What began as a deadly global epidemic has, in the hands of the American political and media elite, mutated into a political talking point.
Don't get me wrong, the coronavirus is deadly and spreading fast.
The first case with no known link to foreign travel was confirmed in the United States Wednesday, bringing the total number of infections here to 60; France reported its first coronavirus death, Spain had eight new cases in a 24-hour span, new infections were reported in Germany, Greece, France, Croatia, Austria, and Switzerland, and a new case in Brazil marks the spread of the disease to Latin America.
Trump took to Twitter again Wednesday morning to accuse CNN and "MSDNC" of doing "Everything possible" to make the outbreak "Look as bad as possible, including panicking markets, if possible." For good measure he added, "Likewise their incompetent Do Nothing Democrat comrades are all talk, no action. USA in great shape!".
Late Wednesday at a White House news conference, Trump said he'd be open to however much funding Congress wants, and apparently Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi are hard at work on an emergency funding package.
Given the profound divisions in American public life and the growing antipathy between right and left, it's little wonder that even something as dire and deadly as a coronavirus pandemic-a threat that should bring us together-instead brings out the worst in our leaders.
As Ross Douthat of The New York Times noted earlier this week, up until now there's been a strange lack of urgency about the virus from those quarters where you'd most expect to see hysteria and hyperbole: cable news and social media.
https://thefederalist.com/2020/02/27/the-coronavirus-has-mutated-into-a-political-talking-point/
Don't get me wrong, the coronavirus is deadly and spreading fast.
The first case with no known link to foreign travel was confirmed in the United States Wednesday, bringing the total number of infections here to 60; France reported its first coronavirus death, Spain had eight new cases in a 24-hour span, new infections were reported in Germany, Greece, France, Croatia, Austria, and Switzerland, and a new case in Brazil marks the spread of the disease to Latin America.
Trump took to Twitter again Wednesday morning to accuse CNN and "MSDNC" of doing "Everything possible" to make the outbreak "Look as bad as possible, including panicking markets, if possible." For good measure he added, "Likewise their incompetent Do Nothing Democrat comrades are all talk, no action. USA in great shape!".
Late Wednesday at a White House news conference, Trump said he'd be open to however much funding Congress wants, and apparently Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi are hard at work on an emergency funding package.
Given the profound divisions in American public life and the growing antipathy between right and left, it's little wonder that even something as dire and deadly as a coronavirus pandemic-a threat that should bring us together-instead brings out the worst in our leaders.
As Ross Douthat of The New York Times noted earlier this week, up until now there's been a strange lack of urgency about the virus from those quarters where you'd most expect to see hysteria and hyperbole: cable news and social media.
https://thefederalist.com/2020/02/27/the-coronavirus-has-mutated-into-a-political-talking-point/
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