“Brownie, you’re doing a heck of a job,” were among George W. Bush’s most famous last words. (Remember Mission Accomplished?) Trump risks pulling a Katrina with his messaging on Coronavirus.
- “The Coronavirus is very much under control in the USA. We are in contact with everyone and all relevant countries. CDC & World Health have been working hard and very smart. Stock Market starting to look very good to me!” – Trump, Feb. 24
- “Low Ratings Fake News MSDNC (Comcast) & @CNN are doing everything possible to make the Caronavirus look as bad as possible, including panicking markets, if possible. Likewise their incompetent Do Nothing Democrat comrades are all talk, no action. USA in great shape!” – Trump, Feb. 26.
At best Coronavirus is “only” like the flu. I put only in quotes because man a lot of people talking about coronavirus are moronic and glib. When people say that Coronavirus is only like the flu, I wonder if they’ve ever had a 104 degree temperature.
The flu is awful, and in the 2018-2019 flu season, 61,200 people died. Are we prepared for an additional 60,000+ to die from a new strain of flu?
How many Americans might die due to Coronavirus?
61,200 people died of the flu in 2018-2019 flu season.
The death rate from coronavirus is 10-20 times that of the flu.
There will be 600,000+ American deaths if coronavirus spreads like the flu. That’s more than all American deaths in WWII.
Some estimates, coronavirus has a 40-70% contagion rate. I hope that number lowers!
If early estimates are accurate, as many as 1.5 to 5 million Americans could die from the Coronavirus.
How to Avoid Causing a Panic While Telling the Truth
The early estimated of coronavirus could be wrong. Maybe coronavirus wont’ spread. Maybe it’s not as deadly as early estimated show.
Maybe!
But which side of the messaging bet would you take?
Tell people everything is OK, and then the world collapses.
Tell people to be prepared (here’s a guide) and that you’re ON IT!
Coronavirus was a slam dunk for Trump,
“This is why we need border security and domestic manufacturing!”
Instead, Democrats are taking the high ground on trade, with Elizabeth Warren tweeting: “We should be taking action right now to mitigate the supply chain impacts of the outbreak. The government should be helping American manufacturers find alternative sources for parts and production and helping American exporters find new purchasers.”
We should be taking action right now to mitigate the supply chain impacts of the outbreak. The government should be helping American manufacturers find alternative sources for parts and production and helping American exporters find new purchasers.
— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) February 25, 2020
Instead he tweeted some Bush / “heckuva job” b.s. Coronavirus is Trump’s Katrina.
Trump’s great strengths include pretending he never said something that he did say, so people will forget all of this.
Unless coronavirus hits as hard as some very smart people think, in which case no one will ignore the millions of people overfilling hospital beds.
