2
pence! initial response really ?? but then when you look at trump talk.. he is basically brainless and reuses words and fills the space...the trump nation wrecking ball is on steroids put on your hazmat suits and VOTE BLUE
4
With brilliant pence in charge, I guess everything will be fine. LOL
2
Trump has little or no interest in the virus. He regards it as a variant of the common cold, which at worst might produce a few thousand more deaths in the U.S. this year in what remains of the flu season.
The deaths themselves would mean nothing to him.
What matters to him is the stock market because the continuation of his Presidency now almost totally depends on it.
When Trump came along, businesses and many well-to-do people saw a con- artist who would give them lower taxes; was promising to spend lavishly on the military and the infrastructure; had no interest in controlling budget deficits and inflation; would cast a cold eye on the need for health and safety measures in the workplace; and would ignore the effects of climate change.
Well, the chickens have come home to roost; and what he and Americans foolish enough to believe in his methods have succeeded in producing are vastly overheated stock prices that -- to the surprise of no one familiar with the ups and downs of the stock market -- are now collapsing.
The coronavirus is guilty of nothing more than being a virus.
We will survive it.
Trump -- virtually single-handed -- has collapsed the stock market.
When and if it will ever recover keeps him up at night.
3
Pence is the only person Trump can't fire when things inevitably go wrong.
2
If Pence follows suit as when he was Gov., the rates of infection can only go up.
2
Pence? We're doomed.
Thoughts and prayers against the virus
1
Where has the surgeon general been all this time?
Afraid to have spoken out? And angering the appointed president, even at the expense and health of the citizenry?
3
I think the American public should be reassured by the administration’s choice of Mike Pence to oversee our response to the Coronavirus crisis in the U.S. It’s obvious that we’re all better served by choice of an ideological Evangelical over a scientist or supreme health professional. I can already envision a coming health questionnaire on possible contact with the following question: Have you had any sinful, extramarital sex in the last six months?
Great, they probably just sat Pence down to watch a YouTube video to learn what a virus is.
He will emerge soon with recommendations for thoughts and prayers.
If that does not work he will cut taxes, slash the CDC budget, deny the science, blame it on fake news, and reduce the size of the government more.
4
Facts...they don’t bother me as long as I can do it on the cheap.
1
This article allows Mr. Trump to sound far more coherent than he actually did in his press conference. If you are not worried (about things in addition to the viral outbreak) you might want to begin your period of concern now.
3
Oh no! Make way for Mike Pence, defender, healer, redeemer. We are saved!
I wasn’t worried about this at all until I learned Mike Pence would be applying his vast scientific ignorance to the problem as well as becoming a handy scapegoat when things go south. That Trump’s immediate concern was - as usual - protecting himself rather than the country is just another shameful episode in the worst administration any of us has ever seen.
4
There's been a GOP-led war on science for decades. And this climate-change denying, polluting, CDC-cutting administration is even more science-phobic than the GW Bush administration. How can anyone have any hope this clownish administration and its minions have a clue how to stop this newest health menace?
2
Pence's appointment is Trump's sly way of getting rid of him, preparing to slot in Nikki Haley.
3
Trump can feel his reelection prospects slip-sliding away.
Such an angry, sullen face he wore yesterday. He will of course blame his political opponents for this. Most of us no longer believe a word he says...
3
The COVID-19 plan is now taking shape. Pence will recruit Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell, Jr. and this triumvirate will plan and execute an evangelical strategy. Roberson brings to the table an ability to divert hurricanes away from his Norfolk headquarters and have them hit innocents elsewhere. Fallwell, Jr. will swear off drinking and dancing in Miami (activities he bans his "college's" students from doing) in order to reestablish his direct line to the deity. Pence, well, Pence will maintain the ignorant, deer-in-the-headlights look that may reassure some members of our society. Who needs science?
5
It appears the VP Pence is afraid to contradict POTUS Trump. This is dangerous.
3
Trump is following the playbook of China's President Xi Jinping by appointing his second in command to contain the spread of the virus (what health experts say is impossible). But blame passing seems to be a tactic shared by autocratic rulers who care more about keeping themselves in power. The tragedy here is that Trump is falsely claiming that we have nothing to worry about, that the virus will not spread, and he is ignoring the health experts who say otherwise. By undermining the very experts we need to rely on to achieve any containment, he is risking people's lives and health.
3
Trump works for the billionaire members of Mar-a- Lago. They want lower taxes and less regulations in their businesses and stock market investments. So, he cuts the budgets and staffing of the CDC, the EPA, the NIH and other science based areas of the Federal Govt. Public health and well being is not on his radar screen.
9
DJT sounded like the fool that he is - it was glaring that he does not have a clue what he is talking about, much less the credibility to convince anyone "he is in charge and all is fine."
And appointing his lap-dog Pence to lead an effort he knows nothing about is a great joke.
As someone else noted, this little bug may take the fake president and his minions out.
17
Unfortunately, we have seen so much endless lying coming from this Administration and their sycophants, that it's virtually impossible to believe them or take them seriously even if they're trying to reassure us...that's why lying is so corrosive and dangerous.
14
Here we go………….
Pence enters
With
Religion soon to follow
AND
Trump saying, not my fault, Pence was in charge
Want to bet Trump takes a mulligan here………….
23
Trump's coronavirus debriefing to the Nation, an uncomforting rambling of nonsense, half-baked misconceptions and full on lies, made me feel much better. Where were the sharpies, though? But seriousness aside, the USA has a more dangerous virus threatening the welfare of her citizens: Covfefe 20--with glaring symptoms of high stupidity, incessant lying and ethical and moral chaos. Only known antidote, of course, is a ballot.
24
Ok, so now we can rest as the issue is in the hands of the religious sycophant that denies evolution, vaccines, and climate change. We should all feel safe.
19
Ah, just ask Trump to shake hands with a Chinese-American.
11
Excellent choice
2
Impeached is setting up pence to take the fall, so he can point fingers and so he can replace pence on the ticket. Look for either Nimrata Haley or Princess Nepotism Barbie as the VP choice in about 2 months.
13
@John
Funny, I was thinking Michelle Whackmann, or maybe Larcy Foniari.
1
Will Pence join Mother in church to pray the coronavirus away? Only time will tell....
17
Appointing Mike Pence to lead the effort against this pandemic IS playing down the danger to the US.
Let us pray....
4
Problem for the Trump admin is that because he lies with every breath about everything, he has zero credibility with half the country. Seriously, zero.
We know that whatever Trump or that bobblehead stooge Pence says will reflect only benefits Trump and his prospects for reelection.
10
Pence is leading this effort? The blind leading the blind. We’re doomed!
The only thing Republicans can find is a money envelope stuffed into a lobbyist suit coat pocket.
12
trump really doesn't have a clue, does he?
14
Unfortunately for all of us, he does not.
4
Would you rather Trump create mass hysteria in his comments, feeding the narrative of the liberal left media that the sky is falling? When I hear liberals on TV making gleeful predictions about how bad this could get...and that it will bring down Trump...is there anything more disgusting. The left has really lost touch with reality. This is a time for all Americans to unite...not divide.
1
@Tom Try telling that to Trump who has been dividing us since before he began his presidency.
6
If the truth causes mass hysteria, I’d rather hear the truth.
2
@Tom No, the simple truth would suffice but, sadly, the pathological liar is incapable of that. I’ve seen NO liberals gleeful about the coronavirus. Turn away from One America & Fox hate speech.
3
Whew!
We all feel better now.
1
I don't believe anything coming from Trump or his "administration".
8
Two weeks ago, Xi Jinping nominated Chinese Premier Li Keqiang to a similar role. The move was interpreted as a way to distance Xi, the lingxiu ("revered leader",) and set up Li to be blamed if attempts to contain the epidemic failed.
My advice to Pence is, don't let your revered leader injure his back throwing you under the bus. The patriotic thing to do is, just find a bus zone somewhere near the White House, and lie down in it.
9
Poor Mike. Trump needs someone to blame if things don't work out.
5
Why do I not feel reassured about this?
6
as dangerous as this virus seems to be, the thing that will do the most damage is the willful institutional ignorance and stupidity displayed by this administration. having effectively silenced the scientific community because he didn't agree with them, we now have few places to turn for expertise on how to deal with this.
8
Mike could sprinkle some holy water around and preform an exorcism or two. This should keep us all safe.
12
Trump's instructions to Pence:
This whole so-called coronavirus thing is a hoax. I'm told by Giuliani, Roger Stone, and Manafort - very good sources - that the Ukrainians are behind it. Go to Kyiv, find the server, and bring it back. We'll show that shifty Schiff and the other traitors!
Oh, and if you can't find the server, here's a Sharpie. You can alter the map to show that the so-called coronovirus is limited to a three block radius inside Wuhan. Nothing to worry about.
10
Is there any doubt that trump will eventually find a way to blame the spread of the disease on the “illegal” immigrants, strengthening his argument for the wall?
What an unmitigated disgrace he is.
13
Pence should organize large public praying rallies.
9
This is totally so he can blame Pence and drop him from the ticket.
12
I love a gangster story with a good patsy.
8
Prayer Force One is on the case
11
It is not likely that Mr. Trump’s mentor, Roy Cohn, ever brought him aside to explain the terms, “acts of God” and “force majeure”.
Procrastination is not power!
2
Pence has already vastly exceeded his “Peter principle level of incompetence”, and the only thing that Emperor Trump should appoint him to relates to the old political gag-line of, “I wouldn’t vote for that guy as the town’s dog-catcher”.
Of course, the faux-Emperor stooge, Trump, who appointed Pence, is even smaller caliber — akin to “Chauncey Gardenier” in Peter Sellers’ last film, “Being There” — where he plays the part of a mentally diminished gardener who is elevated to being a potential President by group of ultra-wealthy political “King makers”.
Which, come to think of it, is exactly what precipitated the elevation of functional idiot, TV ‘Reality Show’ MC, and multi-bankrupt Donald Trump was elevated to as Emperor of America (although he is so extreme a narcissist that he thinks and acts like the Emperor of the world).
10
president hide-my-veggies looked like a deer in the headlights during that comedy of errors he delivered last night. the truth is...he is scared to death because he is in over his head.
13
So we have a fawning sycophant who is looking forward to the "end of days" in charge of stopping a pandemic?
14
The VP best person qualified for the job?! The guy whose conscience was conflicted about his states needle exchange program to save lives? The guy who seems to put faith above science. The guy who thinks (strike that), the guy who believes climate change is a hoax. This was not a well thought through decision, but one to keep things in the loyalty house.
16
First Trump cuts CDC funding by more than half, now he down plays their recommendation about the virus potentially spreading through the USA. Let me remind you how quick the USA was to criticize China for suppressing doctors trying to warn its people about the virus. Clearly Trump is worried about this virus tanking the economy as did China, judging based on the way USA stocks market have been last few days. Wow, shows us how in the end we are all humans and think alike no matter where in the world.
12
I was a little taken aback by him almost joking about the amount of money he was requesting from Congress. It made him seem clueless and unprepared.
I'm not panicking. It will be what it will be and not much will change that.
I simply lack any trust or faith that this President or his administration will dig in and do what is necessary to be prepared and provide the assistance we will need if this disease does become widespread and if it mutates into something far deadlier.
The problem with this potential pandemic is the President doesn't seem to have a plan to monetize it yet and without the ability to monetize it I don't see him really doing what's right for the American people. Until there is a mutual financial benefit I simply don't trust this administration to ever do the right thing.
10
What could go wrong?
Pence is the least common denominator and dealing with coronavirus is a complex problem, a series of simultaneous equations, and is above his pay grade.
He’s also a convenient scapegoat if it blows up.
I’m considering a trip to Antarctica. The coronavirus hasn’t appeared there......yet.
8
NYT readers have ONE solution to all problems, "attack Trump". I think it is better if Democrats and Republicans work together to address this problem and the first step in working together is to give up the harsh rhetoric.
3
And what about letting Trump just shut it up and stopping interfering with people more able to lead us through this crisis ?
6
@Ludwig
It's the one thing our country can unite behind. Trump will do what's right for Trump.
5
Pence sends his thoughts and prayers.
8
Amazing. Trump stands there and says there is nothing to worry about, he has everything under control and the US has been spared the plague because of his supreme leadership.
Then a CDC official gets up there and says, it's going to get much worse, the virus will spread in the US and we should be prepared for disruptions. Guess he did not get the Trump talking points, which probably explains why he's out of a job today.
9
A national effort ( I will not say crisis because it is not) of this magnitude requires humility, empathy and a willingness to learn.
That is what all doctors, teachers, elected officials and civil servants do.
That’s why this virus response and the pending impact on the economy will be the undoing of DJT.
His incompetence and narcissistic tendencies will be on full display. Even his ardent supporters will see a side of him they have yet to see.
He is patently incapable of handling the position he now holds.
This outbreak will reveal him in ways no one has seen.... and then there is the economy!
8
Pence's speech was another sycophantic, toadying display of the need to flatter Trump at all costs. It was shockingly unassuming with regard to the problem at hand.
6
@Susan T I meant to rite "unassuring" but was cfoiled by autocorrect
Same response as to repeated bouts of Gun Violence, "Thoughts and Prayers". Pence's job? Respond to the political narrative and the impact that the corona virus could have on trumpie's reelection.
5
An anti-science president and vice-president in charge of preventing the US spread of the Coronavirus? Sounds like a recipe for disaster.
8
Sigh of relief: Pence has probably already halted this virus with GOP thoughts and prayers. Small government at it’s best. We are Making America Great Again.
8
Pence will propose the use of sanitary napkins for face masks!
7
Mike Pence's prescription for the coronavirus crisis will be abstinence and prayer. Will Donald Trump be happy? Probably not. Will he try to dump him before the Republican Convention? Most likely. Does this crisis expose the absolute incompetence of the entire Trump Administration? Absolutely.
11
He is really ready to handle this. VP Pence prepares to offer his thoughts and prayers.
6
Now DJT will have to work with the budget and “team” he has assembled.
Even the non-scientists in the world can see he is not prepared.
So just so we all share the same facts...
This is the same DJT that could not profitably run a casino is going to manage the US response (through pence) to a now global pandemic.
How many that voted for DJT wish they voted differently now. That would be a fascinating poll to take...
Vote in November like your life depends on it!
8
@Is_the_audit_over_yet
They’re still defending him but now, the narrative is “the Libruls can’t come together with Trump & Republicans, whaaa..” It’s hopeless. For the rest of us, the Majority, it’s #Bluenami!!
3
I hope Mr. Pence has more success with this campaign than he did with his religious exemption law in Indiana.
4
With a case fatality rate of 2-3% this is much like influenza moving through a non-immune population. So yes, we can and should take precautions to slow it's movement and reduce its impact on our daily lives and routines.
But an inerrant scripture nut like Pence to lead or even participate in a scientific endeavor?
Doesn't he think velociraptors were on Noah's Ark?
7
Choosing Mike Pence, a person who apparently does not believe in the theory of evolution, to lead the response to a scientific issue like containing a virus, is pretty ridiculous. Guess we are lucky Trump did not choose Rush Limbaugh.
