The usually nonpartisan New England Journal of Medicine has come out against Donald Trump’s bid for a second term. This is the first time in its 208-year history that the world’s leading medical journal has come out against a sitting president.
In a blunt statement editors at the journal said the Trump administration is “dangerously incompetent.” They cite the fact that this administration “took a crisis and turned it into a tragedy.” Without referring to Democratic challenger Joe Biden by name they are urging people to replace President Trump.
The editors indicated that they were motivated to condemn Trump due to his administration’s abysmal handling of the coronavirus. They said this administration and this president have failed Americans because they lack leadership and they have not adequately supported mask wearing and social distancing. They also expressed concern about the Trump administration’s politicization of government science and their efforts to undermine the Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Last month Scientific American rejected Trump and endorsed Biden’s bid to be president. The Center for Biological Diversity has also endorsed Biden.
President Trump — who was hospitalized for having covid — has been accused of being a superspreader. Trump’s Rose Garden event to announce the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett resulted in at least 14 people contracting the virus. Trump is being criticized for continuing to hold rallies where people are not wearing masks or socially distancing.
A total of 7.9 million Americans have contracted the virus so far and 216,000 Americans have died. As many as 200,000 more could die before the end of the year. The United States already has the highest death toll of any nation on Earth and this is in large measure due to the president’s failure to manage the pandemic and his persistent disinformation. Trump initially dismissed COVID-19 as a hoax the same way has dismissed the climate crisis. He then played down the seriousness of the virus, something he continues to do to this day even though the Woodward tapes prove he has known it is deadly for months.
Trump’s cuts to environmental protections also endanger the health of Americans and a May report out of Columbia University said the president was directly responsible for 36,000 coronavirus related deaths. An August study from the University of Washington School of Medicine indicates that 70,000 people could be saved if the president were to actively support mask wearing. Trump’s willful stupidity led Carl Bernstein to describe him as “homicidally negligent“.
Trump is being widely opposed because he is on the wrong side of history. It is becoming increasingly clear that he and his Republican cohorts will lose the election in November by a significant margin. Americans have hit an inflection point and the facts are calling them to vote for a president who subscribes to policy informed by science.
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