He explicitly listened to the scientists. They said jump, he said how high. I don't need to read your revision of history, I was, in fact, alive to witness it. I was alive to listen representatives on the CDC talk about how their early actions might seem extreme, but they'd rather be overcautious. I was alive to see states and medical groupds say the federal government was fully cooperative with them. I was alive to see a national health emergency declared the day after experts were warning Trump. You're not going to convince me to ignore my lying eyes, I watched it all happen.
There's no argument that Trump hasn't listened to experts, the most prominent experts have their platform because Trump gives them the podium and tells the media to ask them questions instead. Those experts say he followed their suggestions at every step.
There's little argument Trump made America unprepared beforehand. He may have suggested cuts, and then congress increased funding instead.
There are plenty of valid criticisms of Trump, but in this case, they are mostly criticisms of the status quo overall. There's no reason to believe a Democrat in office would have acted differently, and many Democrats who factually responded worse. Your counterfactual "if Trump weren't president" analysis is partisan nonsense.
My revision of History? First of all, Trump chose who he listened to and who he ignored. Everything I stated was true and can be supported by the evidence.
“Donald Trump may not have been expecting this, but a lot of other people in the government were — they just couldn’t get him to do anything about it,” a U.S. official with access to the classified briefings told the
Washington Post. “The system was blinking red.”
The most comprehensive timeline on the coronavirus and the U.S. government's response. Readers suggestions welcome
[email protected].
www.justsecurity.org
We have a documented timeline of events here.
If he had listened to the scientists he would have been stockpiling and planning an international response like other nations were:
"Mid-to-late December 2019: A team of government public servants in Alberta, Canada responds to reports of an “influenza-like virus” in China by increasing their emergency stockpile of hospital masks, gloves, and gowns.
After hearing about a “strange flu” from contacts in China, the Alberta Health Services supply procurement team
doubles their normal order of hospital PPE in mid-December. In late December, management approves a huge new purchase, including about 500,000 additional N95 masks."
No, it is far from "partisan nonsense" to actually have competent leadership.
What do you mean there is no argument that Trump hasn't listened to experts? That is what has been happening this entire time. What media d you have to be listening to to even remotely think that.. at all?
"January 3, 2020: Chinese colleagues alert the CDC Director about the virus, and he alerts Secretary Azar.
Chinese colleagues
alert CDC Director Robert Redfield on the
spread of the unknown and novel virus. Redfield
quickly relayed the information to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar who notified the National Security Council.
Sometime later in the month of January: FDA chief Stephen Hahn asks HHS if he can start contacting companies about possible shortages of personal protective equipment and other equipment. HHS tells him no. That decision causes weeks of delay.
“Azar told associates such calls would alarm the industry and make the administration look unprepared,” the Wall Street Journal
reports."
What was Trump doing during all this? Yea.. that sounds like listening doesn't it? If you were not aware of what was happening here, you need to change your news source.