No one can say that Trump didn't tell us himself on live tv before he got elected...."Maybe I'll just let everyone else run the country" … state and local governments take their own actions as the inept Trump administration play "pocket pool"
The President as Bystander: Trump Struggles to Unify a Nation on Edge
School superintendents, sports commissioners, college presidents, governors and business owners have taken it upon themselves to shut down much of American life without clear guidance from the president.
WASHINGTON — As he confronts the most serious crisis of his tenure, President Trump has been assertive in closing borders to many outsiders, one of his favorite policies. But within the United States, as the coronavirus spreads from one community to another, he has been more follower than leader.
While he presents himself as the nation’s commanding figure, Mr. Trump has essentially become a bystander as school superintendents, sports commissioners, college presidents, governors and business owners across the country take it upon themselves to shut down much of American life without clear guidance from the president.
For weeks, he resisted telling Americans to cancel or stay away from large gatherings, reluctant even on Thursday to call off his own campaign rallies even as he grudgingly acknowledged he would probably have to. Instead, it fell to Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the government’s most famous scientist, to say publicly what the president would not, leading the nation’s
basketball, hockey, soccer and
baseball leagues in just 24 hours to
suspend play and call off tournaments.
Mayors and county executives, hospital executives and factory owners received no further direction from the president as he talked about the virus in the Oval Office on Thursday than they did
during his prime-time address to the nation the night before. Beyond travel limits and wash-your-hands reminders, Mr. Trump has left it to others to set the course in combating the pandemic and has indicated he was in no rush to take further action.
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People can deal with this when healthy or worry about support systems while they laid up for 2-4 weeks and perhaps killed an older loved one.