7
So trump has named his scapegoat. I'm sure Nikki Haley quietly practicing speeches and making sure all her suits are cleaned and her shoes polished.
10
This is what I most dreaded with Trump as president-a crisis, be it a terror attack, an international conflict, or the crash of the economy. The day is here and all of us are vulnerable, knowing we have a man at the helm that is both incompetent and selfish.
As it coincides with the presidential campaign, this is the time for Americans, whether Dem. or Rep. to truly understand, Trump must be replaced in November or our lives are in jeopardy.
5
If the President wants a "Czar" to oversee the response to a potential Coronavirus epidemic in the U.S. shouldn't he have chosen someone with some knowledge and understanding of virology and epidemiology? The appointment of ignorant political administrators instead of scientists is why the virus has been able to spread thus far. Now we have a failed casino operator appointing an equally unqualified VP to do the job that should be done by a scientist The US may escape relatively unscathed by this coronavirus, but if we do, it won't be because of Trump's incompetence.
2
Maybe it’s nature’s way of telling people to slow down and remind us that we depend on her, not the other way around
Let's hope God doesn't tell Pence the coronavirus is some sort of cleansing.
3
Kudos to Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, who had the integrity and courage to brief the country as to the actual timeline of a vaccine.
I fear that Dr. Fauci, a highly respected and knowledgeable professional who has managed and contained the Ebola and Zika viruses, will be fired, because he stood on the same podium with Trump and Pence and gave an honest response to a question.
19
I agree that Trump provided mixed messages. And his appointment of Pence to lead the task force, as opposed to someone with medical expertise, illustrates Trump's penchant for appointing people whose primary criterion for appointment is unquestioning loyalty to himself.
But as well, I thought that Trump was rambling and stumbling over his words--almost to the point of becoming incoherent at times. Could this mean that he is suffering more and more seriously from dementia and/or Alzheimer's disease.
27
He is always incoherent.
4
No matter what position has to be filled, Trump values loyalty above all else and is willing to purge experienced professionals who are not completely subservient to him and who do not lavish praise on his greatness. So he picks Pence, who is not a medical professional to oversee a medical problem. The difficulty in finding a physician is that these professionals are well educated and well educated people tend to question Trump's infallibility.
13
I just returned from two weeks in Thailand and Cambodia. While I was careful and proactive in good hygiene and I also feel fine, I was appalled by the lack of any screening or questions when reentering the United States. Every airport I was in in Asia asked if I had been in China and took my temperature. While these protocols might not be enough, they at least were better than what happened when I returned. The only question I got was if I had any food with me.
One way or another it looks like it will spread here, but the slow response by our government is shameful, and dangerous.
5
Pence's relationship to science is quite shocking. This is a man who argued against the dangers of smoking tobacco, offering incorrect data on deaths due to smoking.
19
@Jordan
Pence calls his wife "mother".
IF that doesn't scare people, I don't know what will.
4
@Jordan . Yes Pence’s family owned convenience stores which sold cigarettes, and the tobacco industry contributed much to his campaigns. Aside from this link to Mammon, his God-thing is what worries me. He is prepared for and expecting the Rapture, or end times, or whatever those folks espouse, so all the illness and death is part of theBig Plan from the pilot in the Sky. Just saying now; anyone can have my vaccine portion; I’m done. I am in the demographic that falls prey to this, and it’s sort of sad, but you know, I don’t care. I will take care to vote early you may be sure.
3
As a Vietnam era veteran, one of the first things we raw recruits were told was " Somebody leads, or everybody dies". I don't see Mr. Pence as an appropriate choice to lead here. Is there no one more qualified? That's more frightening than the virus.
22
Who says that Mike Pence isn't qualified to be Corona Virus Czar, that we should pick someone with medical experience? After all, Pence does a medical background of sorts as a leading advocate for the "medical" procedure of Gay "Conversion" Therapy including the use of electric shocks as part of the practice. Given this, we should have full confidence that Pence and Trump will use the best science and public health methodologies to keep us safe.
14
Pence, who has spent his political career attacking the rights of women to reproductive rights (read women's healthcare), to lead US response to Coronavirus?
13
Everyone should go research how Pence use Hurricane Katrina to bring extreme capitalism to New Orleans.
For Pence a pandemic is just an excuse for more Disaster Capitalism, using the shock of disaster to rewrite the rules to favor global billionaire shareholders.
6
Mike Pence spent a lot of time in the 90s and into 2000 claiming that the link between smoking and lung cancer was exaggerated. Oh yeah, he's perfect to be saving all of us from this pandemic. Even Ronny Jackson was smart enough to set his Outlook to "busy".
11
Are we that gullible to believe a strange man could just walk up and hug the president of the United States, admitting he has fever and the flu? I really had to laugh. Ever seen how nervous the Secret Service agents looks when the president is in public? This story is just another one of Trump's Walter Mitty fantasies.
10
Rest well. Pastor Pence is on the case!
8
Does Pence know how to speak? Usually, he seems to stare in pain
16
"What would Obama do? I'll do the opposite." Thus, "How is this going to affect me? The stock market?! Oh, no, my re-election!"
16
Why not? Science denier in charge of a pandemic. Coal lobbyist in charge of the EPA would be just as bad. Mining lobbyist in charge of BLM. What could go wrong? America for sale. Look at all the other dictators he meets and greets.
There's a Dictator in America!
20
With Pence in charge of efforts to contain the corona virus and a serial liar keeping us informed, what could go wrong?
24
Fall Guy walking.
15
Appointing Pence to be the coronavirus Czar is like telling people who live in an area where there have been a lot of murders that, "Sgt. Jack the Ripper, will head the investigation". Stupid is as stupid does.
15
Pence is a Christian and God will tell him everything to do.
5
Finally the time has come for our anti-empirical, science basing culture to take control over the pandemic that is ravaging, God help us, The Stock Market, and, oh yea, the world. So let's put the right people in place in our government to manage the problem: Mike Pence. HIs remedy: our thoughts and prayers our with you, let's pray for healing.
Morons.
9
If snark could kill viruses we could simply point the NYT comment section at it.
10
@Mkm Meh. If lying could and defunding the CDC and demagoguing...we could put Donald Trump on it.
3
I don't expect much transparency, integrity, or competence from Mike Pence. When he came into office as governor, he instituted a policy of removing all citizen comments that criticized or even disagreed with him from his official state social media accounts. He also tried to set up a state government run "news" outlet that would, of course, portray everything in the light most favorable to him. Finally, he presided over one of the country's worst outbreaks of HIV and Hepatitis C in a rural county. There had been a Planned Parenthood clinic, which tested for these viruses, in the area, but partly due to the relentless denigration of Planned Parenthood by Pence and his ilk it had had to close.
17
Well then. Pence is at the wheel of a bus careening out of control on a mountain road. And may find himself under that bus.
Trump, the wise one, proclaimed the TBI our military suffered from an attack on their base in Iraq was just a headache. Nothing to see.
So now we are to believe Trump when he bleats the risk is very low? We are to be reassured with the bleeding he inflicted on our public health agencies, the very agencies tasked with the research needed to help solve issues of this type?
Well, at least Congress will give him a new source of money that could be squandered on the wall.
6
The raw numbers remain less worrisome than influenza. The preventative measures for influenza remain effective against COVID-19. The CDC remains a reliable source of sober, apolitical information. If you have doubts, check our sources against Canada’s or state DOH sites that are free from political influence (notably not NY). By all means don’t trust Trump’s messaging, but the fact that he is a known germaphobe means watch his actions.
2
Mr. Trump’s handlers must have insisted on Mike Pence heading the task force for fear that Trump would go around spinning “the Coronavirus is not a problem. The US is invincible. We’ve got this under control. trust me”. There is nothing more damaging to a government than to downplay a health issue unless of course you are China: it disappears reporters who inform the public about the spread of the virus and the poor conditions in the makeshift hospital and/or treatment. Mr. Pence is a more measured in expressing himself and more adept in managing information.
1
Pence “adept”? Wow, I’ll sleep better knowing that he’s responsible for our country’s health. Gag.
2
I'll give Trump a pass and say he is trying to the right thing here. That said he has created an environment in his administration so it really can not function. If you watched his news conference yesterday his staff spent more time and effort praising and pleasing him that speaking about the virus.
4
@Thomas Renner So why are you giving him a pass? Anyone who still doesn't know that Donald Trump thinks only about Donald Trump at all times and is not capable of thinking about anyone else, let alone putting his personal concerns aside and put his job and the country first, is not operating in reality. Trump's sole concern here is how this and its impact on the stock market/economy will affect his re-election.
12
The bitter irony never fails. We elect people who treat the idea of "government" as a joke, then expect them to respond to a crisis.
13
@David Henry
Yes I was thinking today about a line of Reagan’s that always got a big applause response: “I’m from the government and I’m here to help you.” Much derision. These people are more in our face and our bedrooms than even Orwell could imagine.
And. Now: A man with no executive ability, an astonishing ignorance of of the world and its history, a paranoid germaphobe with no inner life and no compassion. Send in the clowns.
4
Trump's most recent budget called got a reduction of $750 million to the Centers of Disease Control, "more than $236 million cut to chronic disease prevention and health promotion, a $146 million cut for the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, a more than $102 million cut to emerging and zoonotic diseases, and about a $52 million cut to CDC’s environmental health activities, including funding for asthma and childhood lead poisoning. . . . more than $30 million cut to public health preparedness and response, and a more than $78 million cut to immunization activities, including work to sustain and improve immunization coverage. The budget also zeros out critical funding for epidemiology and laboratory capacity at state and local levels," according to "The Nation's Health.
One can only assume Mike Pence himself will be picking up the costs to combat "the very much under control [coronavirus] in the USA," according to Trump.
This is the kind of baseless, uninformed idiocy that destroys nations.
11
Well stated!
2
Has anyone else noticed that the more complex or complicated the problem the more our president looks clueless as to the situation?
How long before Pence is thrown under the bus? Trump has his fall guy.
11
When asked why, when ostensibly valued the medical people he brought out on the stage with him for the press conference, he cut the CDC budget Trump said he didn't like having thousands of people around when you didn't need them. Not even taking into consideration the research and prevention aspects of public health, this kind of thinking is akin to saying "I don't smell any smoke, so close all the forehouses." This kind of ignorance is fodder for pundits and late-night comedians most of the time. When facing an immediate threat that requires intelligent response, this kind of ignorance is a clear and present danger to the health of our people and our economy.
6
We've seen this movie - Pence will lead prayer vigils to protect "the faithful" or to welcome The Rapture. Those who choose to live in the 21st century, however, will have to fend for themselves. The heavy smoking older men whom Trump champions so loudly will be the first to die.
5
Hey GOP voters: Science seems kind of important now, huh? I think its likely that our "educated elites" will have to find our way out of this mess - how do you feel about them now?
8
Why isn’t Alex Azar, Secretary of Health and Human Services, in charge of organizing the coronavirus response? The American people should demand a point person more competent and less partisan than Mike Pence.
5
Interesting that it took the stock market tanking to finally get Trump "concerned about the American people"
8
When Trump starts using words like "Brilliant", that is a clue that he has no idea what he's talking about, which is 99% of the time. This situation is no exception.
11
Thanks goodness Pence is in charge. All we need are thought and prayers and the look he gives that's so sincere and serious that the virus will just disappear!!
5
All Trump cares about is his reelection. All else is secondary.
Maybe this is Trump's Katrina, when we reconsider the value of electing "the guy you would have a beer with".
1
Last night I watched a stumbling, bumbling fool address the nation regarding a potentially calamitous health issue. He said almost nothing in a manner that made the worst debate performances by any Democrat look like the Gettysburg Address. And then he chooses to inject politics and campaigning into his remarks. Today, I listen to the talking heads totally ignore Donald Trumps complete and total incompetence. In his opening remarks, I'm not sure I heard two complete sentences. The main stream media continues to hold Trump to the lowest standards and, despite the unjustifiable criticism of he and his supporters, must raise the bar relative to the reasonable expectations of a president. You need to finally realize that Trump's tweets cannot respond to the tsunami of honest, responsible, and justifiable criticism the media is capable of unleashing.
No doubt, at this point, Trump had to reach extremely deep to find a few competent people left in Washington capable and knowledgeable enough to speak to the reality of the Corona virus. That did not include the sycophant Mike Pence.
6
Pense will be Trump's fall guy...if the situation becomes grim..one can bet Pense will take the hit...and Trump will bring in a new VP for the re-election bid. Someone who will carry the corrupt intent past 2024.
What has become of my country?
4
This could be the first major crisis Trump faces that he wasn't the main reason why it started.
8
Now understand how Trump's Casinos went belly up---he has the uncanny ability to hire/pick individuals who are totally unqualified for whatever position he slots them into. We all know that going into this Pence believes in his heart that 1) the world deserves this plague for not believing in Jesus; and 2) the true cure for this plague is to believe in Jesus.
8
I feel much safer now that a renowned physician and immunologist, Mike Pence, is managing the Corona virus. I assume Trump will place him in charge of the national debt sometime soon as well.
4
I've watched Dr Sanjay Gupta of CNN for years and have been impressed by his compassion as a professional. Last night, I saw concern on his face when he realized that that 45 does not understand pathogens and does not get it.
9
Trump chooses Pence? We're all in deep trouble. The insane are in charge.
6
Pence in charge is a joke. Trump knows the virus is coming and will do its damage. This is Trumps attempt to have Pence as the fall guy when the virus hits the U.S. Its a typical Trump move, let someone else take the hit.
6
Pence believes in prayers not science. Trump is on record being afraid of germs. Looks like a virus will take down Trump all the way into the election in November.
2
Great, he will set up a prayer breakfast and encourage abstinence! This will be a wonderfully effective response.
Then he will say that the virus is the hand of the devil trying to overthrow his boss.
This should be left to the CDC, they actually know what they are doing!
5
Trump has such poor credibility that even if he claimed the stratosphere was blue, there would be doubt.
3
Pence gladly accepts a high-profile task from his idol, and is too blind to see that he is being set up for failure.
198
@Ed, yup. Fall guy.
11
@Ed You don't know that he can't see it. He may well, but he also knows you cannot say no to Donald Trump.
4
@Ed
I thought the look on his face said it all: bye bye chance to follow in the presidency; this is going to bring this show to a
miserable conclusion.
15
I refuse to believe any of this gibberish !!
I will wait until Trump dictates a letter to Dr. Harold Bernstein , claiming that Bornstein has determined all is well and we are safe ......and then Bornstein releases said letter as his own.
4
Mark my words, within one week Trump will be blaming Obama for the coronavirus.
16
If Trump and Pence miraculously contract the virus, capable, competent Nancy would be in charge to deliver us from this black hole.
3
Gosh, Mike Pence! I feel so much safer now, knowing he allowed the spread of HIV under his watch. What's he gonna do, pray for us?
14
Pence is the perfect choice. He's read all about plagues in his Bible. Plagues are almost always punishment from God for the sins of people...and their leaders.
Who needs medical experts when you can solve the problem that easily?
13
How is Wilbur Ross feeling today? Wasn't he gleefully pleased when Covid-19 broke out uncontrollably in China, early Jan? The US franchised McDonalds, Starbucks etc to China. Now Wuhan is coming to the US and the greatest leader in chief will create a mess, nobody can do better.
