Demonstrators in Washington D.C. stormed Donald Trump’s hotel on Thursday to place body bags outside the building and demand the president’s resignation over his mismanagement of the coronavirus outbreak.
As Rachel Maddow pointed out, the demonstrators weren’t only protesting Trump’s response. They were also reminding the president that tens of thousands of Americans have died as a result of his incompetence – a fact he still doesn’t seem to grasp.
“The president does not really seem up on the fact that 48,902 Americans have already been killed by this epidemic,” the MSNBC host said, pointing out that Trump said just this week that the overall death toll from this pandemic could hit 50,000 when all is said and done.
“Barring some kind of miracle, the U.S. death toll is going to hit 50,000 by this weekend. Easy,” Maddow said. “But I don’t know if the president knows that.”
Video:
Rachel Maddow says it’s pretty apparent that Donald Trump doesn’t have a firm grasp of how many Americans have died from coronavirus. #ctl #p2 #maddow pic.twitter.com/5YzOlcdyBW
— PoliticusUSA (@politicususa) April 24, 2020
Maddow said:
People got out of those vehicles and laid body bags at the threshold of President Trump’s hotel. ‘Trump lies, people die.’ This was a protest today in Washington. Those aren’t real body bags, but they are meant to symbolize the thousands of Americans who have died. The U.S. death toll from coronavirus, as of today, is staggering. As of today, 48,902 Americans have been killed – and that’s just over the course of about a month. For what it’s worth, and when you’re thinking about whether a protest like this might wake the president up, whether it might get the president’s attention a little bit, to have body bags laid out in front of his hotel, for what it’s worth, the president does not really seem up on the fact that 48,902 Americans have already been killed by this epidemic. We know that he is not really up on that number. We know that for sure. Because this was the president at the beginning of this week, on Monday, of this week, talking about what he thought the U.S. death toll would end up being. [Trump audio]: ‘Now, we’re going toward 50, I’m hearing, or 60,000 people. We could end up at 50.’ 50. We could end up at 50,000 people. That’s this week. The president positing that the American death toll in total could be 50,000 people, he thinks that’s where we will end up, that’s what he’s hearing as president. That’s as bad as it will get. Maybe 60,000, but it could be 50,000 people. That’s what he wants people to know that the death toll could be when this is all over. He said that on Monday. Barring some kind of miracle, the U.S. death toll is going to hit 50,000 by this weekend. Easy. But I don’t know if the president knows that.
Worse is that Trump doesn’t seem to care how many lives have been lost
It’s one thing to not know how many Americans have died from this pandemic, but it’s even worse that Donald Trump doesn’t seem to even care.
A president with even an ounce of empathy would approach the White House podium each day throughout this crisis and express his sincerest condolences to those who have died from this virus – and their family members.
What the American people get from Trump instead is two hours of self-congratulations, misinformation and temper tantrums. If he does ever mention the death toll, it’s only to boast that it would be much higher if not for his greatness.
To be sure, this pandemic has exposed a lot of what’s broken with America. But it’s also underscored just how important it is to have a president with some sense of decency and humanity, especially during a time of crisis.
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