Stop Blaming Impeachment for Trump’s Coronavirus Response

If impeaching the president is a bad idea because it might distract him from a crisis, doing something worthy of impeachment is a bad idea too.

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A reporter asked President Trump this week what he thought of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s claim that impeachment distracted Trump from tackling the coronavirus epidemic earlier. 

The president gave a rambling answer but ultimately settled on a firm no.  

“I don’t think I would have done better had I not been impeached, OK?” Trump said. “And I think that’s a great tribute to something. Maybe it’s a tribute to me. But I don’t think I would’ve acted any differently or I don’t think I would’ve acted any faster.”

Trump’s response threw cold water on what was becoming a common talking point on the right. A week earlier, Henry Olsen, a very Trump-sympathetic columnist for the Washington Post, had written a column headlined, “Let’s be honest. Impeachment hurt Trump’s response to coronavirus.” As China was locking down its cities, Olsen argued, “the White House was focused on addressing this threat to its survival, not on preparing for a threat from China that might never even materialize.”

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  1. Davetheotter

    The premise that Trump did something worthy of impeachment is flawed. It is the same quid pro quo Biden gleefully bragged about and is the foundation of most international diplomacy. It was foolhardy and myopic for the Democratic leadership to tilt at that windmill. Did they honestly think they had a case that would sway enough senate votes? And yes, I believe it burned cycles with both the Executive and Legislative branches that could have been spent on other things, like governing the nation or evaluating threats for example.

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    Michael

    How petty, vain, unempethic AND dumb that given to opportunity to make a symbolic and positive statement by wearing a mask, even just for the photo op, he could not let his vanity take a back seat for a moment. What leader behaves like this.?

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    Roderic Fabian

    When it comes to bashing Trump anything that comes to hand...

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    cheerio

    I am aware of the issues between the FDA and CDC. However, these are agencies of the executive branch and the buck stops at the Oval Office. He is ultimately responsible. There were resources he squandered prior to this situation. There was an actual strategy book for pandemics. Maybe someone could have read it? The situation right now is so unbelievably FUBARed and still I see apologists. This is the absolute worst absence of national coordination to a national emergency--I had higher expectations even of these horrible people.

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    GREG BROWN

    It must not be that bad if we're continuing to bicker about who did or said what, when

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    Visibly

    In Uk, and bed time for me. Follow up with the excellent comments!

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    JT

    Always amazes me how willing people are to rationalize, cover-up, and distort Trump’s behavior in order to cover for his abject, utter failure to perform the most fundamental aspects of a job some people hired him to do. Often the same people who’ll go on a rant of disparagement if some teenager accidentally happens to get their fast food order wrong or some hapless store clerk isn’t able to immediately meet some demand.

    Imagine the same rationales being used to cover consistent failures of performance across any other occupation:
    • Surgeon, “Oh I was supposed to operate on the appendix, sorry I was distracted, and removed a kidney instead….”
    • Lawyer, “Geez, how was I to know I was supposed to file a brief?”
    • IT Manager, “I don’t have a back-up/risk/contingency plan, like a miracle, system problems just go away….”
    • Architect, “You expected me to know about building laws and regulations – that’s mean … nasty questions….”
    • Pharmacist, “Ho hum, I didn’t give you the correct pills – I take no responsibility; everybody makes mistakes.”

    Pretty clearly, we don’t accept these kinds of “mistakes” and as a practical matter, daily life really wouldn’t work very well if the same tolerance levels for ineptness, ignorance, and failure that many argue are “ok” for Trump were applied.

    As children, most of us grew-up being expected to do some level of chores around the house and understanding perfectly well what constituted “doing a good job” and what was/wasn’t acceptable in performing those chores. As parents we carry over those same practices and apply them in our households.

    So, here’s a thought, why not hold Trump responsible and accountable to perform his job – competently – the same as what the rest of us do every day, and even including what we expect of our children?

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    Visibly

    Thank you to you Jonah. For me The Dispatch is the best of all online news.

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    Earl King

    Dr. Fauci did an interview on Jan 21st. When asked about he Virus in China...he said “But, this not a major threat for the people of the United States, and this is not something that the citizens of the United States right now should be worried about.” So this is what Trump may have been hearing on January. In the midst of impeachment. Curious.

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      Visibly

      I have no idea which publication this refers too. But in late January, Fauci was perfectly clear about the challenge, and was named to the president’s task force (https://www.niaid.nih.gov/news-events/director-in-the-news?page=1). In science, we admit mistakes, and use mistakes to find the right way forward. So, if he made a mistake about the risks of C19, he very fast caught up! Unfortunately,your president did not.

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      1. Bruce Wing

        In my world, we admit mistakes, too. But we don't pretend we knew things at a time we did not know them. Trump says a lot of stupid things. He lies about stupid things.

        Fauci's job is to be focused purely on medical issues and the protection of human life. That is honorable, but it is also a narrow focus. Doctors can be concerned about human life, but not be concerned about the cost to protect that human life.

        Political leaders are forced to have a broader view. They have to deal with competing interests. That is why they have to look at the cost of preventing a POTENTIAL pandemic with the GUARANTEED cost of an economic shutdown.

        To my knowledge, every leader in the western world chose to rank the economy over the risk of the pandemic when it came to SARS, MERS, and Ebola. They were right to have done so. But they were wrong to have done so with COVID-19.

        Hindsight is 20/20.

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          Visibly

          You are right, But now we must admit mistakes! And find the best way forward. To admit mistakes show strenght and courage.

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          1. Bruce Wing

            Now, you are speaking my language. I so wish Trump would acknowledge his error. But he won't. His arrogance won't allow it.

            Frankly, in this country and outside of Trump's arrogance, there is justification to not doing so. The opposing political party (it doesn't matter if it's Republican or Democrat) will not let the acknowledgement rest. The opposing party will constantly hold it over the head of the offender as an example of the offender's incompetence.

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        Earl King

        Nancy Pelosi was on videotape Feb 27th urging people to come to Chinatown...Everybody makes mistakes...No one is immune. No country either. I blame China and the WHO for hiding and denying human to human contact. Blame whomever you want...but it doesn't change facts that viruses spread. Trump did act in January...so lets no say he didn't. Are we better or worse off he didn't shut the economy down in February? We'll never know...We only had are first case in late February. Only 75 on March first. Would the public stand for it? Water under the bridge. Be well and safe.

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          Visibly

          He did not act. The China flight lockdown was political purposes, not for the best of the country. Then he would have acted very differently

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            Pat Riot

            Exactly. The "lockdown" didn't actually lock the virus down since he let American citizens, residents and their families through without any testing or screening. This was nearly the same as doing nothing, which medical experts could have--and probably did--tell him, but his focus was on xenophobia dog whistling, not actually protecting Americans.

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          Pat Riot

          What did Trump do in January? Here's what he *said* at the time:

          "We have it totally under control. It’s one person coming in from China, and we have it under control. It’s going to be just fine."

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          1. Bruce Wing

            Had he shut the economy down at that very moment, would the trillions you speak of not also have been lost? After all, we still don't have a vaccine. Every time we open back up the economy, we are likely to experience a revival of virus infected populations.

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          2. Bruce Wing

            Yes he did. He exaggerated.

            Had he said, "We are watching this disease closely. There is no evidence we have a problem with the disease in America".... would the results be any different?

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    Visibly

    A president should be able to concentrate on more than one problem at a time. Well during the impeachment period he was: Rallies, golf, impeachment, Pelosi, Schumer. I cry for America with such a leader. I would have been devastated if we had such a leader in my country.

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