Aug 13, 2020
n the early days of the coronavirus crisis, President Donald
Trump was flanked in the White House briefing room by a team of
public health experts in a seeming portrait of unity to confront
the disease that was ravaging the globe.
But as the crisis has spread to all reaches of the country,
with escalating
deaths and little sense of endgame, a chasm has widened
between the president and the experts. The result: daily delivery
of a mixed message to the public at a moment when coherence is most
needed.
Trump and his political advisers insist that the United States has
no rival in its response to the pandemic. They point to the fact
that the U.S. has administered more virus tests than any other
nation and that the percentage of deaths among those infected is
among the lowest.