Making America Safe Again
Trump’s policies will be vindicated in the wake of COVID-19
AS the nation confronted the new coronavirus, the mainstream media quickly settled upon its all-too-predictable talking points. This is “Trump’s Katrina,” we were told, a crisis the president cannot “spin” away, and which almost certainly spells his electoral doom. Say what you will, but the media herd has a coordinated response for every occurrence: Blame President Trump.
Democrats should, however, beware of attempts to politicize COVID-19 or to score cheap political points against the president. It is true that the crisis, steadily building in China, should have triggered more rapid planning in America — even while congressional Democrats continued to occupy all of Washington with their ideologically driven impeachment effort.
And some of the president’s early remarks downplayed the severity of the problem, perhaps in an attempt to instill calm. In this, his public statements diverged from his decisive actions. Effective early February, and with only a few exceptions made, Trump shut the borders to foreign citizens who had traveled within a two-week period to China. Americans who traveled anywhere in China within a two-week period were asked to self-isolate upon entering the United States; those who had gone to Hubei province, where the virus first spread, were placed in formal quarantine.
The American people understand that the full, domestic threat of COVID-19 became apparent only slowly. When health experts called for more extreme measures, voters saw a president — in defiance of the left’s caricature of him — act on the science, issuing guidance that put public health above economic considerations. In the coming months, as the administration’s aggressive economic stimulus measures take effect, voters will likely see that Trump’s response has been strong and that his politics have been ahead of the “corona curve.”
In the current crisis, President Trump’s politics of national sovereignty have, in fact, found clear vindication. Which other president, and which other candidate, would have acted more quickly to secure America’s borders? Can voters imagine a typical politician, whether Democrat or Republican, moving so swiftly to restrict travel from China and Europe? No. Instead, one could have expected hours, days, even weeks of hand-wringing conversation with political consultants. There would have been the weighing of “optics,” the devising of media “strategies,” and yes, the spin — all while the risk to the nation, and the world, grew.
Sure enough, typical politicians, some of them world leaders, reflexively criticized Trump’s prompt actions. With little regard for their hypocrisy, these officials then followed the president by instituting their own travel restrictions.
Trump’s long-standing critique of the globalist consensus, and his desire for a strong, national manufacturing base, is also being proven correct. The US cannot simply depend upon foreign countries, especially China, for critical supplies. Despite the tenets of globalist orthodoxy, in an increasingly interconnected world, it is ever more important for a nation to command its own industrial destiny. As Trump understands, there are harms as well as benefits to globalism. A secure nation should have the resources to protect its people; it must not place its security at the mercy of foreign governments.
Whatever his critics may say, Trump’s politics provide real answers not only for the present crisis but also for the prevention and mitigation of future pandemics. Strong borders, national sovereignty and thriving domestic industry are not incidental to a peaceful, prosperous and safe country. They are cornerstones of it. On these matters, the president has been right all along. And that’s a fact that no one can spin away.