The Denver Post

Stop the blind hatred of Trump during this global crisis

- precedente­d pandemic, designed to gain a partisan advantage in an election, is even more reprehensi­ble. Right now, America needs unity, not division. All of us, regardless of political persuasion, need to come together as Americans. One of the oldest phr

Iam no fan of President Donald Trump. He has an extremely off-putting, divisive personalit­y. He may be suffering from narcissism and adult attention deficit disorder. But the nonstop, vicious, hatred of the president, during a time of national crisis, is simply wrong.

It is a fad among liberal elites and others to blame Trump for all our coronaviru­s woes. I’m sure Trump hesitated for a while — when he should have been doing something — but how much blame does he really deserve? Certainly not as much as China and the director of the World Health Organizati­on,

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesu­s, who willfully aided and abetted China in covering up the extent and severity of the COVID-19 epidemic there, thus delaying a worldwide response and allowing it to become a pandemic.

It has been known for decades that the probabilit­y of a deadly and devastatin­g novel virus pandemic, was a matter of when — not a matter of if. Dr. Anthony Fauci and President George W. Bush, among others warned about it in 2005. Bill Gates gave a stern warning in 2015. Such an event would require massive stockpiles of protective gear, ventilator­s, and ICU beds. It would take years to accumulate this stuff. Yet despite the warnings, for decades no president, no congress, no governor, or mayor did much of anything at all to prepare for it. By the same token, the governing boards of our nation’s roughly 6,100 hospitals failed to prepare for it. It caught us all off-guard, but certainly not unaware of the distinct possibilit­y of its arrival. There wasnowayth­atinaspano­fa month or two Trump, or anyone else, could have made up for those years of inaction.

In January, February and into early March Dr. Fauci and other experts were assuring us that the “the risk is low.” Trump believed him, and so did House Speaker Nancy Pelosi who as late as February 24 was urging San Franciscan­s, to come to Chinatown and that “everything is fine here.” No one, not even Fauci, had a crystal ball.

Blind hatred has never solved any problem. It is reprehensi­ble in any circumstan­ce. Malicious, divisive hatred, during an un

 ?? Brendan Smialowski, AFP ?? President Donald Trump holds a mask as he speaks during a tour of the Ford Rawsonvill­e Plant in Michigan on May 21.
Brendan Smialowski, AFP President Donald Trump holds a mask as he speaks during a tour of the Ford Rawsonvill­e Plant in Michigan on May 21.
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