Ever since the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak, Democrats and their media allies have worked feverishly (pun intended) to pin the blame for the latter-day plague on President Donald Trump. Some of their rationales have been downright outlandish, but, as the stakes have risen, the left has only doubled down on its two-faced rhetoric.
Why two-faced? Because no American can claim to want to defeat a sudden, dreadful pandemic, on one hand, but be rooting for America’s commander in chief to fall flat on his face, on the other. Every ounce of national energy spent discrediting and tearing down the Trump administration, when the United States needs strong, consistent leadership now more than ever, is a catalyst for mass panic, for irrational public policy and in turn for the prolongation and deepening of our public health emergency.
Not lost on those supporting this campaign of calumny is the fact that, as America writhes in the grip of the pandemic, its economy is sharply contracting, and the resulting pain, if it lasts long enough, can be weaponized against the president just as readily as the virus itself. This is unfortunately how a diseased mind works – a mind afflicted with Trump Derangement Syndrome (and possibly some borderline personality disorders to boot).
Note the most recent Democratic efforts to malign President Trump and to brand the efforts of his administration to safeguard the American people as incompetent, insufficient, or even dangerous and counterproductive, none of which is true. Weeks ago, when President Trump condemned Democratic efforts to distort his coronavirus record as a new “hoax,” the Democrats, including Joe Biden, twisted his words and manipulated video clips to make it seem that Trump was describing the virus itself as a hoax. Even the Washington Post labeled these claims “deceptive” and “blatant,” and gave them its highest (or lowest) score: four Pinnocchios.
But the left wasn’t done. Not by a long shot. Over and over again, Democrats and liberals claimed that Trump had “slashed” funding, or “defunded,” the CDC and NIH, when in fact funding has risen under his administration. In the midst of a national crisis, in other words, Democrats were falsely sowing doubt about the government’s capacity to meet the threat, fostering alarm and despondency at precisely the moment when President Trump, like a true leader, was trying to instill calm and confidence.
Years ago, a Supreme Court justice famously observed that it was not protected speech if one shouts “Fire!” in a crowded room. Neither, we might add, should it be acceptable to disseminate lies about the commander in chief when his directives, and the American people’s willingness to hear and obey them, are a matter of life and death to millions.
The DNC, just recently, started running web ads with deceptively edited video, taking President Trump’s remarks totally out of context. Twitter allowed this mendacity to stand.
Just days ago a Democratic super PAC, overflowing with dark money, invested $6 million in swing state ads attacking the president’s coronavirus leadership. As usual, the attacks are misleading, and the Trump campaign has threatened to sue. That hasn’t stopped other left-wing super PACs from running similar fradulent ads.
These are dark times for America, and not just because we face an unprecedented public health crisis. We also face a Democratic Party and a liberal movement obsessed with taking down the Trump administration, and indifferent to the cost America and its people will pay as they become collateral damage in a political grudge match.
It was not so long ago, during the Gulf War of 1990-91 and in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, that the United States rallied around President Bush 41 and President Bush 43, respectively – not permanently, admittedly, but at the time of greatest peril to our nation. At these critical junctures, the opposition party did not try to score cheap points or spread disinformation, at the expense of national unity and strength. It rallied around the flag, as good citizens do.
Sadly, America in 2020 is a very different country, and the Democratic Party has become a very different party. Shame is out. Patriotism is no longer in fashion. Anger and cynicism are the left’s new guiding lights.
We can only hope that the American people see through all this. We can only hope that they give our steadfast president his due. Now more than ever, he needs from us, and we need to give him, our attention, our respect and our loyalty.