7
Okay but if Pastor Pence says the solution is to kill all the first born and stop dining with women I’m throwing the flag.
8
Mike Pence ,from Space Force to Germ Force ,he likes those space looking suits !
5
Sychophant Mike Pence will say exactly what Trump wants to hear. So, the script is already written. I’ll be listening to the scientists, such as Dr. Michael Olsterholm. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Osterholm
6
Take two prayers and call God in the morning.
6
The announcement took Pence by surprise.
“Why me? Jared’s not doing anything.”
10
Let the thoughts and prayers antiviral offense begin.
7
I completely agree there is no need to panic but trump putting pence in charge of the situation, now that might be cause for panic. He'll just consult his bible and conclude it's god's will :|
5
Ah, our "secret weapon". V.P Pious will just pray it away.
7
I happened to hear Trump's entire news conference today. It was clearly intended to inform and calm our citizens. In contrast, the brief video clip with this article was selected by NYT clearly for the opposite effect. The efforts this paper makes to undermine Trump....
@carl bumba I must have been watching a different news conference...
4
He also claimed the virus has the same fatality rate as the seasonal flu—a blatant mistruth.
2
@carl bumba But you guys also think Trump is not a chronic liar with 17,000 lies to this point, that he puts the country first and not himself, that it's fine for him to do things you would have conniptions over if a Democrat did it, like the chronic lying, obstructing justice (a felony), mocking a disabled person, attacking captured and tortured US veterans, attacking a Gold Star couple, admitting to serial sexual assault, using taxpayer money as leverage to extort illegal foreign help with his elections, defending a foreign adversary over his attack on our democracy/elections, corrupting the Dept of Justice by appointing a lackey to represent him and not the country, defrauding thousands via a scam university and scam charitable foundation, refusing to release his tax returns, defying subpoenas and ordering others to break the law that way too...you guys ignore a whole lot in Trump and deny the obvious in him, in this case that, per usual, his concern is with his re-election and how the falling stock market might hurt it. Trump thinks only about Trump.
3
I’m surprised he didn’t pick Jared Kushner to lead this.
4
That's reassuring.!!
Trump's way of getting Pence off the ticket.
7
So, trump choses an obsequis boot lick, over the head of the CDC to address the growing Pandemic?
He also manged to "tweet" the following:
"CDC and my Administration are doing a GREAT job of handling Corona Virus, including the very early closing of our borders to certain areas of the world..."
"...CDC & World Health have been working hard and very smart. Stock Market starting to look very good to me!"
Our borders are NOT closed. Anyone who's ever traveled abroad knows you are in contact with others...who may or may not have infections; for him to say "Gosh, we don't let *these* people in.." as grounds to say we've closed our borders??
Any reasonable person (which excludes folks in the White House) must see that the market had the worst week for Dow since 2008. Not trump! He's claiming it's great when it goes up, but when it goes down, he hides and, predictably, lies about it.
What a ship of fools.
7
Sorry but for some reason I don't have much faith in a pandemic response lead by a science-denying pathological liar.
Call me quirky.
13
Gee, I wonder if trump's lying again...?
2
Pence — as many other right wing GOP evangelicals — very likely believes that this is god’s rightful reckoning with the world and is a biblical end-of-days retribution against all non-believers and all who would turn the world into liberal toleration zones for unholy behaviors.
Only straight-laced, worshiping Christians will be spared from this Revelations-predicted catastrophe. God has spoken – just ask Pence!
4
To add a little perspective, no one gets out of here alive.
Can we get Mexico to fund our CDC ?
5
I feel fully confident that Pence and Mother can pray this virus away.
5
Trump could be the single worst person to lead in a crisis. He is completely ill-suited to leadership. He’s untrustworthy, selfish, greedy, ignorant and arrogant.
His reckless comments on the Coronavirus to date and track record amply demonstrate his dismal lack of credentials to deal with the impending crisis.
It turns out electing a mendacious narcissist may have been a bad idea.
6
Oh Pence is in charge, no worries then. Doh!
1
You picked the guy who presided over the disastrous management of the AIDS crisis in Indiana to run this? Seriously?
5
Trump surrounded himself with toadies, yes men and other incompetents.
Putting Pence in charge of this is like putting Tom of Tom and Jerry fame in charge of getting rid of mice.
3
Sure, president doofus, pence is the guy for this job. After all, as governor, he did such a masterful job with opioids & HIV in Indiana. Meanwhile, I can't wait to hear what his fellow religious extremists make of the coronavirus. Who & for what is god punishing this time?
11
So far we have one case originating in the U.S. What we don't have is a vaccine. Companies are working all out to make one available. In the U.S vaccines have to go through significant testing to be sure the vaccine is safe an effective. Test are beginnings. China has a history of isolating huge areas when something like this occurs. They did that with SARS. When the Avian flue developed, they killed 1.5 million chickens over the protests of the poultry industry. Australia says it will have mass vaccination and quarantine people in stadiums. Are we ready for something like that action. People were complaining when we began screening for fever, passengers coming in from other areas where infections are present. It is not simple to define a new virus. In this case, cough and fever are two significant symptoms but often present in viral respiratory infections. There was a time, not too long ago, that it took a decade or longer to get a vaccine. Now we are already testing in China and other countries. But it is still going to take time to pass the test needed to use the vaccine. We also have the CDC working on treatment of infected people. Pelosi knows this or should. Her proclamation about Trump is just political and has nothing to do with the infection itself. Does she want Trump to tell companies to not wait to see if the vaccine works or is harmful.just start vaccinating.
1
We need tests now distributed all over the US. NJ and PA do don’t have test kits. Testing first.
1
@Meghan Murphy That seems reasonable to me. It turns out though, that test kits we developed so far, have faulty results. We can start the political blame game once we have a reliable test. We don't now. But, they are working on it. Simarly we want to make sure any vaccine we distribute is not flawed or harmful before we start mass vaccination.
1
Free advice. When these people say don't worry, it's time to push the panic button.
19
You Americans should look on the bright side: Trump could have picked Rudy Giuliani.
26
Make no mistake: this is all about Trump throwing Pence under the bus when this inevitably goes south.
28
@Andrew
That's what I thought too.
VP Hannity?
2
Trust these incompetents?
1 they’ve gutted trust of the very institutions people have come to trust in helping them cope with such a frightening prospect: NIH the CDC and Science , knowledge and truth in general
Them ask us to trust their incompetent turned over staff?!Will the car jockey head of the CDC please stand? Will Fox just shut up for a change?
2 international cooperation
Is essential In managing if possible this pandemic across the world
What better way to destroy that cooperation than the behavior of these amateurish emotional driven ignoramuses in cutting ourselves off from such cooperation ?
Then making a competitive sport out if it!
The coup de grave is the bald face lying to America about the seriousness of the situation on order to protect his own personal stock portfolio
Politicizing national health?
Try telling survivors of a wiped out town how their non existent 401ks are doing .
I am sure they’ll start a MAGA cheer for him
Trump: why not ask Putin for help now?
16
Wonder if 45 understood that Dr. Fauci contradicted him about the timeframe for a vaccine to become available. Suspect the science went right over his head.
12
Pence in charge...I feel safe now.
9
Sorry Don, Pence is hardly the one to handle this. Now get him the best and brightest to do what needs to be done,
Oh, one thing, the likely recession resulting from the disruption of travel and business will come, Be ready for that as well,
Looks like God and a tiny virus are about to expose the Trump miracle as a short term sham,
15
Ok so if Congress will give this administration 2.5 billion to fight this pandemic how do We the People know that’s where the tax dollars will go? Trump could say say never mind the spring thaw will end the virus look I just made the deal of the century free money for my wall that Mexico is going to pay for some day. Or Pence may want to use federal funding to treat people "seeking to change their sexual behavior.". I simply don’t trust this administration the lies are rampant ask the virus.
7
Great, a faith-based response to the threat. That’ll work...
23
@John Pence's brand of "faith" is in Self. That he and his distorted interpretation of God and the Word of God are right. He has faith that he and the people he thinks are good--including his boss and boss's family--are saved and anyone who questions their abominable interpretation are damned.
3
"I'm going to be announcing, exactly right now, that I'm going to put our vice president Mike Pence in charge".
There's our fearless leader, hard at work !!
We are very very ready...pull out the John Hopkins #1 chart, compare the coronavirus to influenza and put the crosshairs directly on Pence.
This "very stable genius" is probably thinking, what a self serving masterful play this could be . I can potentially eliminate Pence and replace him with Nikki Haley on the November ticket.
Don't be surprised !!
8
Even after 81,000 cases of infection and 3,000 deaths, President Trump belittles the seriousness of this global epidemic, saying, “The risk to the American people remains very low.” Thankfully, that optimism is not shared by all health care. With him by her side, Dr. Anne Schuchat of the C.D.C. differed with him, saying, “The trajectory of what we’re looking at over the weeks and months ahead is very uncertain.” Of course, he ruled out her concern just half-hour later: “we’re finding very little problem, very little problem.”
As said in this report, there have been 60 known cases of infection in the U.S. Trump is blaming the media for reporting it. Journalists are making the situation “look as bad as possible,” he says, while his own health and human services secretary Alex Azar II admits that health officials have been unable to figure out the cause of the latest infection. Of course, Trump could not blame it on China, because the victim had not visited China.
Will the problem disappear if journalists keep quiet about it? Trump may want to answer. It's not journalists who sounded the alarm, saying “it’s not so much of a question of if this will happen anymore, but rather more of a question of exactly when this will happen.” It's Dr. Nancy Messonnier, the director of the C.D.C.’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, who did it.
If the problem is not that serious, where is the need to appoint someone to coordinate the government’s response to it?
12
The US isn't a big proponent of science these days. Theology and mythology, we've got that stuff covered-- see Mike Pence. Maybe we're just too busy making America great again, like those days where the balance of bodily fluids combined with how near the planets are drove our understanding of how the body worked.
10
Pray it away, I guess. Meanwhile, Trump needs to concentrate on the only thing he cares about: how this impacts him personally, specifically his re-election chances.
17
Pence? That's reassuring. A big time science denier, he will ask people to be healed by faith. Just pray and don't dine with women unless your wife is there. And will he care about the poor people, often minorities and rural Americans and provide them with the care they will need with no insurance? Doubtful.
The coronavirus might actually do what the Democrats are unable to do: defeat trump in November.
It is going to affect the health of people and the health of our great "economic" recovery. And trump will not be able to control the virus by going to Barr, McConnell or the Supreme Court or even his "base".
13
I don't think Pence prayers are going to help, nor will his praise of the president stop protect one person from falling sick.
Here's a big vote of no confidence that the trump administration has the ability to martial all the enemies it has created among our best people to pull in the same direction. The contrast between what the medical people said at Trump's presser and what the trumpists said is frightening.
5
I feel confident saying that the only crisis Donald Trump sees in this is how it might impact his re-election chances.
14
The stock market tanks, besmirching the beautiful economy on which Trump is leaning for his re-election shoo-in, and only then does he jump into action. Coincidence? I think not. And if his leadership fails to contain the outbreak here, there's plenty of room under the bus for Milquetoast Mike and flocks of potential sycophants ready to jump into his vacancy on the ticket. Politics isn't just local; politics is all there is.
8
It's great to know Trump will take more money from Congress to deal with this pandemic...but where was he a few weeks ago?
In early February, Trump's proposed FY-2021 budget (which begins October 2020) cut the CDC's discretionary budget authority by $1.3 billion compared with fiscal 2020 -- a 19% cut -- including $25 million from public health preparedness and response outlays.
Chip Kahn, president and CEO of the Federation of American Hospitals, particularly decried the proposed cuts to public health agencies, noting that "The spread of the coronavirus is evidence that we need a strong permanent defense system to stop threats before they start and contain them when they do."
Well, suppose it is good to see Trump is finally focusing on this pandemic....in between his campaign stops, of course, to:
Manchester NH - February 10, 2020
Phoenix AZ - February 19, 2020
Colorado Springs CO - February 20, 2020
Las Vegas NV - February 21, 2020
....And, of course, tonight in North Charleston SC
7
First, all of the above, basically.
So Pence is in charge, things are going to go very badly, Pence takes the blame, Trump fires him and brings on Tulsi Gabbard as new VP nominee....
4
I guess Trump realized…no, I take that back, Trump was advised that he couldn’t tweet, humiliate or threaten this virus into submission. So since Mike Pence has bungled disease outbreaks before, Trump being Trump, put Pence in charge of protecting the U.S. from a deadly virus that keeps spreading and could reach pandemic proportions.
Let’s face it, Trump is only concerned about the political backlash from the coronavirus. Since his usual bag of tricks is useless against the virus, he handed off to Pence; so if things go awry, Pence will take the hit for the Capo. After all, Pence's job – like everyone else in Trump’s employ – is to exclusively protect the President. That’s enough to make us all sick.
11
Trump is only using Pence as a sacrificial pawn on whom he can blame any problems. The real problem is that Trump and the GOP’s trade war forced China into a hole where they couldn’t afford a pandemic or feel like they had friends who could help, causing them to suppress news of the spread instead of nipping it in the bud with international (including US) help. Couple that with the cuts to federal funding and series of GOP government shutdowns that have caused scientists like me to leave the work of helping Americans in pursuit of more stable jobs, and you have the perfect recipe for a disaster that nature made but the GOO made waaaay worse. If someone cut funding and we could no longer defend ourselves from a military threat, the right would be livid. Let’s see how they handle this biological threat.
All I have for you is the classic GOP panacea: thoughts and prayers, folks. This disease is probably already in the US and underfunded surveillance just basting detected it. Maybe Jesus/Pence can.
7
On the one hand COVID19 appears to be "just another flu". But it's a new flu.
The "old flus" kill 35,000 people in the US each year and that's with a sizeable fraction of the population vaccinated and previously exposed to all sorts of slight variations of those "old flus" both lessen the effect and spread.
This new COVID19, if new enough (though it's still a member of the coronavirus family), can race through the US population without much resistance (no community wide vaccinations, no previous exposures). The consequences can be, obviously, pretty significant.
This needs to be taken very seriously and we need to rely upon science, not conspiracy theorists nor religious fanatics.
7
This is the worst administration to be in control of a national health emergency! With all the lies, deceit , mis-information and worse unwillingness to listen to reason and a leader that thinks he knows everything, we can end up with a major disaster. Especially with a leadership that has shown time and time again that "Only the wealthy deserve to be healthy".
10
Well it's nice to know we will be fighting the coronavirus outbreak with voodoo.
6
I am astounded by the degree of near panic that can be seen throughout the comments and in the NYT coverage of this issue. The description of the person in Northern California who had been infected sounded like they were sitting in their living room and -- BOOM -- they got infected.
Please... let's use a little common sense, follow the CDC guidelines, wash our hands, avoid crowds to the extent possible and go about our daily lives. This disease is NOT the plague for goodness sakes.
As for Mr. Trump... he is merely trying to do his job for once. What do people here expect of him -- to show up wearing a mask when he gives a White House briefing?
