By Samantha Wilson
President Trump’s response to COVID-19 — if you can call it that — has been pathetic at best.
He started in January by entirely ignoring the virus and then proceeded to play it down. Next, he instituted a travel ban from many traveling from China. Eventually resorting to blaming China for the virus using the racist term “China Virus” which he continues to consistently use.
In February he started a COVID-19 task force, at the same time predicting the virus would, “like a miracle, it will disappear.” Unfortunately for the country, Trump is no miracle worker. A large portion of the U.S. went under a strict lockdown, and life as we knew it changed drastically. The months following, we learned how PPE works, what social distancing truly means, and what it’s like to know your friends and family may be at risk.
What followed were summer months without summer days. We waited for news of a vaccine, while Trump continued to lie about the threat. Sadly, America still waits, as the the death toll ticked over 200,000, and Trump held “super-spreader” rallies. As summer ended the reality hit for students that life and school wouldn’t be returning to normal. More surprisingly, (or perhaps not), our reckless president, believing masks symbolized weakness, ended up with the virus himself.
So, in retrospect, why is reading this summary any different than what you have seen or read over the past few months?
Well, recently our President expressed his belief in herd immunity … a belief that many experts feel will put countless people at risk. If you ever thought there was a time to stand up and be counted — it is now.
Whether you can vote or not, you can still make a difference. Be sure the people in your life are registered to vote and know how YOUR life will be impacted by this election. Reach out to relatives outside of New York and also sign up to make voting calls to swing states (you can do this at any age).
It has never been more important for everyone to vote than now. COVID-19 is just one of the reasons to work at making a real “miracle” happen — not an imaginary one.
