Ross: Trump continues to play politics amid pandemic
Apr 9, 2020, 8:12 AM | Updated: 10:22 am
(AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
For one brief shining moment we were all in it together, with America and the world all learning from each other.
But a switch was flipped yesterday: Bernie Sanders conceded, Joe Biden is a lock for the Democratic nomination, and the campaign now begins in earnest.
And by some coincidence, just as that was happening, President Trump discovered the culprit behind the pandemic.
“W-H-O, that’s the World Health Organization — they called it wrong, they called it wrong, they missed the call,” he stated during the White House’s daily briefing.
And as punishment, he has threatened to cut off their funding, prompting a warning from the man who heads the WHO.
“Please don’t politicize this virus,” he said. “If you don’t want many more body bags, then you refrain from politicizing. It’s like playing with fire.”
But politicians politicize – it’s in the name. And they like to play with fire, because it motivates voters.
Now that the 2020 contenders are set, the virus is going to have to share the stage with plain old politics.
“It does amaze me that President Obama hasn’t supported Sleepy Joe — it just hasn’t happened,” Trump opined. “He knows something that you don’t know. But I think I know.”
He delivered a put-down, a plot twist, and a cliffhanger – all in ten seconds, and was able to do it in the middle of a pandemic. It doesn’t get more skillful than that.
Listen to Seattle’s Morning News weekday mornings from 5 – 9 a.m. on KIRO Radio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.