38
@David H We expect him to respect science and not interpret every world event and every bit of news, even a potential pandemic, through the lens of how it impacts his chances in the next election,
194
T: “Just say NO...to the coronavirus”.
21
@David H
No , we want him to address the nation and say something like .... " I really screwed up when I disbanded the U.S. Pandemic Response Team back in 2018" ....everybody says so , everybody. Believe me ! That I will tell you ".
70
One of the first reactions in Germany: the Minister of Health affirms that all costs for testing and follow-up treatment are covered by health insurance, whether people are in a public or in a private scheme (Germany has a ‘public option’ with opt-out provisions). If laws need to be changed to guarantee this, it would happen right away.
This allows people to come forward and the authorities to do what it takes to contain the spread of disease the virus.
In the US - no chance. Even people with good health insurance like me are horrified of the prospect of being hospitalized and getting strangled and suffocated by all kinds of out-of-network third-party bills for treatments on which I was never consulted.
Should I get flu-type symptoms in Germany, I would go to the doctor. In the US, unless I fear to die without medical help, I would self quarantine at home until I am fine.
9
As part of the response to this pandemic, the government and businesses should cooperate to prevent price gouging on respiratory masks. On Amazon today, you can find numerous offers of respiratory masks anywhere from $16.99 to over $300. This is for a count of 50. Some businesses advertise a reasonable, albeit still high price, in the range of $39, but at checkout will tack on exorbitant shipping fees. I hope the administration has the medical and technical commitment beyond finally accepting the fact of corona virus as truth, to do this.
3
Listening to Donald Trump stumble through a message about the Coronavirus is not very reassuring. Putting Mike Pence, who does nothing but stand behind Trump and nod his head, is even less reassuring. Trump says we have "the greatest experts." He has a very difficult time listening to "experts." How many CDC officials will Trump fire when they give him bad news? If the situation worsens, he will blame it on someone else.
24
@Doug Agreed. President Trump's announcement that Mike Pence would be handling the pandemic for the administration sounded forced, like a child being told to eat their vegetables.
6
I wonder why Jared did not want to take the lead on this - especially now after solving all of the problems in the Middle East so successfully. It seems he would have been a shoo-in.
16
As I understand the President's remarks, the danger is small, the crisis is over, and the knowledge and leadership required to shepherd the response are minimal. Hence he appointed Vice President Pence to the position.
14
The blind leading the blind.
12
Pence will pray the virus away. I’m going to sleep so much better tonight.
12
Oliver,
I was thinking the same...then I remembered T does not like people who use religion.
1
If the first sentence of this article didn't send shivers through your spine, you may question whether you have one.
7
This sounds like a job for Jared!
10
Well at least the Republicans can rest easy knowing that Mike Pence and not an Obama scientist is on the job.
4
Sleep tight America, Mike Pence is going to take care of things.
The administration without any credibility in the world of science, or anything else, wants us to just either pray it away or just deny it exists altogether.
10
This is Pence's test to serve as Trump's VP in 2020. If the virus is contained or not as problematic as expected, Pence will be lauded as a hero. If, more likely, the situation goes out of control, Trump will have the perfect excuse to replace him with another running mate.
8
This is the point where Governors and state public health directors need to realize that they are on their own. Forget the federal government except for the CDC and NIH as a source of information. Don’t wait on them and don’t let them stop you doing what you need to do. Don’t ask permission. Act.
7
Trump announced we are 'very close' to developing a coronavirus vaccine.
The vaccine was 18 months away.
Asked about it, the WH said Trump was referring to the Ebola vaccine.
6
Does this mean that Pence is more likely to get exposed to it? IF that is the case, let it roll.
6
VP Pence has a new title: Future Scapegoat. And if things do get worse, Trump has a new VP on the ticket: Nikki Haley. Win-Win for Trump.
7
I listen to Trump and the administrations experts. It sounds to me like everything that needs to be addressed regarding the coronavirus is being addressed appropriately and is a work in progress. Trump said from the outset that this foolish politically motivated criticism about him not requesting enough money and suggesting he doesn't know what he is doing is just that, foolishness, and if Congress thinks he should have billions more he would be happy to accept it. It would be wonderful if the Democrats were not so consumed with hatred that would actually put their hatred of Trump aside for once and work for America.
The Center for Disease Control is a good example, only one of many, of why we need government and funding of such institutions . This is the kind of socialism we talk about here when we fight the Trump and the GOP's "starving the beast" and tax cutting. Trump has starved government and is in the process of chasing out good people, replacing them with loyal hacks. Putting Pence in charge of this coming epidemic is sheer hackery.
8
Oh joy. This is a highly scientific vastly evolving issue with considerable international aspects. Trump appoints a very ignorant, incurious, anti-science, bigoted, parochial politician to be in charge. Pence's signature experience in similar situations is the HIV and syphilis epidemic in a rural Indiana county, caused by an opioid epidemic. As Governor, Pence kept needle exchanges illegal based on religious grounds. I guess that's better than the relevant cabinet acting secretary, who has repeatedly told Congress that the new virus (2% mortality rate) is no worse than the flu (less than one in a thousand mortality rate).
8
Take heart. If laughter really is the best medicine, the news that "Pence is on it" --a phrase that must have prompted one of the greatest collective outbursts of hysterical laughter ever recorded in human history--may just have inoculated us.
I'm kidding. But the president is not. Is my joke any crazier than DJT's claims that because "we are the greatest country in the world" the c-virus will turn tail and run?
We're living the age of clowns and fools who honestly think magical thinking trumps science and medicine.
I was concerned before any of them opened their mouths to "reassure" us. Now I'm really really concerned. A greater ship of fools never set sail on political seas. Heaven help us, because this administration certainly doesn't have the foggiest notion of how to even pretend to do so.
10
Pence is going to lead the Coronavirus team . . . in prayer.
5
This is laughable - sadly. Trump has destroyed anything resembling his credibility. And Pence?... because of his religious convictions he refused to support a clean needle program as an outbreak of HIV/AIDS and hepatitis spread through out southern Indiana.
Funny how elections go - Trumps mockery of accurate and truthful news coverage may be the illustrating point that finally drives home the reality to enough voters that this guy Trump is crazy & Bad News.
"a half-hour later, Mr. Trump contradicted Ms. Schuchat’s assessment, telling reporters that “I don’t think it’s inevitable.”
5
Great, Pence will probably go home and pray for us.
7
Well, now that Donald has appointed Mike Pence to oversee the American Coronavirus response, the world has very good reasons to seal off itself from the United States.
5
Even in a time of crisis the democrats won't work with the President. The media contributes to the fears of the American people.
@Julia yet Republicans did everything they possibly could to sabotage America's recovery after the great recession during Obama's presidency. So don't give us this fake indignation about democrats not working with Trump.
10
a magnificent marketing foundation for the new vaccine.. watch all ... how this plays out
Nothing says stable genius like appointing an empty-suit faith healer to tackle a global health crisis.
9
Listen folks...with these people in charge?
Who needs a virus?
But...since we are on the topic? I don't listen to one syllable from them.
If they say go right? I'm going left.
My chances of avoiding the virus just went up exponentially.
3
What has been concerning me is that there does not seem to be firm information on how the Coronavirus is transmitted, and many people order things online that are produced and shipped directly from China. Could these be sources of contamination ? I have no one address this issue.
Whew, Pence is in charge, everybody calm down. And here I was worried that he'd tap some unqualified sycophant with no experience in a public health emergency...
10
Pence is in charge? Let us pray.
5
Pence? Really? We’re doomed.
5
Pence now Googling "Has a President ever fired a Vice President..."
4
Mike Pence who as Governor of Indiana created the first major outbreak of AIDS in decades.
8
Worse yet, he sued the New York Times. Now we truly have a dictatorship and threatened more to come. Is this the end of freedom of expression? How many will realize it?
3
Is it just me, or would an epidemiologist have been a better choice, instead of the guy, whose religious scruples caused a significant spike in HIV infections in Indiana?
9
Trump names Mike Pence whom he will blame later.
13
More likely, "Trump Names Mike Pence to Cover up Coronavirus Status". Who would believe this administration except for trump cult?
8
Pence ? Pence? He must be kidding us!
7
Pretty obvious the importance our chief executive gives to the crisis by putting his lap dog in charge. Now all he needs to do is involve his family to insure he can monetize the unds from congress on his family's behalf. Hey how about renting out suites at his hotels for victims?
6
Here is a novel thought, maybe President Trump can allocate more money to this important initiative by diverting his “wall money” to addressing coronavirus!
3
Our so-called president finally finds a job for Pence - surprising Azar who thought that was his. He puts another loyalist who is totally unqualified into the most important job today. Shame on him!
Shame on him!
17
Raise your hand if you feel any safer with trump or pence at the helm for any emergency...be it health or anything else for that matter. He is incapable of telling the truth, is ignorant of the facts and used his time to reassure the American public to tell us how incompetent Nancy Pelosi is...and seriously, pence at the helm? Anyone recall the HIV public health crisis when he was governor?
These two could not be more incompetent.
16
VP Pence does not instill confidence when you look at Indiana's ongoing toll from HIV and drug overdoses, abetted by his policies.
19
During his speech about his administration's response to the virus, I thought that the President looked and sounded completely out of his league. When he held up a sheet paper as evidence that apparently cited statistics compiled by some Johns Hopkins research as proof of America's preparedness, I thought how pathetic; but, I was not surprised as I recall him doing similar acts in prior speeches. His inability to assemble a team has been apparent throughout his administration and this will not change now at a time when it may be needed in a very pressing way. This is a time when he has the opportunity to demonstrate qualities of leadership rather than rhetoric. Unfortunately, his track record is, probably, a clear indication that he will not just fail but fail completely. His speech last night offered no proof that he can rise to the occasion, in my opinion.
19
@Kevin Phillips I am sure that the only reason the Administration cares is that it may hurt them politically. Honestly don't think they care how many Americans become infected or die if the stock market goes up.
5
So Trump goes to a renowned man of science. Is Pence going to pray the virus away?
19
So, where Obama appointed a scientist to deal with Ebola, Trump appoints a religious zealot to deal with the Covid-19 outbreak. I hope it works better than I think it will.
22
The most frightening words in the English language:
Pence is in charge.
28
Great. I’m sure he will mandate national prayer time. What an absurd but typically trump Ian response to a crisis
12
This is Pence's chance to show whether:
a) He learned ANYTHING from his religious-based dogma denials of medical science as Governor.
b) Can put the nation ahead of party and Trump's only interest in not having this hurt his re-election hopes.
c) Can step out from being nothing but a loyal eager-to-please-the-boss sycophant and demonstrate real executive skills, of which Trump has none, and SHOW the Senate what they could have had if they, properly, convicted Trump and stripped him of power and the privilege of every holding office again.
d) Can make the difficult choices requiring listening to the epidemiologists and scientists and following their recommendation.
But this is a guy whose standard stump speech was: "I'm a Christian first, then a Conservative, then a Republican." but never "American" or "Patriot", who made a non-health crisis into a health crisis, by preventing needle exchanges, and who was generally a miserably bad governor.
So my expectations are that Covid-19 WILL break out and spread rapidly across the nation, the way it has in other nations where the leaders actually take the threat seriously, and STILL cannot stop it. Meanwhile, stock up on emergency food, water, and cut back on physical contact with others.
15
Well, you have to admit no one in this “Administration” has the ability to put on a Really Serious Face like Pence.
18
@Brian
So that's what it is. I've seen pieces of burnt toast that are livelier.
5
This is what it feels like to be in the back seat of a speeding car with a drunk driver.
29
At Least some historians will name Trump our Traitor President.
From several obstruction actions named in the Mueller Report to actions like this one, wherein for two wasted weeks to prepare for this viral threat to denuding various government departments and agencies through various firings and the shifting of people out of departments.
Those individuals have in one way or another testified to his anti- American pursuits. Pursuits largely aimed to advance his personal political ambitions or to greedily line his pockets via the WH.
Mike Flynn, Devin Nunes, and others will also be judged to have been traitors.
President Rump is the singular force undermining our citizens' security. At Least some historians will name him our Traitor President.
10
First of all what is Pence expertise on medical field? Trump never saw this coming and he and his yes men do not know how to manage.
12
This is what it feels like to be in the backseat of a speeding car with a drunk driver.
6
@Question EverythingHey, that was my line~Maude
3
Mike Pence in charge? Ask the people of Scott County, Indians when Mike Pence did when he was governor of Indiana. His inaction was a factor in the spread of an HIV epidemic.
8
And now it becomes real. And now it becomes consequential. Those who bet we'd get away with electing the most inept, incompetent, narcissistic president in our history without consequence were fatally wrong.
Go back and replay the opening thirty seconds of DJT's "reassurances." The same old same old. Bragging, absent any credible evidence, that we're the greatest country in the world (sure, Donny, tell that to the microscopic droplets of infection; I'm sure they'll turn tail and head someplace else just on your word) and then, most stupefying, citing the very experts, resources, and institutions that he had the stupidity and greed to cut.
Dumbfounding. The gall of it. I'm sure all of those fired at the CDC are thrilled to hear how vital they "are" not were. And those left struggling with vastly reduced budgets must be glowing at the thought that they're in the front-lines absent ammunition.
Then click on Mr. Azar's "commanding" performance for more reassurances and become utterly convinced that of all of the nations facing this our deplorable state of government, makes us one of the most vulnerable.
Who thinks all of those living pay check to pay check (the vast majority of the country) are going to self-quarantine if it means losing their jobs, homes, food for half a month? Where is the team promising us that these outcomes won't happen? Are those who cannot afford to see a doctor going to be tested? How? Who pays?
All our pitiful pigeons are coming home to roost.
19
Trump put Pence in charge to blunt or stop any news on the coronavirus being communicated to the American people that would reflect poorly on the administration and especially Trump. This is very similar to Trump getting very angry when the justice department let it be known publically that Russia was supporting Trump again. He fired Macguire the next day. Trump's performance at the press conference yesterday was sickening, as he clearly showed to everyone he is not anywhere near knowledgeable about this health crisis.
13
The only good thing about this new virus is that finally life as usual no
longer works no matter what Trump says. This is the moment to reflect on what really is important. My grand children’s future is my priority.
11
Finally, it may have arrived. The event that will insure that Trump will NOT be re-elected. Having devastated all kinds of budgets for agencies dealing with health so the super rich can have a super tax cut... we may not have enough people on the frontline in the war against the Coronavirus. So far as corrupt Wall Street and the equally corrupt FED that needs to raise interest rates and alll those CEOs who created the Chinese supply chain - now interrupted-- maybe it is time to bring certain industries back home?? (Why did they leave? Oh yeah -- CEO salaries and shareholder returns or some such nonsense.)
I wonder how the opioid addicted in Appalachia and other parts of Trump country will deal with the Coronavirus epidemic? And the rest of the Trump supporters -- when/if they learn what a mess Trump has made... and why we need Medicare 4 all.
9
This is what happens when people elect someone to "shake things up". Trump has no ability to lead. He and the GOP do not believe in science which will be needed in abundance to manage this issue.
I also work in our healthcare system and it is stressed to the max right now. Every provider I know is frustrated by the number of patients they are expected to see daily. The system is not and cannot absorb thousands of new patients flooding it if the Coronavirus hits the US hard.
