The Post Editorial:
President Trump is playing a disgusting political game.
President Donald Trump is treating life-saving medical equipment as emoluments he can dole out as favors to loyalists. It’s the worst imaginable form of corruption — playing political games with lives. For the good of this nation during what should be a time of unity, he must stop.
In just the latest example of his gross display, the president tweeted on Wednesday @realDonaldTrump: “Will be immediately sending 100 Ventilators to Colorado at the request of Senator Gardner!”
Trump had only days before prevented Colorado Gov. Jared Polis from securing 500 ventilators from a private company, instead, taking the ventilators for the federal government. Polis sent a formal letter pleading for medical equipment, but the president took the time to make clear he was responding to a request from Gardner. We are left to believe that if Colorado didn’t have a Republican senator in office, our state would not be getting these 100 ventilators. How many ventilators would we be getting if we had a Republican governor and a second Republican senator?
Would that indicate we had more Republican lives in our state worth saving for Trump and resources would start flowing? Should Utah be concerned that Sen. Mitt Romney voted to remove the president from office?
This behavior comes, of course, weeks after Trump informed states they would have to compete against one another in the procurement of medical supplies at a time of global shortages due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The federal government should be procuring medicine, masks and ventilators and distributing them to states on a set formula based on population, rate of infection and need. Instead, Trump’s messaging makes it feel as though he will watch with glee from the White House as people suffer in states being led by his enemies. If that’s not the case, then the president needs to act as though he’s working on behalf of all of us, not just those who voted for him or cowtowed to his corrupt administration.
On March 27, Trump informed Americans that he had told Vice President Mike Pence, who is running the coronavirus task force, not to call governors in states that are not appreciative.
“I say, ‘Mike, don’t call the governor of Washington; you’re wasting your time with him,’ ” Trump said. “‘Don’t call the woman in Michigan. It doesn’t make any difference what happens.’ You know what I say: ‘If they don’t treat you right, I don’t call.’ He’s a different type of person; he’ll call quietly anyway.”
Trump should not target Democratic governors like Polis, Jay Inslee of Washington and Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan during this difficult time. Regardless of the personal feuds that may exist between the president and these elected officials, their constituents, the ones who would benefit from resources, are blameless.
It’s far too early to reflect on the performance of Trump’s administration during this crisis, but on this one urgent point — the immediate allocation resources to states — we felt it essential to speak up immediately. We find it hard to believe decisions are being made on such a morally bankrupt basis, but Trump is doing this nation no favors by giving us the impression that politics will drive his administration’s response to a virus that has already killed thousands of Americans and will kill thousands more.
Members of The Denver Post’s editorial board are Megan Schrader, editor of the editorial pages; Lee Ann Colacioppo, editor; Justin Mock, CFO; Bill Reynolds, general manager/ senior vp circulation and production; Bob Kinney, vice president of information technology; and TJ Hutchinson, systems editor.