Dear MoveOn member,

This week, the World Health Organization officially declared COVID-19
(coronavirus) an international pandemic.^1 And with conflicting
information coming out of the White House and Trump's administration,
misinformation and confusion are spreading like wildfire. Through it all,
what's been heartening is the way that people are working to support each
other and taking appropriate steps to keep ourselves, our families, and
our communities safe and healthy, like implementing social distancing
policies.

What we need the most in this moment of crisis is competent and honest
leadership in the White House that prioritizes the lives and livelihoods
of all of us.

Moments like these are when the role of a competent federal government—one
that prioritizes the interest of people over profits—is so essential.
While we focus on keeping our families and communities safe, we must also
recognize that we deserve better as a country, and we must speak out when
our leaders are putting corporate profits and their own reputations above
the interests of public health.

This crisis has exposed the Trump Administration's incompetence and its
underlying corruption. It's dangerous and it may even cost lives. While we
fight to protect our families and communities, we also have to call out
the threats and demand that they do better.

[ Six ]Will you watch this video outlining six ways that Trump's corruption
puts our health at risk and then forward or share it with everyone you
know?

[ [link removed] ]Six Ways Trump's Corrupt Coronavirus Response Has Failed

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[ mailto:?Subject=Coronavirus%20corruption&Body=This%20week%2C%20the%20World%20Health%20Organization%20officially%20declared%20COVID-19%20%28coronavirus%29%20an%20international%20pandemic.%20Through%20it%20all%2C%20what%27s%20been%20heartening%20is%20the%20way%20that%20people%20are%20working%20to%20support%20each%20other%20and%20taking%20appropriate%20steps%20to%20keep%20ourselves%2C%20our%20families%2C%20and%20our%20communities%20safe%20and%20healthy%2C%20like%20implementing%20social%20distancing%20policies.%0A%0AWhat%20we%20need%20the%20most%20in%20this%20moment%20of%20crisis%20is%20competent%20and%20honest%20leadership%20in%20the%20White%20House%20that%20prioritizes%20the%20lives%20and%20livelihoods%20of%20all%20of%20us.%0A%0AMoments%20like%20these%20are%20when%20the%20role%20of%20a%20competent%20federal%20government%u2014one%20that%20prioritizes%20the%20interest%20of%20people%20over%20profits%u2014is%20so%20essential.%20While%20we%20focus%20on%20keeping%20our%20families%20and%20communities%20safe%2C%20we%20must%20also%20recognize%20that%20we%20deserve%20better%20as%20a%20country%2C%20and%20we%20must%20speak%20out%20when%20our%20leaders%20are%20putting%20corporate%20profits%20and%20their%20own%20reputations%20above%20the%20interests%20of%20public%20health.%20%0A%0AWill%20you%20watch%20and%20share%20this%20video%20from%20MoveOn%20outlining%20six%20ways%20that%20Trump%27s%20corruption%20puts%20our%20health%20at%20risk%3F%0A%0Ahttp%3A//facebook.com/moveon/videos/2359571824333080%0A%0AThanks%2C%0A ]Share by Email [ mailto:?Subject=Coronavirus%20corruption&Body=This%20week%2C%20the%20World%20Health%20Organization%20officially%20declared%20COVID-19%20%28coronavirus%29%20an%20international%20pandemic.%20Through%20it%20all%2C%20what%27s%20been%20heartening%20is%20the%20way%20that%20people%20are%20working%20to%20support%20each%20other%20and%20taking%20appropriate%20steps%20to%20keep%20ourselves%2C%20our%20families%2C%20and%20our%20communities%20safe%20and%20healthy%2C%20like%20implementing%20social%20distancing%20policies.%0A%0AWhat%20we%20need%20the%20most%20in%20this%20moment%20of%20crisis%20is%20competent%20and%20honest%20leadership%20in%20the%20White%20House%20that%20prioritizes%20the%20lives%20and%20livelihoods%20of%20all%20of%20us.%0A%0AMoments%20like%20these%20are%20when%20the%20role%20of%20a%20competent%20federal%20government%u2014one%20that%20prioritizes%20the%20interest%20of%20people%20over%20profits%u2014is%20so%20essential.%20While%20we%20focus%20on%20keeping%20our%20families%20and%20communities%20safe%2C%20we%20must%20also%20recognize%20that%20we%20deserve%20better%20as%20a%20country%2C%20and%20we%20must%20speak%20out%20when%20our%20leaders%20are%20putting%20corporate%20profits%20and%20their%20own%20reputations%20above%20the%20interests%20of%20public%20health.%20%0A%0AWill%20you%20watch%20and%20share%20this%20video%20from%20MoveOn%20outlining%20six%20ways%20that%20Trump%27s%20corruption%20puts%20our%20health%20at%20risk%3F%0A%0Ahttp%3A//facebook.com/moveon/videos/2359571824333080%0A%0AThanks%2C%0A ][IMG]