10
What a great idea putting Pence in charge.
What exactly was the death toll in Indiana thanks to his mismanagement?
9
Of course Trump handed this off to Pence.
He absolved himself of any direct responsibility snd negative fallout.
Besides, Trump’s brain is so littered with conspiracy theories, “fake” news and vitriolic sputum there’s no way he could honestly stay on message and follow though this crisis.
11
Stock market dropped 1900 points Monday and Tuesday. Democrats debated Tuesday night. Fox and trump blamed the drop on the debate. Nearly all Repubs agreed with this assessment. I mean, the movie "Dumb and Dumber" had a few moments. But, Really??
17
I sure hope the solution to the crisis doesn't depend on Pence meeting alone with a woman. Someone please remind me of the Vice President's health credentials.
13
Was I the only one who saw an incoherent, rambling and self-serving presentation by POTUS 45 on a topic that needs incisive, science-based determination of facts?
I hope POTUS 45 was severely jet-lagged, otherwise his performance was incoherent at best, incompetent and frightening at worse.
Appointing Pence to head the US Government response is disconcerting, based on Pence's performance during the HIVs Indiana Epidemic. When Pence's prayers prove to be inadequate, POTUS 45 will have another opportunity to shun his responsibilities and will be able to blame the VEEP in charge: Pence!
The US is entering a critical situation with its defenses decimated by budget cuts to the agencies designed to protect us. We were prepared for the Ebola crisis, we are not prepared today.
Instead we are led by a leader who does not understand and disdains the Science that will be used to make the appropriate decisions to lead the nation during these perilous times.
Even realizing the danger to the public, I laughed at the Sharpie modified hurricane tracking map; I am not laughing right now.
21
Had he gone all in and had a “we are all doomed” press conference he would have been called out for fear mongering. It’s just like the amount of money he requested, no matter the amount, it would never have been enough to satisfy the NYT readers.
Chuckie and Nancy had to politicalize it by wanting more than 3 times as much, which I am certain is loaded up with a bunch of spending unrelated to fighting Coronavirus. Trump outflanked them by saying if we need more we’ll ask for it. This is what any reasonable president would see.
More importantly is what will be done with the $2.5 billion or $8 billion (more money can be requested at anytime so the first amount is meaningless)? What I do know is there are greedy government contractors looking for a way to get their hands on that money.
This confirms TDS is the fastest spreading disease the earth has known for which the cure may come in 2024.
Finally I’d like to thank the CDC’s esteemed principal deputy director, Dr. Anne Schuchat, for warning Americans that there would be more infections. I did not know that.
1
Let’s remember here that stable genius Trump just submitted a budget that cut funds for the CDC by 16 percent. A brilliant strategy at a time when health experts have been warning that the threat of a pandemic is rising. Try as much as you like to make this sound like Democrats complaining, this is going to be Trump’s Katrina moment, where we watch a clueless, oblivious buffoon botch the handling of a national crisis. I can’t wait to hear Trump say “heck of a job Mikey” as thousands get sick.
13
Mike Pence was in charge of the election fraud commission.
He refused to release the commission's findings to the general public.
13
Unfortunately, with so much at stake for humanity with with so many genuine experts available at the CDC and the NIH, a politician with a law degree and who doesn't believe in evolution is selected to lead a task force to confront a rapidly evolving virus. Galileo told us nearly 400 years ago of the importance of facts versus beliefs...."E pur si muove"..."and yet it moves". Is our species so slow to learn?
12
As always, Trump selects the worst possible person for the job as evidenced by his entire cabinet. In this case, Mike Pence, who oversaw a very preventable HIV epidemic while Governor of Indiana, is yet another science denier who will probably chalk this up to the "will of God" and call for the American people to pray for a cure.
This may be the moment when Trump leads us over a cliff into the abyss.
12
I wouldn't trust Trump to give me an accurate description of the current weather.
17
I am no health expert and don't know what the plan should be, but I know that Pence is no health expert either. Trump fired the group Obama put together to monitor and deal with diseases like this - probably just because Obama backed it. He just now replaced it with Pence. And Trump seems to say, "Thousands of people die of the flu every year in the US - what's a few thousand more?" I find myself hoping Trump caught it while he was in India. If he personally were to get really sick, he might gain some understanding of why we have scientists and the CDC. But then again, he probably wouldn't.
11
“Our aggressive containment strategy here in the United States has been working and is responsible for the low levels of cases that we have so far. However, we do expect more cases,” she said as the president stood behind her. “The trajectory of what we’re looking at over the weeks and months ahead is very uncertain.”
What containment strategy is she talking about? There are reports from MDs that people in the US are not being tested at the level that they should be. The CDC sent out faulty test kits; people are not being aggressively screened at airports. What exactly is the CDC doing? And for concerned people wondering how we should be planning for this their website tells us to keep 6ft away from people and wash our hands. That's it? We are on our own folks. Our government is rudderless and hollowed out because of Trump. Start making plans for yourself and your loved ones.
11
THe only true containment going on is they are trying to stop any facts or news from getting out into the general public. They wouldn’t know how to handle a teapot that happens to have a handle. If this matter were not so serious, this would be comical. Unfortunately, as they try to paint a rosy picture, they are spreading false information that is dangerous to the public. The public might want to reassured but it is more important that they know what to do: wash your hands, try to stay out of spaces with many people, do not cough into your hand. Teach children the same. Each day, as more information pours into the news cycle, the American people should finally see how inept these people are.
How ironic if a virus from China is the very thing that takes down this bumbling administration. Probably not the trade agreement that Trump wanted.
1
A reality TV personality that has never read a technical paper appoints a Christian talk show host that ridicules evolution to a vitally important scientific position.
What could possibly go wrong?
35
With a man like Mike Pence who doubts climate change science and probably even doubts the theory of evolution to head the program what do we have to worry about.
No doubt his answer will be that we have to pray harder and, that as our ancestors did, just find minority groups to blame and drive them out of the country or better still, kill them.
I feel safer all ready.
10
Since Trump lies all the time, why should we believe him now?
8
Sure - just like the service members in Iraq only had headaches. Sigh.
15
I've noticed a certain tendency of some people to diminish the risk of this new virus by saying "well, only the elderly die." These people are us, our spouses, our parents, and our grandparents. And from what I have read, the age/sex of many who succumb to the extreme effects of the virus, a severe pneumonia, are men in their 50s and 60s, often with some other health condition. Some of these victims seem to get better, and then rapidly decline.
Trump kept insisting during the press conference that this is "just a flu," almost to calm his own fears. The medical people onstage seemed to silently acquiesce to this (though what else could they do?) . Meanwhile, the head of the decimated CDC, Nancy Messonnier, on her own said "this will be bad" and will likely disrupt daily life. The president's understatement of the seriousness of this situation--just as he refused to address Russian election interference--will cost us, perhaps in lives. He just kept doing what he usually does--vague exaggeration about how we "are the best--look at this US News and World Report ranking blah blah blah." How does he think we got to be the best? We used to invest in education and infrastructure. His administration gutted everything. He even complained that the virus was getting more money from Congress than "the wall" turning the whole thing into a political circus (with the aid of "journalists" who like to push his buttons).
12
Bernie would have the government handing out free masks to people.
Republicans would want a system where corps can make vast profits from masks and pay little to no taxes.
8
Can Mike Pence make a good job working against COVID-19 epidemic?
1
Tossing Pence under the bus.... who saw that coming?
11
I wouldn't trust Pence to clip his own toenails without ending up in the hospital.
8
Mike Pence created policies that created an aids epidemic when he was Governor of Indiana. Maybe he can borrow Trump’s sharpie.
What kind of country allows people like this to make decisions on public health and safety?
16
What's wrong with just hopes and prayers?
8
“Trump Names Mike Pence to Lead Coronavirus Response.” I guess we are in for more of the same response and actions of that after a mass shooting: thoughts and prayers.
12
It won't be long before Trump blames the pandemic on Obama and then uses the crisis to increase his authoritarian powers.
12
That is absolutely happening. A pandemic is just the excuse right wingers need to close borders and declare martial law thus cancelling elections.
All these journalists and people suffering from TDS. Exactly, how many Americans do you want to contract the Coronavirus?
Do you think a thousand to ten thousand would end Trump's chances of being re-elected?
Would this make you happy?
2
@P&L: Aren’t you the one who has TDS? Trump is being CRITICIZED for not taking the threat not seriously enough! He said that people probably won’t die from contracting the virus, but still about 2-3% die and another 15-20% get seriously ill. Nothing to dismiss about.
9
We need N95 mask
2
So Trump says that "The risk to the American people remains very low". This is totally different than his, and most Conservatives, fear mongering opinion during the Ebola "crisis" when a grand total of 11 people were infected in Our Country. The current count for Covid-19 is 60.
7
Words of advice from Inspector Gamache to our President and Vice-President, to help them confront the Novel Coronavirus with the care and diligence it merits.
The journey to wisdom comes from saying, and meaning these four sentences:
1. I don't know.
2. I need help.
3. I'm sorry.
4. I was wrong.
I pray that you can prove Mayor Bloomberg wrong. The novel corona virus will not discriminate. It cannot be managed by "fake news."
5
Pence is Trump's version of Michael Brown (FEMA) post-Katrina.
What ravages await us with a man in charge who doesn't believe in science.
13
Will Mr. Pence suggest the best course of action is prayer?
12
Of course he appointed Pence; he sensed the need, in his feral self preserving way, to set up a fall guy well in advance of the inevitable bad news to come...
20
I guess he will pray on it?
How about a scientist?
12
Why is he even president? He clearly has no interest in doing the work.
19
He doesn't see it as a treat so he puts Pence in charge. Snap!
6
Penn Transplant Institute as a paradigm for Mainframe WAN monitoring, USCG Framework mobilized, Boss . . .
Trump as usual scowling in the photo. He finds it so hard to be President, you can see it in his face, but he has such an overblown ego he can only force himself to continue (forcing himself on all of us who know he is not capable). And why, because the solutions are so pathetically inadequate. First he focused on his humiliation because he was away in India lying to them all as well. Second, he chooses the Vice President who knows nothing at all about medical issues, his forte is religion. And keeping people out of the US. Then finally where does the Medical Establishment come into it? I want the Direction to come from the CDC. Stop the drama and stop the blame of the Democrats and get on it.
8
I'm sure he's got Jared Kushner working on creating the vaccine and it will be really great.
Mike Pence oversaw a major outbreak of HIV in Indiana while he was governor because he refused to hand out needles to addicts forcing them to share. He then announced he had to pray to decide what the right thing was to do. Apparently God told him to hand out fewer needles. This true.
These men are embarrassing clowns.
16
@Sera - Mike Pence annoys me so much. Since when did Jesus sit around praying? The Bible tells us He went out there and took action: cast out demons, cured the lepers, raised Lazarus, calmed the storm on the Sea of Galilee, befriended Mary Magdalene and the tax collectors, and handed the money changers in the temple their heads. He didn’t pray about what to do or not do, He just did it. Mike Pence is a lazy politician and a sorry excuse for a Christian in so many ways. His front-and-center presence on the coronavirus outbreak is not reassuring in the least because I suspect he will do what he did in Indiana with HIV, which is nothing.
5
NY Times,
I share another of your headlines;"Trump Has a Problem as the Coronavirus Threatens the U.S.: His Credibility"
Trumps lost his credibility a long time ago.
The man in charge truly lacks the emotional ability and/or maturity to feel compassion for another's life. Paranoia about the loyalty of his subjects lead to his decision of Pence vs a health care expert.
God help us.
10
I must admit, I did not read the entire article.
But as soon as I read the headline, I said "There's Trumps' fall guy." Any future blame has already been shifted.
8
I am a left wing Democrat, but even so, Bush, the father, and maybe even Nixon, certainly Ford, these are people that I would be polite and respectful with. Even Bush, the son, I would refrain from being rude to.
But these folks, Trump and the rest, I would try to think of the most insulting thing to say, and I would say it directly to them.
I think a lot of people feel the same way.
16
You really don’t need to think too hard to determine what to say that’s insulting. Just directly observe and comment on their ludicrous behavior.
@Greenie It's more than being unhappy. We don't trust him to tell the truth; he is a habitual liar.
We don't trust him to do what is best for Americans; many of his appointments installed corrupt people whose intention is to dismantle the very office they were assigned to; he makes alliances with countries that mean us harm; he ignores the advice of our intelligence community. There's much more.
Overall, we don't trust him to do the right thing. We don't trust his intentions.
For instance, he has slashed the budget of the very agencies that are in charge of disease outbreaks. He dismissed the people formerly in charge of the CDC. We question this decision.
We do not sleep well at night because of the lack of trust.
Now he is at the helm when there is a worldwide crisis. We are anxious to see what will happen.
While the way he handled the press conference showed me that he is aware that this virus is a big deal (I don't think he thought so only two days ago), he has installed a person, our VP, who did not do well at the helm of an outbreak when he was governor of a state.
Yes, I suspect there are moments when people are mocking him because of how he talks and behaves.
This is one moment, however, when the worst of our fears about the abilities of this president co-mingle with the worst of our fears regarding our health and safety.
I don't see how you can simply brush aside valid concerns.
7
The Unprecedented has just nominated another praying
boy to be thrown under the bus.
If (let's hope it won't happen) the virus spreads through
the US we can be sure that Donald has made the best deal ever with it.
What do you think will happen in a country where most people have no payed sick leave, let alone health insurance or a functioning government ?
They'll go to work because they need the money.
Ideal conditions for spreading.
10
Mr. Trump's surprising naivety on this issue is clear by the appointment of Mike Pence to manage response planning. If he really thought it was important he would have assigned Ivanka or Jared.
7
Why should we feel satisfied with the White House public relations version? And will those experts who urged a more cautious assessment be allowed to remain at their posts? DT will probably find a way to send them to some bureaucratic gulag with all the others he has punished for telling actual truth.
2
The real question here is did pence ask "mother" if it was ok? Will he be able to work with women who happen to be scientists? Does he have to be chaperoned? Will he be tempted by that evil opposite sex type? Oh my. Oh my.
14
'We have this so well under control.'
- Trump
He then put fall guy Mike in charge and washed his hands of the entire matter. Leadership!
5
@Blue in Green I put this in the category of famous last words. If Trump was a drinker he would have said hold my beer.
1
with the 75th Anniversary of Auschwitz's liberation by the Allies, several documentaries occurred on the major German public media networks such as ARD, ZDF, ARTE, Phoenix. One documentary sticks with me, where a survivor talks about how she now views that most of humanity is made up of 'creatures', which is understandable from her horrific ordeal. 'Creatures' certainly characterizes this Trump administration with absolutely nothing to believe in them at all!
4
Hang up your hats,folks. Inspector Pence Clouseau is already on the case.
8
Gosh, darn it. I sure feel better now that Mike Pence is on the case!
5
Wow. Mike Pence in charge. Very reassuring.
2
Pence will solve the problem of caronavirus the same way he solved everything: by lying. With a flick of his tongue cap a iris will go away. The Chinese propaganda machine has got nothing on Pence!
