Owners of struggling and failed businesses and their workers can rightly ask: If Donald Trump had done his job, would the business and its jobs still exist? The doctor in an over-run Arizona or Texas hospital could rightly ask: If Donald Trump had done his job would I have to decide who gets a ventilator today? Grieving parents of soldiers killed in Afghanistan can rightly ask: If Donald Trump had read his Presidential Daily Briefing, would my son or daughter still be alive?

Donald Trump’s failure of leadership has become appallingly apparent to anyone who dares to look. In the early days of this pandemic our Commander in Chief said that this “Chinese” virus would magically go away. When that did not happen, he said it was not his problem; the individual states and their governors would have lead the fight. When that did not work, he blamed the WHO (World Health Organization) for the failure.

Seven months into this fight we are still short of PPE and testing is still a problem. Just to be clear, the United States has more cases and deaths by far from this virus than any other country on the planet. 

Donald Trump’s failure to lead goes far beyond this pandemic. Once the leader of the free world, the United States has now withdrawn from virtually all international organizations and he has nothing but praise for autocrats around the world. The Russians and Chinese have rushed in to fill this vacuum to the great detriment of the United States.   

While Donald Trump defends dead Confederate generals and holds up someone else’s Bible in front a church, we can only hope that his “leadership” is not again tested.

Louis Vitale

Franklin