 Here are some more details on how Trump's corrupt coronavirus response
has failed:

1. Trump is putting drug company profits ahead of vaccine
affordability. Trump installed a former Big Pharma executive and lobbyist,
Alex Azar, to head the Department of Health and Human Services. When asked
by Congress if a future vaccine will be guaranteed to be affordable for
all Americans, Azar refused to commit. Instead, he suggested that private
pharmaceutical companies’ profits would come before the health needs of
the people.^2

2. Trump has caused disastrous testing delays in an attempt to keep
numbers artificially low. While other countries raced to produce tests and
were testing thousands of their citizens every day, the Trump
administration delayed for weeks as the virus spread across the United
States.^3 Even now, tests are strictly limited, the damage of the delays
cannot be reversed, and Trump and Pence are lying about the availability
of tests. South Korea has tested close to 200,000 of its citizens; as of
March 6, the U.S. had tested fewer than 2,000.^4 Reports indicate Trump
was against widespread testing, because he wanted to keep the “numbers” of
reported cases low.^5

3. Trump is spreading ignorant and dangerous misinformation. Donald Trump
has tried to downplay the virus, directly contradicting federal infectious
disease experts,^6 and has tried to sow politically opportunistic mayhem
by calling the coronavirus the “Democrats’ new hoax.”^7 He has suggested
it's fine to go to work when sick and that the coronavirus is no worse
than the normal flu. All of these statements are lies. Director of the
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr. Anthony Fauci,
said during hearings that the mortality rate of the coronavirus "is
multiple times what the seasonal flu is." Trump also has repeatedly said
that a vaccine could be ready within months, again having to be corrected
by Fauci that it would be more than a year.^8

4. Trump gutted the pandemic response. In 2018, Trump axed the top White
House official on pandemics and his entire executive branch team
responsible for coordinating responses to pandemics—and never replaced
them.^9 And by the way, Trump and the GOP are still pursuing a legal case
in the courts to take health care away from 30 million people.

5. Trump is prioritizing Wall Street over people and public health. Trump
has muzzled his own experts, downplayed the threat, and delayed taking
aggressive action, because he was afraid of the stock market tanking
(which it did anyway).^10 He placed Larry Kudlow, whose only experience is
as a Wall Street pundit, on his Coronavirus Task Force.^11

6. Instead of following the science, Trump & the GOP are promoting hate
and fear. First, the Trump administration wanted to use the virus as an
excuse to shut down the southern border, even though that is not how the
disease is spreading inside the United States.^12 Now, his Republican
allies are trying to rename the virus in an attempt to gin up racist
feelings toward Chinese and other Asian people.^13

If we don't speak out now, Trump and his administration will only continue
to pursue their corrupt agenda and put public health at risk.

