A new message from your friends at People For the American Way.

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[ [link removed] ]45's Falsehoods and Failures: Weekly Coverage of Trump During COVID-19

PFAW Member,

In the past week, Donald Trump has publicly acknowledged the coronavirus
pandemic only once, despite the fact that the United States has entered
one of the greatest periods of risk since COVID-19 began spreading through
our country – including the [ [link removed] ]spread of the virus to even more Trump
advisors and White House staff. Since the start of November, the U.S. has
[ [link removed] ]recorded more than one million new confirmed cases. On November 12, the
single-day report of cases [ [link removed] ]passed an all-time high of 160,000, and 42
states are now [ [link removed] ]considered to be in the “red zone” by public health
officials for dangerous community spread of the coronavirus. Yet Trump has
been virtually silent, instead stewing about his election loss, [ [link removed] ]lying
about the [ [link removed] ]results, and [ [link removed] ]ignoring the duties of the presidency that he
holds until January 20, 2021.

The one occasion on which he deigned to mention the pandemic was when he
[ [link removed] ]tweeted about the stock market on November 9, implying that he had
something to do with the vaccine news that bolstered the S&P 500’s high
numbers. (Trump pointedly ignored the fact that Joe Biden’s election
[ [link removed] ]success likely also had a positive effect on the market that day.) He
later [ [link removed] ]lashed out in a [ [link removed] ]series of tweets aimed at [ [link removed] ]blaming Pfizer
and his own Federal Drug Administration for the vaccine announcement
[ [link removed] ]being timed to arrive after the election.

Fortunately, there are clear signs that change is coming. President-elect
Biden and Vice-President-elect Kamala Harris are already putting into
action their plans to improve the federal response to the pandemic by
[ [link removed] ]forming a COVID-19 task force transition team, designed to better
enable them to respond with science-based policies the day that they take
office. High on their list are action items recommended by the nation’s
public health experts, [ [link removed] ]including increasing capacity for testing and
contact tracing; investing in additional vaccine and treatment research
and development; mandatory mask requirements and increased production
capacity for personal protective equipment; and rejoining the World Health
Organization to shore up our country’s defenses against future outbreaks.

The Biden/Harris administration’s list of COVID-19 to-do items was
welcomed by both the scientific community and the public, but Trump and
the Republicans’ fixation on his false claims of voter fraud are directly
hampering the new administration’s ability to pave the way for an improved
coronavirus response. On November 9, the White House [ [link removed] ]instructed senior
government leaders to [ [link removed] ]block cooperation with the Biden/Harris
transition team, and the General Services Administration’s Trump-appointed
administrator has [ [link removed] ]refused to formally recognize Biden and Harris’s
victory. Both of these actions are [ [link removed] ]denying the transition team access
to crucial data that is [ [link removed] ]required for the transition and the ramping-up
of the coronavirus response. Even Trump’s own coronavirus task force
members are [ [link removed] ]concerned about the harm that will be caused by a delay in
allowing proper coordination between the two administrations.

It is unacceptable for a lame-duck president and his allies to allow our
country to be ravaged by a pandemic when there are leaders ready and
willing to take the reins.

The current case surge is on course to overwhelm our health systems and
communities before Biden’s inauguration on January 20, 2021: Almost 1,100
people [ [link removed] ]died on November 7 alone; the country’s total case count
[ [link removed] ]passed ten million on November 8; and nationwide hospitalizations
[ [link removed] ]reached a towering 67,096 on November 12. The Institute for Health
Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington [ [link removed] ]calculates that
a total of 370,000 Americans will have died due to the coronavirus by the
time we reach Inauguration Day 2021 – exactly one year to the day after
the first U.S. instance of COVID-19 was reported.

The election may be over, but our advocacy is needed now more than ever.
We need to press Senate Republicans to pass the comprehensive [ [link removed] ]HEROES
Act long since approved by House Democrats. Senate Majority Leader Mitch
McConnell needs to start working on real negotiation for coronavirus
relief, rather than fixating on his highly inadequate [ [link removed] ]targeted
“skinny” bill while he’s otherwise occupied with forcing through
[ [link removed] ]far-right judicial appointees in a lame-duck session. And
Trump-appointed Postmaster General Louis DeJoy needs to reverse and
permanently halt his [ [link removed] ]harmful service cuts to the U.S. Postal Service,
as our communities’ need for swift and safe mail delivery – from
medications to paychecks – becomes even more vital during these coming
weeks of the pandemic.

No matter what Trump and the Republicans wish were true, the pandemic is
far from over. If they don’t start acting like it soon, then all our lives
will continue to be at risk.

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The [ [link removed] ]Falsehoods and Failures series will appear every Friday on our
blog. [ [link removed] ]You can find the previous post here. For ongoing coverage of
Trump and the Right Wing's response to the coronavirus, check out PFAW's
[ [link removed] ]Right Wing Watch.

Thanks as always for your ongoing support – stay safe and healthy!

– Sarah, PFAW

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