To the editor:

Our president has neglected the COVID-19 crisis. When he did begin to take things more seriously, he told people in February that “It’s going to disappear. One day it’s like a miracle, it will disappear.” In the weeks following that, there was a clear struggle between what the President and medical experts were saying about COVID-19. During his daily briefings, instead of letting medical experts inform the public, Trump often took the time to wrongly explain things that medical experts later had to correct.

Trump will take all the praise but none of the responsibility. Instead of unifying states in a national lockdown, he left the decision for governors to make. He then encouraged his base to protest lockdown orders by tweeting “LIBERATE MINNESOTA”, “LIBERATE MICHIGAN”, and then “LIBERATE VIRGINIA.”

As the death toll and number of overall cases of COVID-19 continue to rise, we need a President that understands the importance of social distancing efforts. When Trump finally realised that somebody had to take responsibility for the mishandling of this crisis, he placed blame upon the World Health Organization and cut their funding. The World Health Organization has done nothing to deserve such treatment. They deserve more than our support, they deserve some gratitude and funding from a President that actually cares.

Our president made a statement about how the world will remember this time and remember how people came together. People ARE coming together to save as many lives as they can right now, but Trump surely has nothing to do with it other than complicating everyone else’s life-saving efforts. The world will remember Trump’s irresponsibility, his selfishness, and overall incompetence to guide this country, especially during a time of crisis. Trump’s “miracle” won’t happen on its own, but there is a chance for another kind of miracle. Vote Trump out of the White House in November.

Sonya Steinbeisser

New Ulm