Trump Attacks Democratic Governors in Latest Effort to Shift Blame for Coronavirus Crisis

Meanwhile, the president has told states scrambling for medical supplies that they’re on their own.

Oliver Contreras/ZUMA

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As the novel coronavirus pandemic continues to paralyze communities across the country—now with at least 4,800 cases confirmed in the US and 88 deaths—President Donald Trump in recent days has targeted Democratic governors in New York, Michigan, and Washington for supposedly mismanaging the public health crisis.

“Failing Michigan Governor must work harder and be much more proactive,” Trump tweeted shortly after Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer appeared on an MSNBC segment Tuesday morning criticizing the president’s lack of action. “We are pushing her to get the job done. I stand with Michigan!”

The new line of attack follows similar attempts by the president to accuse the media and Democrats of capitalizing on the virus in order to undermine his reelection prospects in November. Meanwhile, states are scrambling to enact their own measures to slow down the spread of the virus after the Trump administration repeatedly failed to mount a significant response.

But as Trump publicly lashes out at Democratic governors, the New York Times reports that the president is privately advising states to go it alone. Respirators, ventilators, all of the equipment—try getting it yourselves,” he told governors on a conference call on Monday. Though he insisted that his administration would back state efforts to obtain emergency medical supplies, Trump failed to clarify exactly what that support would mean. 

As governors grow increasingly frustrated by the federal response and the number of reported cases are growing throughout the country, Trump has also resurrected his longstanding feud with Andrew Cuomo, claiming that the New York governor must “do more” to fight the pandemic. It was a particularly random attack to make given Cuomo’s decisive action on a string of stringent measures to combat the pandemic, including shutting down schools and public spaces across the state, while Trump had, until yesterday, repeatedly minimized the seriousness of the threat. 

Trump foreshadowed his need to politicize even a global pandemic by focusing his anger at Democratic governors nearly two weeks ago, when he called Washington Gov. Jay Inslee a “snake” for criticizing his slow response to the virus. “I told Mike [Pence] not to be complementary to the governor because that governor is a snake, okay, Inslee,” Trump told reporters at a press conference on March 7. “I said if you’re nice to him, he will take advantage…we have a lot of problems with the governor.”

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

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