Failing the test

The statement by President Truman that “The Buck Stops Here” is totally forgotten by President Trump when he makes the statement about the COVID-19 global pandemic response in the U.S.: “No, I don’t take responsibility.” How many ways does he not take responsibility?

In 2018, the White House National Security Council Pandemic team was dismantled. The 69-page playbook for responding to a pandemic sits on the shelf unused by the Trump administration.

(https://assets.documentcloud.org/ documents/6819268/Pandemic-Playbook.pdf)

Trump refused the World Health Organization testing regime. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration would not come up with viable tests for five and a half weeks, even as other countries and the WHO had already prepared their own. Then Trump says anyone can get tested. That is a blatant lie.

Health and Human Services Secretary Azar appointed Brian Harrison to lead the agency’s day-to-day response to COVID-19 overseeing both CDC and FDA responses to the pandemic. Reports show that Harrison operated a Labradoodle puppy farm in Texas for six years before joining HHS.

President Trump should remember one of his quotes regarding leadership: “Leaders, true leaders, take responsibility for the success of the team, and understand that they must also take responsibility for the failure.”

Trump absolutely fails the leadership litmus test. Remember that in November.

Mike McCarty

Spokane