May God save us from Trump and Pence.
4
How on earth is Mike Pence in charge of stopping this pandemic in the USA? What expertise does Pence have? Is Pence an epidemiologist? Does Mike hold some medical degree? What qualifications, other than being Trump's biggest ego kisser, does Mr. Pence hold, to be leading the US fight against coronavirus? We have such an empty, incompetent administration with Trump. Unbelievable.
5
trump's primary concern behind all his blather is the stock market, and how much money he and his cronies stand to lose.
making pence the head of *anything* is merely more smoke screen, let's see what trump tries to pull next, when he thinks we're not watching …
2
Really?! The guy whose poor decisions based on homophobia and religious zealotry exasperated an HIV outbreak in Indiana is now in charge of our coronavirus response?! God help us.
8
One scientifically incompetent denier appointing another.
Look for more lies and coverups that endanger our population!
5
Jared got demoted?
9
Don’t panic people!!
1
This is Trump's worst nightmare. It's a crisis he didn't cause so he can't back down and diffuse it. He can't lie his way out of it. He's completely incompetent. And, at a time like this when truth is extremely important, no one believes one word that comes out of his mouth.
16
Comforting to know that even after the sick truckers stop delivering food to Safeways and schools close without teachers that Pence will still be giving Trump his breakfast cheeseburger. God save the King.
12
Trump diving into the issue, we all want the virus to spread wildly, just to make him look bad. this is how much this guy is divisive and polarizing.
he must be replaced by a somebody unifying.
5
In the live update, New York Times claimed "some countries, like Singapore and the United States, have more proactive testing and containment efforts than others do." I honestly don't know how your paper arrived at this conclusion given the way this is handled by the government or CDC now. Proactive how?!
8
Will this put a damper on Huge campaign rallies? Will selfie lines be restricted?
9
Sweet relief! Pence will save us with a prayer group!
6
Seems advisable to avoid large crowds, maybe even political rallies ?
11
Swell. Putting in charge an ex-Governor who doesn’t believe that viruses evolve and who allowed HIV cases in his state to skyrocket.
13
The argument that there's no need to worry because only the old and sick will die, sure is terrible. But there's a silver lining.
Don't forget, Donald Trump is 73.
9
I cannot trust anything he says. I grew up in a generation where the President was the top of the ladder, anyone would serve his request. It was your patriotic duty. Now, he has lied so frequently, so consistently, that I can’t tell what is truth from fiction. I never want to feel this way. I never want to feel this way again. Bring me back Obama. Bush. His Father. Reagan. Carter. Yes, Eisenhower.
He is scarier, more threatening, than the coronavirus itself.
17
Did Trump just set a trap for Pence?
For Pence to fail and justify Trump
dumping him for Nikki Haley come the
convention?
7
Pence is an elected official in his own right. I am not sure he could be dumped. Plus he is the cypher who knows MORE than all the others. Esp, Gen Flynn in Moscow to Rudy in Ukraine.
2
I'm no longer worried now that uber-evangelist Mike Pence is praying for us. No harm can come to us now.
6
Ground Hog's Day in the USA.... It's always late summer 2005 in New Orleans and there is always Republican Administration in power.
3
Mike Pence - makes no sense! The man is so fearful of saying something DJT wouldn't like that he very rarely utters a word - reminds me of Justice Thomas, another mute. Let's please get someone with a medical background to coordinate a serious medical problem.
12
Sad that so many of the commenters here have nothing to say but snide remarks directed against Trump and/or Pence and our government. May I ask how this is helpful? Really, you've been venting your feelings about the election results for over 3 years now. We all understand that you're not happy. Give it a rest. We need to come together as a country to deal with whatever may happen with this virus as well as whatever else is coming down the pike that we're as of yet unaware of. Your determination to continually engage in partisan sniping is beyond juvenile and not at all helpful.
3
Trump doesn't care about the cornona virus infection or how many people may die. He ONLY CARES a great deal about what it's doing to the stock market because his bottom line is affected. His billionaire cult members are also worried about their bottom lines and are pressuring him to do something or they won't support his re-election. That's his biggest worry.
7
We and our families are at risk to be sacrificed on the altar of capitalism. The name of the game is to calm the markets. Reminds me of Kevin Bacon in the movie “ animal house “ at the end screaming “ all is well, remain calm” right before he got run over like a pancake. If they prepare they will scare investors and the corporate masters don’t want their stock prices to go down. So if a couple thousand serfs have to go not to damage that , oh well that’s all folks
5
It appears odd that Trump always wants to be in charge of a manufactured crisis (i.e. invasion from Mexico and an imminent threat from terrorists) yet chooses to delegate authority to Pence when a real crisis occurs.
10
Regarding “the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported a person with no known risk factors had been infected in Northern California.” That person is from Solano County. The people from the Diamond Princess were flown to Travis AFB, which is in Solano County. Could that be the connection?
3
Everyone is ignoring the role of asymptomatic carriers. Screenings are never 100% effective and additionally the screening that took place at airports would not detain an asymptomatic carrier, who could then go on to their destination. There’s probably a sizable number of people carrying/infected with the virus walking around in the US but they are not going to the doctor and being tested because their symptoms are not severe enough to warrant a visit.
If we tally the number of asymptomatic carriers in the morbidity and mortality numbers, actual lethality could be quite low.
3
Pence is perfect for virus czar in an administration that privileges ignorance and incompetence. During his term as Indiana governor, ending in 2016, maternal and infant mortality rates skyrocketed, and the obesity percentage rose to the highest in the nation. Moreover, during an AIDS outbreak in 2015 along Interstate 65 in southern Indiana, Pence refused to implement the needle exchange program for which health professionals were begging as a means to stem the spread. Why? His right-wing evangelical homophobia, what else? It fell to his successor to initiate the essential program. My guess is that Trump is setting up Pence to take the fall when the “task force” he supposedly heads inevitably fails to contain the virus. Then Trump can dump Pence from the ticket.
13
The President is merely setting up Mike Pence to take the fall if things get out of hand. Then the President can send him out to pasture, so the campaign can be fought with the Trump dream team: Trump (Donald) and Trump (Junior), or Trump (Donald) and Trump (Ivanka), vs. whatever wounded Democrats survive the convention in Milwaukee.
7
The world can be safe knowing that VP Pence is in charge of the United States' front against the coronavirus.
4
Hmm, I don't think I share Trump's optimism. Disbanding the entire US Pandemic response team and global biosecurity unit in 2018. I cannot believe how ignorant and draconian this administration is. Let us watch the scramble towards a "new" strategy, (mirroring the Obama strategy)....
5
To put it simply, there is an old first aid adage about injuries/illnesses that present doubtful diagnoses (ie the person attending isn't sure exactly what the problem is) 'treat for the worst, hope for the best'. It appears that Trump thinks the opposite. This is not a political issue. I don't think I quite believe that he was hugged by a sick person.
1
I have zero confidence in Trump’s statements. He lies and fires those who won’t and he has gutted federal agencies we need in these situations. Appointing Pence is a joke and is designed to further control the narrative...more lies.
6
A confederacy of dunces! Unbelievable! We are in so much trouble now! Pence has absolutely no public health experience and Trump has effectively muted and gutted all of the expertise in finance. I have no confidence in this administration's ability to respond to the looming global and domestic recession resulting from this pandemic. China is in recession, Europe was already teetering on the brink of recession. and the US is not far behind. Trump's bag of tricks including denial, gamesmanship and currying favor with his base will do nothing to help lead USA and the world through this crisis.
4
pence does have public health experience--of the epic fail kind. Check his record as gov. of Indiana & opioids & HIV. Abysmal.
Two cases reported in Pakistan today with one in Karachi and one in Islamabad. The risks of a pandemic are getting greater by the day if we look at the growth in the number of countries affected by the coronavirus.
From his comments it appears that President Trump is far more worried about the state of the stock market then he is about the number of lives at risk.
6
Trump said yesterday that many wouldn't be able to afford the Cvirus vaccine. Other countries vaccinate for flu gratis.
The American system of profit even in the face of death.
6
So Donald Trump is willing to perpetuate his fraudulent presidency at the cost of even more American lives.
4
This could be the Trump White House's Katrina moment. Let's see if Pence does a heckuva job.
Ultimately, expect Trump to do what GW did--populate agencies with incompetent or corrupt political appointees, in the process dismantling any effectively functioning government, and then blame government bureaucracy when things fall apart. That's the kind of logic Trump and his supporters can readily understand, at least when WH pronouncements of fake news and fake viruses prove exaggerated and lethal, respectively.
4
Trump said: "We're at that very low level, and we want to keep it that way." ... unless he's lying, in which case just ignore him.
1
How could attacking the media hide the harsh reality of Trump's disdain and pronouncedly contemptuous attitude to science specially the climate science? Accordingly when the world was girding up to prevent the spread of the coronavirus and quarantyiing the affected areas and the communities, even the WHO had declared the menace as a disease of epidemic/pandemic proportion Trump remained cool and unperturbed busy with his pleasure trip abroad, to India, only to curse the media when the time came to explain his side of preparation to prevent and fight the coronavirus threat in the context of the US? This is nothing but Trump's frustration and anger for being asked troubling questions.
4
So now we have secretary of HHS Alex Azar quarreling over who is really the “czar” of the coranovirus task force, whether it is him or VP Pence. If Azar is wise quickly defer to Pence’s leadership to avoid the predictable stiletto from POTUS when the whole venture goes south.
How was the scientific leadership looked this bad in modern times? Pence and Azar are the “Cheech and Chong” for scientific leadership at a time that we need some real scientists paving the way. The CDC has actually the courage to tell Trump in his presence the truth as occurred today at the so-called presser.
Azar has little background in epidemiology except as General Counsel at HHS during the anthrax scare post 911 and SARS in 2002, hardly recommendations for a scientific background in virology. His only recommendation was that, as CEO of Eli Lily, prices for insulin were increased 2 to 3 fold; this at a company that pioneered recombinant insulin over 30 years ago.
Pence has outstanding credentials as a leader in medical care as Trump repeatedly emphasized how Pence developed a nationally recognized state health system, that only occurred after Indiana joined the ACA in the Medicaid program. Trump could not discuss that little detail as Obamacare would be verbally require.
So much for Pence’s expertise when addressing a public health crisis. In 2014, Indiana experienced an outbreak of HIV and hepatitis C infections in Southern Indiana from IV drug use. That speaks for itself.
3
This would have been believable if he didn't fire the guy in charge of defending the country from pandemics.
5
I wish no other region/countries experience what Wuhan went through. It’s a true humanitarian crisis.
Looking back from Wuhan’s experience:
Quarantine a city is the best way to stop corona virus because people can pass the virus to other people without any symptoms shown, but the following 2 points have to be considered before the government decides to block a city:
1. The ability to build more temporary medical facilities in a timely manner is key, because hospitals in any city are not designed for a situation when half of the population in the city are seeking medical attentions at the same time. The severe patients in Wuhan are treated in the hospital, and patients with light or suspicious symptoms are treated in the temporary facilities. Wuhan spent 10 days to build huoshenshan hospital which only can accomandate 1000 ppl. The mistake they made is they should build multiple facilities at the same time such as converting abandoned building into temporary medical facilities. A lot of people die in one family during the waiting time because all the hospitals were full, and they have to stay at home, and therefore affected the family members.
2. The ability to mobilize medical resources from other regions to the affected region. 30,000 doctors and nurses were sent to Wuhan, but it’s still not enough!:(
The Wuhan situation shouldn’t be this bad if there are no coverups in the beginning and the people in leadership are intelligent.
It could bring down President Trump were too many people in a surprisingly few key states to blame him for them getting sick, and not caring much, or at all; why his mysterious Vice President, Mike Pence, now carries the ball, so to speak. But it is probably too late already. The virus which is loose among us, so it has a vote, as the generals say; it being the enemy. Hide as best you can. Count on receiving no help from the Trump Administration.
Why was President Trump visiting India? Tell me again.
2
What an embarrassing performance today from the president. Not only was his bumbling and incoherent presentation embarrassing, but it was a clear signal that he has no idea what is going on or what the risks are to the country. What is even more worrying is that he seems to care little for the dangers facing the population. His only concern seems to be the economic downturn and the possibility that the Phase One deal with China looks unlikely. To the president and his supplicant, Mr. Pence, all of this is bad news but not for us, only to them and re-election. The threat is not one of pandemic but the danger of and ever sinking Dow Jones and the economy as a whole.
4
Probably been mentioned in one of the 2512 other comments but I wanted to remind folks that there are 480,000 deaths due to smoking in the US each year. That's about 1,315 per day. I know it 'different' and people smoke 'by choice' but gee whiz there are ways to stem the tide of this public health epidemic/pandemic. Where is the outrage about this? That's a World Trade Centre death toll every 2.25 days from smoking or 162 WTC's per year. China has one of the highest rates of smoking amongst men in the world. Never been there so cannot say if their government is concerned about this. And then there are those who don't die but are only crippled. The human and economic cost is astronomical. Hey dear Senators -- how about 8.5 billion dollars to get people to stop smoking?
2
We have been told there are 83 people self-quarantined in our county (Nassau). They weren’t considered in his 15 people dropping to 5 dropping to 1. We need honest information. Any of the 83 could become or are ill. How many counties out there are like ours?
1
Democrats are fun to watch. First they call Trump a racist for calling for a travel ban from China. Now they say 2.6 billion isn't enough. Then they say his CDC funding is too low even when it is greater than any time in the Obama Administration. The majority of the public understands the extreme bias and desperation of the Democrats and their media mouthpieces. It will be very clear in November that the majority of the public has lost any faith they had in both the Democratic Party. It will be fun to watch how Democrats react in December. My guess is, they will be the minority in the House and Senate and they will have no choice but to make a bit of a right turn.
2
This virus will kill people who are Democrat and those who are Republican. It is a sign of how out of whack our public discourse has become that discussion of how to deal with the developing health crisis gets tangled up in this odd political polarization. Who I want overseeing this medical emergency is a highly trained and experienced medical professional who is publicly non- political and keeps any political opinions and religious beliefs vey private and separate from their professional life.
5
I have no doubt that VP Pence is a fine devoted man. I disagree with him on practically everything but I’ve never put myself in the political arena so I don’t have a lot of room to judge.
But as a recently retired physician I’m very concerned that such a man would be placed in a position that requires cold analysis of hard scientific data. I’m sure he’s not stupid but all indications have been that he lacks the intellectual depth and flexibility to have anything valuable to add and his cognitive rigidity could make things worse.
This isn’t a job for limited minds and political shenanigans. Lives depend on these decisions and I wouldn’t want him making or influencing them.
6
President Trump known to fear shaking hands with people due to his near-obsession with germs. Perhaps he will need to wear a face-mask by the time of the Republican convention; with all delegates kept at a safe distance sprayed with disinfectant. Unfortunately the Coronavirus super-bug has developed a mind of its own and not listening to any government. "Leadership" is not really an effective prescription against Coronavirus; not responsive to government sanctions either as a rule.
2
Imagine: What will happen if Covid-19 breaks out in the US like it did in China? How will the US government react to the crisis?
