During the Trump administration, science and research development in America has always taken a back seat to some of the more flashier topics like job creation or the stock market that Trump loved to boast about, which lead to the defunding and downsizing of many essential services. As part of this downsizing, the Trump administration disbanded an organization that was dedicated to pandemic preparedness, despite several warnings from field experts and law makers. Now, in the midst of a pandemic, when questioned about the downsizing decision, Times reports “President Donald Trump dismissed criticism that disbanding the team had slowed things down, calling it a ‘nasty question’ at a White House briefing. ‘I don’t know anything about it,'” ( Dozier & Bergengruen, 2020 ). What frustrates me most about this response is how he doesn’t defend himself and his administrations decisions with any sort of statistics that could have shown why this decision was made and how it is effecting America in the current pandemic.
This is a trend I’ve seen a lot while observing the Trump administration’s approach to the COVID-19 Pandemic, an over all lack of statistics and data to defend or back up any claims that are being made. In almost all fields of science, data and statistics are the only reliable source of information, it provides us with a clear answer we know isn’t bias or skewed, so how is it that America seems so divided right now on their approval, or disapproval of Trump during this pandemic? NBC News explains this divide best after presenting research on Trumps current approval ratings in an article recently published, “In a situation where the federal response relies on public trust in experts, scientists and medical professionals, these numbers suggest that voters are operating with different sets of facts based on their news consumption” ( Todd & Murray, 2020 ). So where is Trump and his administration getting most of their information from, and why is it so inaccurate in comparison to numbers and statistics given by epidemiology professionals? We look towards Trumps love affair with Fox news for this answer.
Along with Fox news defending Trump, Trump is an avid supporter of the news platform, constantly referencing them and even quoting them during press conferences, this creates what many call the Trump-Fox New feedback loop, a dangerous cycle of Fox news skewing data to defend Trump, Trump presenting that data or claim as the truth, then Fox having to come up with more lies. CNN explains the danger of this loop during the pandemic by stating, “It’s impossible to know where Trump stops and Fox News begins or vice versa. But what’s abundantly clear is that both have one common interest: Defend Trump at all costs — even if that means undermining doctors and lying about a deadly virus that is killing our fellow Americans.” (Obeidallah, 2020) For many Americans who use Right wing media as their only news source, it is reasonable to see why there is such a difference in approval ratings, but there is a critical reason as to why Trump and his administration keeps using false information during press conferences, and it’s about the 2020 elections.
Although we are in the middle of a pandemic, it is also an election year, and it seems as if Trump still is prioritizing his re-election over the safety of Americans. As the Philadelphia inquirer bluntly states in an article describing Trumps relationship with Fox news and other right wing media sources, “He won’t be reelected if voters focus on the credible news reports that thousands of Americans died needlessly because his White House ignored the scientists and the tough decisions for 70 days while the virus festered.” (Bunch, 2020) To me, this statement is tragic, it is a summary of Trump’s presidential term of lies and deceit to maintain his image at any cost, but I don’t need to read these articles to know this, I just wish criticism like this could reach others outside of the liberal bubble, but this is highly unlikely.
All of this research and information I have learned is why I now have so little faith in how America will change after this pandemic. Going through a pandemic as a nation is terrifying, everyone is a witness to the loss and devastation that can be caused by such a small pathogen, and this could have been seen as a bonding experience between a divided America, showing us there are more things we have in common then our differences in political parties. Trump doesn’t want that, he doesn’t want there to be any unity in America because his campaign is derived from anger over the “others”, which is why he presents false information as the truth, and why he’s shifting the blame of the inevitable economy crash on the Democrats, because he needs to keep the truth of just how poorly he’s doing away from his followers. I honestly feel as if this pandemic will actually create a further divide, as liberals would be viewed as those who overreacted and killed the economy, and conservatives will be seen as irresponsible and gullible.
References
Bunch, Will. “Trump, Fox News Are Trying to Gin up a New Tea Party to Distract You from Their Deadly Failures: Will Bunch.” Https://Www.inquirer.com, Staff, 19 Apr. 2020, http://www.inquirer.com/opinion/commentary/coronavirus-protesters-state-capitols-trump-reopen-economy-fox-news-20200419.html.
Dozier, Kimberly, and Vera Bergengruen. “Officials Fight Criticism Over Cutting Global Health Staff.” Time, Time, 19 Mar. 2020, time.com/5806558/administration-officials-fight-criticism/.
Obeidallah, Dean. “The Trump-Fox News Feedback Loop Now Going after Andrew Cuomo and Dr. Anthony Fauci.” CNN, Cable News Network, 6 Apr. 2020, http://www.cnn.com/2020/04/06/opinions/trump-fox-news-cuomo-fauci-criticism-obeidallah/index.html.
Todd, Chuck, et al. “Where You Get Your News Reveals a Divide in Attitudes about the Coronavirus.” NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News Group, 21 Apr. 2020, http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/meet-the-press/where-you-get-your-news-reveals-divide-attitudes-about-coronavirus-n1188621.
English 802 Spring 2020 
I have been thinking about this a lot recently. Before the coronavirus consumed our lives I was keeping up to date with the election but when this pandemic arrived I feel like it got pushed to the side. You are totally right in so many of the things you brought up in this writing. I think Trump feeds off of the media and the constant news cycle. You articulated really well many of the reasons Trump is dangerous while in power.
Throughout his entire term he has never made me feel like he is looking out for our best interest. It worries me to know that people listen to sources like Fox News that constantly publish skewed information that glorifies Trump. They paint a falsely positive image of him and make him look like a much better person and president than he is. I only hope that our generation can educate themselves and not allow him to have a second term.
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I wish people could learn from this virus, but we probably won’t. I hope people realize how our great country was broken by a virus. We are supposed to be the greatest country in the world and our government and systems in place crumbled under the pressure from the Coronavirus. And why? Because we don’t have amazing doctors? No. Because we didn’t have weeks to prepare? No, we had time we just used it poorly. The government crumbled under pressure because the government itself is broken. The government, “for the people, by the people”, failed the people. There is no pride in handling this moment in history so poorly, American’s should be ashamed of our government. And now, we get to pick the lesser of two evils to take over and not change much, the rich will get rich will get richer, the poor will get poorer, and all the while we will be fighting each other, which is exactly what they want.
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