Share the video everywhere to help spread the word via [ [link removed] ]Facebook,
[ [link removed] ]Twitter, and [ mailto:?Subject=Coronavirus%20corruption&Body=This%20week%2C%20the%20World%20Health%20Organization%20officially%20declared%20COVID-19%20%28coronavirus%29%20an%20international%20pandemic.%20Through%20it%20all%2C%20what%27s%20been%20heartening%20is%20the%20way%20that%20people%20are%20working%20to%20support%20each%20other%20and%20taking%20appropriate%20steps%20to%20keep%20ourselves%2C%20our%20families%2C%20and%20our%20communities%20safe%20and%20healthy%2C%20like%20implementing%20social%20distancing%20policies.%0A%0AWhat%20we%20need%20the%20most%20in%20this%20moment%20of%20crisis%20is%20competent%20and%20honest%20leadership%20in%20the%20White%20House%20that%20prioritizes%20the%20lives%20and%20livelihoods%20of%20all%20of%20us.%0A%0AMoments%20like%20these%20are%20when%20the%20role%20of%20a%20competent%20federal%20government%u2014one%20that%20prioritizes%20the%20interest%20of%20people%20over%20profits%u2014is%20so%20essential.%20While%20we%20focus%20on%20keeping%20our%20families%20and%20communities%20safe%2C%20we%20must%20also%20recognize%20that%20we%20deserve%20better%20as%20a%20country%2C%20and%20we%20must%20speak%20out%20when%20our%20leaders%20are%20putting%20corporate%20profits%20and%20their%20own%20reputations%20above%20the%20interests%20of%20public%20health.%20%0A%0AWill%20you%20watch%20and%20share%20this%20video%20from%20MoveOn%20outlining%20six%20ways%20that%20Trump%27s%20corruption%20puts%20our%20health%20at%20risk%3F%0A%0Ahttp%3A//facebook.com/moveon/videos/2359571824333080%0A%0AThanks%2C%0A ]email.

Thanks for all you do.

–Mohammad, Nita, Michael, Kelly, and the rest of the team

Sources:

1. Coronavirus: COVID-19 Is Now Officially A Pandemic, WHO Says" NPR,
March 11, 2020
[link removed]

2. "Health Secretary Alex Azar Refuses To Guarantee Coronavirus Vaccine
Would Be Affordable For All," Forbes, February 27, 2020
[link removed]

3. "How testing failures allowed coronavirus to sweep the U.S.," Politico,
March 6, 2020
[link removed]

4. "The CDC’s rocky effort to get Americans tested for coronavirus,
explained," Vox, March 6, 2020
[link removed]

5. "Which is Trump more worried about: Coronavirus numbers or coronavirus
patients?," The Washington Post, March 7, 2020
[link removed]

6. "Not His First Epidemic: Dr. Anthony Fauci Sticks to the Facts," The
New York Times, March 8, 2020
[link removed]

7. "Trump calls coronavirus Democrats' 'new hoax,'" NBC News, February 28,
2020
[link removed]

8. "Trump has many hunches about the coronavirus. Here's what the experts
say." NBC News, March 5, 2020
[link removed]

9. "Did Trump Fire the US Pandemic Response Team?" Snopes, February 26,
2020
[link removed]

10. "White House struggles to contain public alarm over coronavirus," The
Washington Post, February 26, 2020
[link removed]

11. "Cronyism and Conflicts of Interest in Trump’s Coronavirus Task
Force," The Intercept, February 29, 2020
[link removed]

12. "Why pandemics activate xenophobia," Vox, March 4, 2020
[link removed]

13. "Republicans face backlash over racist labeling of coronavirus," The
Guardian, March 10, 2020
[link removed]




Want to support MoveOn's work? The MoveOn community will work every
moment, day by day and year by year, to resist Trump's agenda, contain the
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nation's pendulum back toward sanity, decency, and the kind of future that
we must never give up on. And to do it we need your ongoing support, now
more than ever. Will you stand with us?



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