There’s a virus of distrust spreading through the U.S.

Why did the death of Sgt. La David Johnson become a political issue?

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The whole thing began when reporters at a White House news conference asked the president why he hasn’t called the family yet. The president sees this as an attack, and replies with what he considers to be merely a statement of fact – previous presidents, including Barack Obama, didn’t always call either.

Obama supporters take that as a slap at Obama. Tweets fly.

Then, the president decides to call after all. His chief of staff, John Kelly, advises him not to, warning him there’s not much a president can say that will help.

But the president wants to do it and asks General John Kelly to suggest what he might say.

The president makes the call, using Kelly’s words. But after the call, Sgt. Johnson’s widow breaks into tears. And Rep. Frederica Wilson, who was with her and who heard the call, thinks the president was being deliberately insensitive.

She could have complained privately to Mr. Trump. Instead, she goes public. Tweets fly. The president could have responded by saying, “I have nothing but the greatest respect for Mrs. Johnson and the heroism of her son, and I truly apologize if my words were taken the wrong way.”

But instead, the president sees himself under attack again and denies saying what he, in fact, had said.

So I think it’s clear why this blew up — the virus of distrust spreading through this country. This is what happens when people are programmed to automatically assume the worst of each other.

We really don’t have to live this way. But for now, it appears that we want to.

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