Trump on Obama’s Handling of the Pandemic in 2009

Biden/Obama were a disaster in handling the H1N1 Swine Flu. Polling at the time showed disastrous approval numbers. 17,000 people died unnecessarily and through incompetence! Also, don’t forget their 4 Billion Dollar Obamacare website that should have cost close to nothing!

— Donald Trump

Hmmm.

I am wondering why the president is busying himself with stuff that happened 11 years ago. Does any of this matter today? Does it make excuses for his own incompetence when others, more than a decade before him, were also supposedly incompetent?

I might even buy it, if his facts were correct. However:

  • According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 12,469 people died in the United States from the H1N1 pandemic in 2009, not 17,000.
  • Obama’s approval rating also wasn’t disastrous. A poll conducted by the Washington Post and ABC News over the course of several months in 2009 showed that Obama’s approval rating for his handling of the H1N1 pandemic ranged from the high 60s to the high 50s. I wonder why Trump is brining up approval ratings? If my loved ones are dying alone in an ICU, I really could care less about Trump’s approval ratings, or, for that matter, Obama’s in 2009.
  • The “Obamacare” website cost much less than $5 billion.

I wish the president got a grip and realized what people need now in a leader:

  • Calmness
  • Honesty
  • Empathy
  • Support
  • Relentless work toward mobilizing government resources to help the people
  • Guidance based on truth and science
  • Unifying and encouraging language

I see none of this in Trump. He seems to be busy fomenting division and blaming others.

How is that helping?

One thought on “Trump on Obama’s Handling of the Pandemic in 2009

Leave a Reply