A 'pandemic' contempt for medical advice characterizes the Trump/Pence regime's response to COVID-19. Many White House cheerleaders share in the Christian Right's denial of science; suppressing truth and accountability. When asked about his own culpability for delayed action in addressing the crisis, placing millions at risk of infection, Trump answered, "Yeah, no, I don't take responsibility at all."
Trump supporters, usually enchanted with 'unitary executive' theory, now defend the President on legal grounds, arguing that the federal government has a limited role in fighting COVID-19. "Under our federal system, Washington, D.C., has only limited powers to respond to a pandemic," writes UC Berkeley Law's John Yoo. "The Constitution grants the national government a limited set of enumerated powers. Stopping the spread of disease is not among them."
Many nations, from South Korea to Germany, have done far better at responding to the virus, notes David Remnick at The New Yorker. "The pandemic is an event in the natural history of our species, but it is also a political episode. Its trajectory is shaped by policy measures specific to particular governments. The fact that the United States is experiencing tremendous losses--that it has far more covid-19 cases than any other country in the world--relates to a number of collective risk factors and The Preëxisting Condition in the Oval Office."
