As fears about the novel coronavirus, also known as the COVID-19 virus, continue to spread around the world, economic markets continue to struggle as investors fear uncertainty. This uncertainty is further exacerbated by the mixed messages coming from President Trump and the White House.
The messaging has been so confusing that the administration can’t even agree on the availability of the number of testing kits available. Trump has said, “Anybody that needs a test gets a test.” But that’s not correct. During a CNN town hall, Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said, “We’re going to need millions and millions and millions of tests.”
Lisa Maragakis, senior director of Infection Prevention at Johns Hopkins University Medicine, stated, “Testing capacity is not currently adequate,” highlighting the problems the administration has with the accuracy of the information it’s telling the public.
The failure of the administration to send complete and accurate information only hinders a proper response because it creates confusion about what exactly is happening and what can be expected.
Not only are people fearful of a potential pandemic with no clear plan from the administration, but we are now on the brink of a major financial crisis where the markets have lost over $1 trillion. The Dow cratered more than 2,000 points on Monday, and the S&P 500 closed 7.3% lower. The fastest drop came when markets opened, causing a market circuit breaker to halt trading for 15 minutes, a mechanism to prohibit further financial loss. As investor concern continues, the federal government may need a stimulus package that would likely total hundreds of billions of dollars to stabilize markets.
As it stands, no such plans have been revealed or indicated by the Trump administration. The administration finds itself behind the ball on nearly every front of this issue.
This is the greatest test Trump has faced since he took office. So far, the president is proving himself fully unprepared and incapable of rising to the occasion.
The president can’t fake his way out of this. He can’t say it’s fake news, and he can’t blame CNN or MSNBC, because neither outlet controls the stock market. For most of his presidency, the president successfully changed the narrative any and every time he found himself in a corner, but this time it’s different. There’s no script to flip when U.S. citizens are vulnerable to potential community spread of the virus and concerned about the lack of a clear plan from the government. You can’t change the narrative about the economy when people see a crashing stock market day after day.
Tweets and incoherent press conferences won’t fix this crisis; only action will.
A robust and transparent plan would inform the country of what the federal government is doing to meet the growing spread of this crisis. It would also inform the public of the cross-agency collaborations that are ongoing and how each agency is partnering with states to make sure each state has the necessary support and resources to protect people, specifically the most vulnerable among us.
The coronavirus isn’t going away anytime soon, and the way Trump has handled it has been revelatory about his shortcomings as a leader. He was elected on a populist crusade without any real care or attention to detail about his actual leadership experience. Now it’s on full display during the worst time, and Trump is proving his critics’ biggest complaint about him as a leader: Trump is incapable of leading when it matters most.
Shermichael Singleton (@Shermichael_) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. He is a Republican strategist and political analyst regularly appearing on MSNBC.
