As Donald Trump continues his campaign trail antics, the press seems to have largely forgotten his administration’s disastrous handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. While his mismanagement of the crisis drew sharp criticism at the time, a peculiar amnesia has settled in, allowing Trump to perpetuate the myth that his presidency effectively ended before the pandemic hit. This deliberate memory lapse by both the media and some of the public ignores the glaring mistakes and lost lives that could have been avoided with stronger leadership.
Trump’s Pre-COVID Boasts and Misleading Claims
Trump’s attempts to whitewash his economic record have been constant since the onset of the pandemic. “I had the country going,” he recently stated, trying to paint a picture of unprecedented growth before the virus struck. However, that narrative fails to hold up under scrutiny. The reality is that the economic expansion Trump boasts of was largely inherited from President Barack Obama, and Trump’s record doesn’t stack up well compared to either Obama’s or Biden’s presidencies.
During Trump’s first three years, he oversaw the creation of 6.5 million jobs, a solid figure but not extraordinary. By comparison, Obama created over 8 million jobs during the first three years of his second term. Biden’s job creation figures further dwarf Trump’s, with nearly double the number of jobs generated in his first three years.
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While Trump emphasizes inflation, comparing the pre-COVID inflation rate of 2.3% to Biden’s early-term inflation spike of 9.1%, he conveniently ignores the context. The global pandemic and its subsequent disruptions significantly impacted inflation worldwide. Yet, inflation has since declined, hovering around a much more reasonable 2.4%. The claim that Trump’s economy was more stable than Biden’s is misleading at best, especially when considering the effects of the pandemic.
Ignoring Trump’s Pandemic Mismanagement
The most troubling aspect of this “sanewashing” of Trump’s presidency is the collective agreement to downplay the catastrophic impact of his mishandling of COVID-19. The United States recorded one of the highest mortality rates among comparable nations during the pandemic, with COVID deaths 40% higher than in countries like Canada, Germany, and the UK by early 2021, according to The Lancet.
This tragic outcome wasn’t simply due to bad luck. Trump’s leadership, or lack thereof, contributed to this alarming disparity. Public health experts have since pointed out that Trump’s administration failed to respond adequately when the virus first emerged, allowing it to spread unchecked. The CDC, operating under Trump’s appointee, Robert Redfield, hesitated and mismanaged early warnings, a move that cost the country dearly.
The Media’s Complicity
What’s most frustrating is that much of the media, as well as political figures like Vice President Kamala Harris, have allowed Trump to distance himself from his catastrophic pandemic response. Despite being given numerous opportunities to remind the public of Trump’s failures, Harris and others have often hesitated, likely fearing that invoking the pandemic’s toll could seem politically insensitive.
Yet, this reluctance plays directly into Trump’s hands, enabling him to evade responsibility. Even as inflation remains a focal point in discussions about Biden’s economy, we can’t ignore that the economic downturn—along with the devastating death toll—was a direct result of Trump’s inability to manage the crisis effectively.
Trump’s Convenient Amnesia
Trump’s ongoing effort to shift blame and rewrite history is clear. What remains baffling is why so many are willing to go along with it. COVID-19 claimed over 100,000 lives that could have been saved with stronger leadership. The economy suffered severely, with unemployment peaking at 14.7%, and the fallout from the pandemic still lingers today.
By allowing Trump to erase these critical moments from his presidency, we risk setting a dangerous precedent. If the public and press continue to indulge in Trump’s narrative, his failures will fade into obscurity, and the lessons learned from the pandemic will be lost.
Trump wants us to forget the COVID-19 disaster, but we shouldn’t. Letting him off the hook for his pandemic response is, quite simply, insane.
