NE_W
THE TALK OF THE lOWN
COMMENT
OPPOR.TIJNl.fllC INFECllONSE
arl:y lastwcek, the Trump era-whic:h
defined itselfby alurid celebration of
"alternative facts," a contempt for science,
and an assault on global institutions and
the "adntlnistrative state" -came to an
end. Regrettably, Donald Trump remains
in office, but, at least for the moment, he
appears to have ceded the argument he
cannot bend the harshest realities of the
world to his f.mtasies. The aggressive and.
deadly corona.virus is unimpressed and
unimpeded by the bluster of a oon. Yet
the prolonged process ofTrump's hum-
bling, the time it took him to recognize
the power of the global pandemic that
has emptied our streets, has put untold
numbers of Americans at risk.
The disease now known as COVID-
was first identified three months ago,
in the Chinese city of Wuhan. Much
like SARS, which flared eighteen years
ago, the likeliest breeding ground for
the new coronavirus was a live-animal
market. Like SARS, H.l.V., and Ebob,
COVID-19, scientists believe, is a zoonotic
disease, one that "jumps" from mam-
malian animal hosts to human beings.
The ooronavirus that causes COVID-
soon made its way to nearly every cor-
ner and crevice of the planet.
<1 For many weeks, the President re-
z sisted understmding the magnitude of
~ the problems and the responsibilities of
~ his office. In late January, he declared,
~ "We have it totally under control •.. It's
g going to be just fine." A month later, he
~ told attendees at a White House cele-
~ bration of Black History Month, "One
= day-it's like a miracl.e--it will disap-
pear. "Was he doing a good job? He gave
himself"a ten."Those who raised con-
cerns about the .Administration's cuts in
emergency preparedness or the outra-
geous failure to supply testing kits were
promu1gating "a hoax."
This blithe unconcern for the looming
crisis was hardly limited to Trump. His
satraps in the .. alternative fact" industry
took their cues from him to rest easy in
a warm bubble bath of denialism. Rush
Limbaugh, who received a Presidential
Medal ofFreedom at Trump's latest State
of the Union address, told his immense
radio audience that the virus was "the
common oold, folks." And, by the way,
"Keep in mind where the coronavirus
came from. It came from a country that
Bernie Sanders wants to tum the Unital
States into a mirror image of. Commu-
nist China." Mark Steyn, filling in for
Limbaugh one day, said that a shelte:r-
in-place order had been issued in the
Bay Area because "it's a big gay town,
San Francisco, and they're the ones withall the compromised immune systems."
On "Fax &Friends," Ainsley Earlwdt
dismissed any cautions against ttavcl-
"It's actually the safest time to fly"-and
her sidekick Pete Hegseth mentioned
that he was starting to think that the
Democrats "WCie "rooting for the corona-
virus to spread." Over on Fax Business,
Trish Regan accused the liberal media
and Democrats of trying to manipulate
the news of the cororuwirus as "yet an-
other attempt to impeach the President."
Sean Hannity, who has the biggest
ratings on cahle news, invited Dr. An-
thony Fauci, the most visible public-
health official on the White House
coronavirus task furce, to appear on his
show. But, in Hannity's world, as in
Trump's, bloviation precedes fact. And
so Hannitywent first. "The standard flu
every single year kills tens of thousands
of Americans. Now, does truth matter?
Does perspective matter?" Fauci. just as
he docs when standing beside the Pres-
ident, betrayed no sign of disdain, as he
politely corrected the misinformation.
"Sean, to make sure your viewers get
an accurate idea about what goes on,"
he said, COVID-19 is "ten times more le-
thal than the seasonal flu."
Fake news and conspiracy theories are
opportunistic:viruses, and for manywa:ks
there was no end to their spread.Jerry Fal-
wdl,Jr., one of Trump's leading evangeli-
cal supporters, repeated a theory suggi:snxl
to him by a restaurant owner he knows:
"You remember the North Korean leader
promised 'a Chrisbnas present for Amer-
ica back in December'? Could it be they
got together with China and this is that
present?" Ron Paul, a former Republican
Presidential candidate and a physician,