It is heartening to see career public health experts stand up and humbly correct the misinformation of the Dotard-in-Chief.
Another instance of being grateful that there are public servants who have stayed in their posts despite budget cuts and the daily demonstrable lying of their boss.
3
These budget cuts everyone lives to discuss are almost always reductions to the amount of the increase they are asking for. If I am getting $10 this year, ask for $12 next and end up with $11 is that really a cut.
When this is over I’d like to an accounting of how every dollar spent. If done we will find out that most of it was squandered on things of dubious values.
I hate to say it, but maybe a stronger case needs to be made about why we should be concerned. In my neck of the woods people, even those who are not Trump supporters, agree that this is much Ado about nothing. It's a virus slightly more lethal than the flu but not a lot and we've contended with the flu virus for generations.
I live in Italy, after China, a virtual ground zero for the virus. One person who traveled to China last month and came back and didn’t not get sick has closed down the whole country up north, with hundreds of people ill and 10 deaths. Schools are closed. Libraries are closed and MILAN is like a ghost town. And still the virus spreads. Sadly Pence’s response to the AID’s crisis years ago speaks volumes. Why didn’t the President put the surgeon general in charge? Isn’t he a doctor? (Yes, of course.)
5
I have as much confidence in Mike Pence successfully leading the US coronavirus response as I did of Jared Kushner creating a valid Middle East peace plan. And we all saw how that worked out, didn't we?
3
I’m a primary care MD and have no clue how to differentiate this from the common cold. There’s no test available.
Pray.
4
There is no finer person than Pence to head this emergency.
Yes it is true he has no expertise in public health, and he was sluggish to respond to a sudden HIV outbreak in Indiana while he was governor. Yes it is true that initially opposing harm-reduction policies on moral grounds to said HIV outbreak that eventually proved to be extremely effective, was a failure and require federal intervention. Yes it is true that Pence denies the science behind climate change, and as late as 2000, STILL didn't believe that smoking causes cancer. It is also a fact that Pence doesn't believe in evolution and therefore the science of mutation in the case of viruses. It is true that Pence was mute, whilst Trump expressed no regret for repeatedly pushing for cuts in the administration’s public health agencies. Having no medical background or training in epidemiology or emergency protocols isn't a hinderance to Mr. Pence. He has the exact qualifications that Mr Trump needs. He is a mute and obsequious toady who will never question the Great Leader. We need not fear a pandemic. Trump/Pence are here to save the day.
3
"In 2018, the White House eliminated a dedicated position on the National Security Council to coordinate pandemic response, the same year that the Trump administration narrowed its epidemiological work to 10 countries from 49."
We are so ready, right?
Mr. Trump conducted himself poorly during the press conference, as usual. A normal person would be concerned about the possibility of many people dying if the epidemic spreads, but Mr. Trump appeared to be more concerned about how an epidemic affected his re-election prospects. His attitude suggests that he - and his administration - will downplay the epidemic's effects in order to look good.
Mr. Trump criticized Democrats during the conference, leading me to believe he privately expects to do a face plant dealing with the epidemic and is preemptively striking at political opponents to develop a narrative for blaming them for his administration's pending failures.
2
Don’t panic. It’s not a pandemic. It’s somewhat like a more extreme type of seasonal flu.
1
In a way Trump winning in November will be a good thing. If he were to leave next January maybe some of his supporters would go on for the next 30 years saying what a great president he was.
Another 4 years will give the chickens more time to come home and roost.
Smart people see already who he is, but maybe some folks need a bit more time to figure it out.
Simple Treatments for Colds, Flu, and Pneumonia
To summarise:
1) Breath deeply all day to prevent aching muscles which could lead to death.
2) Roll on your side to cough up a lung at a time of mucus, to prevent drowning.
3) Go to bed an hour earlier to increase your energy that you will need to fight with tomorrow.
4) Imagine doing exercises to increase muscle mass because your body will be using your muscles as energy.
5) Stay warm.
If Trump were a wise toddler he would realise that the market, above all wants stability and accurate information on which investors can make good financial decisions.
The market would rebound if it thought Trump was following a logical plan. If he did the right thing - a skill he does not have- it would help the market to stabilise. The market has survived SARS, Ebola, avian flu successfully. It will survive better if Trump took appropriate action on the new virus.
But instead he blames the stock market plunge on the Dem debate that took place after the plunge.
3
If only to protect ourselves, we need to invest appropriately large funding into proactively helping all countries that cannot cope with the epidemic. The better their response to it, the smaller the threat we will face.
We also need to investigate therapies that have shown promise in treating disseminated infections, for instance, Biophotonic Therapy.
It will be interesting to see if Trump stops shaking hands. In the SARS outbreak in 2003, the Australian Health Department advised Doctors, and via them, their patients, to avoid shaking hands. A video distributed to Australian doctors showed a scenario of two mates meeting for lunch. One arrived early and was seated. He was coughing and covered his mouth as he did -- as we were taught to do by our mothers. As his mate arrives, they shake hands -- but the man who arrives brushed his eye with the hand he used to shake hands. The implication was unmistakable.
A Paediatric Professor who taught me, before the development of an effective vaccine against measles, said that people with measles spread the disease by coughing measles infected droplets which landed on the conjunctiva of children nearby.
He suggested that measles outbreaks could be prevented by sending all children to school wearing swimming goggles. I have never forgotten that -- having seen 3 children die from measles pneumonia in 1979 -- before the vaccine was made available.
I have avoided hand shaking -- dodging the issue by saying to people, "I won't shake your hand, I might give you something." Then I hold both palms together in front of my face and bow my head slightly.
Face masks might do something. Stopping touching strangers hands, or the hands of people the president normally touches might do more to prevent him catching the virus, which he is patently very scared of contracting himself.
As an American teaching at a university in S. Korea, I actually feel safer here than I would in the US. The reason Korea appears to have the largest number of reported cases outside China is because the gov't here invested its resources to develop the capacity to administer and process timely tests on a mass scale. (Even Japan has the capacity to process only hundreds of tests daily, while Korea can process thousands.) This virus is largely asymptomatic in early stages of infection. You could be infected and spreading it to others before the symptoms appear. Two take aways from the Korean case. 1.If other countries develop a near real-time testing capacity similar to Korea's, their infection statistics might prove just as bad or even worse. 2. Thanks to an excellent healthcare system, the death rate has been limited to below 1 percent in Korea, despite the large number of confirmed cases. This compares with 3 percent death rate in China and Italy, and Iran's 10 percent. Early detection and treatment appear to be key. Spanish influenza ended up infecting as many as a third of the planet's population, and as many as 10 percent of those infected died. The world population has grown close to five-fold since, and we've been dodging bullets. For the US, which has the resources at its disposal to take on the virus if it chooses to, the question for its political leaders may come down to this: how lucky do you feel this time?
388
@Michael P. I live in Italia and the situation is the same. If you do tests you will find cases. If you dont do you dont find. This is save for economy but not for people
37
@Michael P.
Sadly, with Trump as dictator of the US of Trump, I am very worried about my future. All Trump wants is re-election. He will appoint anyone who will lie for him and downplay anything that hurts his chances of seizing lifetime control.
54
@Michael P.
This is what it feels like to be in the backseat of a speeding car with a drunk driver.
Trump-Pence have no idea how to run a country correctly.
So SAD.
66
Ironically the number of flu patients is drastically decreased compared to ordinary years, here in Japan, because people just try to avoid all kinds of meetings. Thus we will have much less virus-casualties in total this flu season.
3
@KI - - - But we STILL have to find some way to blame Pres. Bush or whoever for the few that do get sick. Joe Biden's opening bid stands at 150 million.
1
My mother was a registered nurse who worked for many years on an isolation ward during the polio epidemic. When those wards were closed in, I believe the late '70's, she commented that she thought it was an imprudent move and that in the future we would need dedicated isolation wards. I believe that time has come, as I can see other 'new' diseases arising in the not too distant future, especially if the trade in bush meat is not curtailed.
6
The reality is that we are woefully unprepared. CDC has not even managed to distribute a working diagnostic test to state health agencies. China, Korea, Japan have tested more than 100.000 people, European countries have each tested thousands. CDC is the only organization doing testing in the US right now and they have only managed to carry out hundreds of tests. No, we are not testing everyone who needs to be tested as the most recent case illustrates.
The first step in fighting the epidemic is intensifying those who are sick and isolating them. No doubt our health care professionals can effectively treat victims, but only if they are diagnosed. We cannot have confidence that we are even doing that.
28
There is no treatment except supportive care. If, in those 2 percent, the cytokines are activated leading to multi-system failure via a hyper immune response the patient dies. There is no treatment. For most the disease is innocuous and needs no treatment but needs to be identified and isolated but third world country we are, we have no testing available.
Trump dismantled our epidemic fighting force.
So not only are we vulnerable to the “Putin Virus” we are vulnerable to this new one. Trump did brilliant job of countering this truth. Here’s hoping he’s correct that instead of vaccines and antiviral therapy warm weather will defeat the virus this year. Note countries experiencing summer, South America are not being affected.
1
At a critical time when the country needs steady, calming and honest leadership, we have some one who thinks the mere existence of this virus is something personal against him.
I trust him about as much as I trust my cat that I have had for 10 years.. Not much.
No one needs Trump or Pence to parrot what a great Trump is doing.
This is a time for medical experts to be front and center. Get testing kits that work properly and enough masks for medical personnel.. They will need them to keep themselves and us safe and alive.
Given that Trump thinks he is so brilliant, do not be surprised if by next Thursday he has come up with a cure and nominated himself for a Nobel Prize that he so desperately wants.
24
Mr. Trump's performance during his news conference certainly didn't inspire any confidence in me. He really didn't seem overly concerned about the situation, and kept drifting off into politics. He claimed the stock market drop didn't have anything to do with the coronavirus, it was because the Democrats running for President were so bad. Putting Pence in charge also isn't making me feel any more confident. These people can't manage their way out of a paper bag. I do have confidence in the professionals at the CDC and NIH, but recent history shows us that if they contradict Trump, or put out fact he doesn't agree with, they will be muzzled or fired. This is not a good situation.
41
In my city, UC Davis Medical Center is treating a patient who likely contracted the novel coronavirus from community exposure. The patient is in critical condition. The patient wasn't immediately administered the COVID-19 because the person didn't meet the CDC's existing criteria. UC Davis is doing the best that they can with the information given to them. However, this illustrates how woefully inadequate this country's response is being coordinated. The Trump administration doesn't have a clue. I watched the President's news conference. He basically said that all of the patients in the US were in good shape -- a flat out lie. Our leader lives in a land of delusion and the people around him do nothing but prop up his inflated ego even during a dangerous time for our country's citizens.
We are in trouble. There's no getting around it.
46
I can’t help but comment although I realise this is your story of our shared experience. I feel afraid of this virus because of my personal health circumstances but I feel confident in my Govt for recognising a serious community health issue and being strong and coordinated and open in both the dissemination of information to the Australian people and a strong and coordinated plan of action. Our government has recognised a growing and serious global health issue that affects our country in a very serious way and has been acting behind the scenes for some time to coordinate health and allied services departments and any others. It terrifies me but I am confident that our Govt is doing what needs to be done and if I am sickened with this virus , our health departments will be prepared. I am afraid for you in America because your President seems unable to comprehend anything about this and instead disseminates false information.
33
I have noticed that Trump has improved lately. I had expected him to declare that windmills were spreading the virus as well, among other health issues.
5
We're in good hands with Pence. The coronavirus will stand no chance against his thoughts and prayers.
46
@Mr. Adams
Brilliant comment.
There are currently no health screenings for passengers arriving at JFK Airport from Milan, Italy.
As part of the screening routine passengers should receive a card technically called a Travel Health Alert Notice.
While airport temperature checks haven't caught any coronavirus cases, the information cards have helped catch US cases of the virus at least twice.
12
This spread is not surprising. There are Chinese living everywhere now, all across the world, and so for any who happened to be visiting family in China during the initial stages of the outbreak, and then returned to their respective new homelands... well that, combined with the Chinese government trying to 'save face' and keep the outbreak quiet in the beginning and pretend that they were 'managing' things...well, it only made things worse.
There are lots of Chinese here in low-paying service type jobs, and as such, they are probably much less likely to take sick days, and instead continue to go to work. All employers, esp. nail salon owners, Chinese fast food places etc., should be urging their employees to err on the side of caution. Such employees may not get paid if they call in sick. Could the US' special funds for dealing with this outbreak be partially used to ensure that such employees still get paid if they need to call in sick?
4
I feel a lot better now. Maybe Pence's solution will be to zoom us up and away from the virus using the Space Command program and the American public will, once again, be saved thanks to the administration's greatness.
10
The president is now 'amazed' that there are 10,000 flu deaths per year? He was, is, and remains at a high level of incompetence to lead the nation.
He's doing everything? No, he's actually doing the opposite. He hollowed out the CDC and left 700 positions open. His new budget cuts NIH and CDC monies by 10%.
Pre-virus, he could have bragged that th sock market was doing well under his policies. But no more. We are, without a doubt, heading for a recession or possibly a depression, which should be in full swing by November next.
Can we trust him? No. He says the government is controlling the spread of the virus, but we found out a person on the West Coast has it from an unknown source.
Is the government doing everything? No, they could be giving out free masks and hand sanitizer packs, along with testing kits.
In summary, I am ashamed of my country right now. Its leadership is disgraceful and dangerous and I hope in November, wiped from the map.
29
@Cal Page - - -
Once you have finally had enough, Delta is ready when you are. And fuel has dropped in sales, so you should save a few bucks. Remember that visa!
Well that is reassuring... Someone that think science is dark voodoo meant to shake one's faith.
Sounds like Trump setting up Pence for an inevitable fall.
21
The financial markets were stabilizing earlier today. However, after Trump’s big press conference how he’s going to deal with coronavirus, the markets plummeted big time. Trump’s strategy is his typical white wash the problem with a fresh coat of paint and slap a happy face on it and deflect to a scapegoat. Trump’s handling of coronavirus is an ominous example of the dire unpreparedness of Trump’s America in dealing with global heating and crumbling infrastructure. MAGA is just an empty rally facade without real experienced leadership to solve our unprecedented problems.
23
Trump did not offer one step to address the spread of this virus. He could have asked for one simple intervention that might save many lives. That is: if you have a cough or congestion, you are not allowed to be outside your home without an adequate mask. Not on the street, in a store and especially not on a plane, train or bus. That is easy to do, inexpensive and non-compliance is readily apparent and, if forbidden, will not tolerated by the potential victims of your cough. That is one of the measures that is enforced in China and their case rate is declining.
So what is recommended by the government. If someone is coughing do not stand within 6 ft of them. The onus is not on the one who might be spreading the disease but on the possible victim of the spread. Good luck with that measure!
10
@Common cause
Masks are sold out in most places.
2
@Vicki That is where the government can help. There should be a supply of masks at the entrance point to every transportation service. A free mask would then be distributed to every person who wanted to enter and had a cough. The cost of supplying a mask to even every person in the country would be peanuts compared to the cost of the treatment and economic loss as a result of a pandemic.
1
Here is the team I've assembled to address the coronavirus threat while the latest gun shot victims get thoughts and prayers.
8
Sadly, I do not believe a word, any words, from Trump and his administration: he and his “team” repeatedly, vociferously, lie and makeup “facts” to serve their purpose.
Like the little boy who cried wolf, none of us can believe a word uttered.
Very sad, and, dangerous for all of us that we can’t really know the FACTS.
16
I'd like to know where Dr. Jerome M. Adams, 20th U.S. Surgeon General, is as the COVID-19 outbreak unfolds. I don't see him on the dais among all the white (and one orange) faces during the news conference.
12
So here we are. The moment of reckoning. Trump has never faced a crisis yet. He's generally cruised along as the economy grew - some would give him credit, some not. He has skated on most of his legal worries - some would say because they were not valid, others would say because he suppressed evidence and witnesses.
None of that matters now, because here we are. His first major emergency.
Somebody today called this the "rock of the real." There's no spinning it. It is harsh, stark clarity devoid of politics.
So will he measure up to the moment? Has he measured up so far? We'll know very soon - weeks, no more. If the virus cases tail off, then yes, he called it when his own scientists said otherwise. Trump "wins."
But if the cases mushroom and we become like Italy, or China, or worse - he is a failed president, and no-one in their right mind can reason otherwise.
Place your bets. This is the big one.
17
Pence will be able to underreport the coronavirus to stop the forthcoming recession.
Trump has no bounds, no ethics, no morality.
He decimated the CDC budget by 80%. He is directly responsible for the spread of the coronavirus, and the resulting impact on health and the economy.
Trump is a disaster as president. He is an illegitimate president appointed by Russia, much like Bernie's primary is supported by Russia.
Of course he names an individual with zero health experience to attempt to stop reporting on the recession that will inevitably result from the impact on travel, meetings, concerts, sporting events, schools and the supply chain.
Pence was appointed to squash all discussion of the Trump recession, with an economy fed by record fiscal deficits, negative real interest rates, and resulting in record trade deficits.
12
It's too bad that the sheep only look up when the Dow Jones goes down. There are numbers out there that we don't know because we haven't done large scale testing. The mayor of San Francisco needs lots of test kits, and canvassers brave enough to do an epidemiological census. This could be what a real zombie apocalypse looks like -- not as dramatic as Hollywood, not as lethal as Ebola -- but certainly very, very, very dangerous. We got to take care of Grandma and chain smoking Sam.
4
Trump’s fear of germs is actually a small comfort. I think he does want to contain the virus because this virus strikes to the heart of his fears of contagion and germs. He was even open about his distaste for a man who hugged him and then told Trump he didn’t feel good. Trump said he immediately washed his hands and was discomfited. . He also noted that he didn’t think it was necessary to touch every handrail. In other words, better to risk a fall than contagion.
What if our nation needed leadership in a time of crisis ? Where would we turn ?
3
Yes, if only Hillary Clinton were president, none of this would be happening. She would have had the problem 100% solved.
She would not have spent the time lavishing praise on herself and insisting the other speakers do the same
4
Trump “governs” as if he believes we’re back in the 50’s...the 1350’s.
6
When the vaccine becomes available, I wonder how many anti-vaxxers will be first in their local lineup?
11
Trump's face looked particularly orange at the press conference, especially compared with the white eye circles. Is he sick or have I just not looked at him for months?
13
By November, Republicans may well have wished that they named Mike Pence as the 46th President when they had the chance.
6
Gee, I feel so safe now knowing that Mike Pence is heading this operation. His international reputation as a leading expert on infectious diseases and his renown as a scientist whose life’s work has been understanding the dynamics of how pandemics work makes me secure in the knowledge that my nation is in such good hands.
21
Funny, all I heard was not my president telling us how great he is. Then Pence and Azar got up and told not my president how great he is. Undoubtedly Fox News will go on for days about how we've been saved.
8
That inspires confidence?
2
Well, no big worry. If only a third of the US ends up getting infected that's only going to amount to a bit more than 2 million deaths.
4
He’s finally found a way to get rid of Pence. Once the outbreak spreads a bit as real scientists expect, Trump will blame Pence, kick him off the ticket, and bring on Nikki Haley or some other of his loyal minions.
7
You think this is a problem now? Wait until this virus, as it inevitably will, makes its way into Africa and South America, countries with huge populations that are ill-equipped if they are equipped at all to deal with anything like this.
3
Hey, why not bring retired two-star Admiral Ronnie Jackson back to the White House to handle the emergency? He got his second star for shaving 40-50 pounds off Trump’s weight, proclaiming Trump a genetic marvel that could probably live to be 200 years if he ate better, and confirming Trump’s cognitive skills are outstanding because Trump was able to tell the difference between an elephant and a horse. He can spin this the way Trump wants it spun.
9
It is ridiculous that the US has tested less than 500 people. I guess this is Trump’s way of keeping the number of infections down. We should be testing 10,000-20,000 people per day to see how this is spreading. I guess
7
Did anyone else get vibes of the guy in the last scenes of "Animal House" bellowing "ALL IS WELL!" at today's news conference?
1
How well do you think abstinence and prayer will prevent this disease?
We are about to find out.
7
Finally we have a visibly serious crisis that our genius president will handle perfectly. Yay.
Pence and his followers believe that a natural death is God's will. They are religiously motivated to send believers home. Their primary first resort for medical care is prayer. No offense but while I appreciate prayer for it's pavlovian effect, it isn't the best first step to prevent a pandemic.
Pence is not qualified for this job either Professionally or Personally. He cares more about his personal beliefs than the lives of anyone. He has no respect for the Faiths or beliefs of anyone else. He surrounds himself with those who beliefs reflect his own image.
He is going to get people killed.
The conservative moniker these people are wearing is a false one unless conservative is a synonym for self serving and selfish. Geez it is, and has been for a long time.
6
Whatever Trump says, believe the opposite. Now that's easy.
4
Mike Pence is going to keep America safe from corona virus? He has no qualifications whatsoever to do that job, much like the bulk of Trump's appointees. We are in deep trouble.
2
From a chief executive such as Obama I would have liked to hear some reassurances about our country's readiness for this sort of threat. Times have changed though.
3
What was going through Dr. Anne Schuchat's mind while listening to Trump blather on? Perhaps -
"This vaccine skeptic is standing next to an expert on vaccines, and a "disease detective", and basically saying nothing about the virus."
"This guy is a poster child for why we need to fund more basic science education."
3
Scott Morrison, Prime Minister of Australia, initiates the established pandemic emergency plan to manage the Coronavirus threat and protect Australians.
Donald Trump, President of the United States of America, tells you that you probably won’t die, blames the Democrats for going on and on about the threat of a pandemic and ruining his re-election campaign, and appoints an anti-science low achiever to manage the situation In a pro-Trump way.
Who do you think feels safer?
12
@Concerned Oh, I do in Brisbane. Just when the world needs everyone to pull together to battle this fast-moving threat, all we here coming out of America is more Trump posturing and squabbling. Sad.
2
It should be hear. Sorry!
Trump put Pence in charge? Really? What about Jared? We need the real fix it guy; Jared.
Hey, when in fantasy land, enjoy some fantasy, right?
4
So, if I understood the information from tonight's press conference correctly, the CDC is not doing anything proactively to find how many other people might be carrying the virus. Would it not be possible to tests samples of people (volunteers of course) to get a sense of how extended this virus is? It seems like we are now just waiting for people who get really ill to show up at hospitals. I hope hospitals in the US are at least testing anyone with pneumonia for the virus. But they did not even tell us that they are doing that either.
5
I can't help but wonder why we're pretending that the president doesn't display all the signs and symptoms that would prompt drug testing in careers with less responsibility than his?
86
I wonder if he’s been tested for this new coronavirus.
Where was he, recently? Why’d we let him back in?
And we need a general health eval. He’s orecisely in the uh-oh zone.
1
A president with no scientific or medical training, who eliminated a National Security Council position coordinating pandemic response, who proposed cutting the C.D.C.’s budget by nearly 16 percent and Health and Human Services’s by almost 10 percent, and who believes that scientific consensus on anthropogenic climate change is a "hoax" perpetrated by the Chinese, has appointed a VP with no science or medical credentials "to coordinate the government’s response to the coronavirus"? I feel so much safer now.
100
@BTM - Pence has been tasked with praying for all U.S. citizens.
2
Another defensive "it's not my fault" performance by Mr. Trump, who will soon start blaming setbacks on others.
The one statement I was hoping to hear was that testing for the disease will be free of charge for those with like symptoms and that infected citizens will be treated also free of charge and will not lose their jobs if quarantine, otherwise the millions uninsured or with basic insurance and just getting by will probably ride it out on their own.
32
@JCA the tests have been flawed and there are inadequate numbers of them. So there is no way to offer anywhere near enough free tests, especially since there is an overlap in typical flu symptoms and the symptoms of this virus. Who should get tested? Insured or not, I think plenty will ride it out rather than seek treatment , especially if they aren’t sure they have the virus. Why risk exposure to the virus if there are likely to be plenty with the disease at hospitals ? Its a conundrum
3
Rational Thinking about Coronavirus.
People are talking about fatality rates and quarantine in complete illogical terms.
Wuhan City has a population of 20M people that is no longer under local quarantine (the population is in open contact intra city) Within a week we will have initial figures of the fatality rate to the exposed population as a whole,
What should matter to an average citizen is the fatality impact the virus has on an exposed population as a whole not what impact it has on patients that were either hospitalized, were reported as positive or any other measure.
The US has a population of 360MM and has a fatality rate of around 3MM annually or 251k per month. Translating this into a 20M person city would result in a monthly fatality rate of 14,000 158k annually.
We will likely find that Corona Virus itself will result in less then a 5% increase in the Wuhan or comprable city fatality rate (or almost a rounding error.
On the other hand the quarantine will result in a significant increase in fatalities due to financial chaos that will result. Wars could start over financial distress that would result from shutting down the entire western world.
Unless we see a 100,000 death rate print from corona virus just in Wuhan city, we need to just go about our lives while the CDC strategizes how to most effectively prevent the most vulnerable from contracting the virus and how to best treat them when they in fact do.
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@Jack
Using your "rational thinking," why should we even bother trying to save people's lives by convincing them to stop smoking? After all, lung cancer kills fewer people than heart attacks; why should we bother saving lung cancer patients until their death rate reaches the same as heart attacks? Why should we cause financial chaos to the tobacco industry just to save a few thousand lives?
Gee, sounds good to me....
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Surely you realize that the fatality rate is not the same thing as the number of people who are sick enough to need hospital care? Think about that and our current resources such as medical facilities. Surely you realize that if 2 percent or more of the medical profession becomes ill in a time of crisis what that means?
3
We should be concerned that the Trump Administration "Anti-Vax-ers", climate deniers, and pseudoscientists are putting forward an ex-governor with one of the worst records on state health to head up the U.S. government war on Coronavirus. IN's health record under Gov. Pence: 41st in overall health ranking, 41st in Life expectancy, 6th in tobacco use, 7th in infant mortality, 8th in obesity, 9th in diabetes. He actively opposed responsible tobacco legislation to reduce teen smoking, campaigned against HPV vaccine for teens, and resisted strong recommendations from his own State Health Commissioner and current U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. Jerome Adams, to institute a clean needle exchange program in Southern IN to combat an HIV epidemic resulting from the opioid crisis (the needle exchange program was ultimately highly successful). What can possibly go wrong
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I'm thoroughly relieved now that our VP - Mike Pence - is in charge of the nation's response to this potential pandemic. The fact that he is completely loyal to and a sycophant of our great leader - Hair Trump - comforts me. Just imagine if our President had chosen an expert in communicable diseases and they in turn chose other experts to help. We'd have an "expert"pandemic instead of true trump loyalists who will make sure we're all safe and have nothing to see here, Nothing to worry about. Our courageous Mr. Trump cares far more about our good health and well being than his own election, bank account and friends. What a great leader we have..
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So the "Elf on the Shelf" Pence will be the one leading the response to the Pandemic. Great, this is the guy who doesn't believe in science and is gleefully waiting for the second coming and the end of the world. No wonder the Republicans don't worry about history judging them as there will be no history to be read after they end the world through their inactions. We may be safer in North Korea or Cuba with the real dictators who, by the way, seem to believe in science. At least in Cuba we could have healthcare.
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Does anyone trust trump to tell the truth in circumstances like this ?
Does anyone have confidence that trump and his administration can handle a large scale epidemic outbreak ?
Trump reflexively lies, claiming the exact opposite of reality, whenever he is challenged.
When trump claims everything is "great" or "perfect". or that he is doing a "great job", you know that the exact opposite is true.
21
It’s obvious that this is a job for the private sector, they always put public good before profit in matters of health and well-being.
Big government is bad.
That’s why a public health option is such a scary idea, we need to pay the military 55% of tax dollars because more nukes are better than educated kids and healthy families.
I trust that the president has thought of everything when dealing with a crisis of this magnitude, he showed this when firing Rod Blagovich in season 7 of the apprentice.
We voted for this guy and let’s give him a chance.
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@Kelly P
Correction and clarification needed here please .. You voted for him. The Electoral College voted for him.
I did not.
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@Kelly P
Actually, this IS exactly that job for the government-read the pandemic protocols developed during Ebola and other dangerous outbreaks-the coordination, transportation, testing and medical protocols can’t be implemented by the private sector.
One other thought...this incapable and incompetent man lost the popular vote-and we should eliminate the electoral college (or make it a proportional EC votes)-to ensure we never make this mistake again.
4
Mr Pence in charge of the epidemic response? With his long record of almost nothing of consequence, I feel better already.
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It’s inevitable: I like people who don’t get viruses.
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Evidently this is the administration's response:
Trump told the world that we aren’t all going to die. “We’re testing everybody that we need to test and finding very little problem”. Great news! Trump knows best so no problem that he shut down great chunks of the NSC global health response units and cut the CDC to a shadow staff. Watch, he will soon humiliate this virus into submission as he easily does with everything else and he will be fine. We should just all wash our hands often so we can be fine too. If anybody disagrees, he will fire them.
Trump has spoken. Spring will come, the sun will come out, the virus will go away, the “very strong” stock market will rebound and he will be reelected and that’s what counts. He even has that big brain and Congressional Medal of Honor winner, Rush Limbaugh weighing in to let everyone know that this whole pesky virus business just an ordinary DC plot involving the usual suspects. And finally, now that Trump has put that health crisis genius, Mike Pence at the helm of virus control, I guess we can all relax. But a whole lot of money wouldn't hurt.
16
Let's hope DJT does not decide to remove the truth-telling scientists from CDC and NIH. Dr. Fauci, in particular, is a very dedicated and experienced infectious disease specialist. He told the truth about the vaccine development timeline. Trump, standing behind him did not look pleased.
20
It's the Red Hats, first they lose their minds and then they think they're immune from the coronavirus.
17
Pence in charge? - now I'm really worried.
20
I wish someone had asked Trump that as he is opposed to undocumented aliens being able to get healthcare coverage and wants them to be afraid of civilian authorities, what would he recommend to one of those people if they develop the symptoms of coronavirus.
Remember many of those people may be handling our food behind the scenes.
15