While visiting a medical supply distributor in Pennsylvania last week, Trump announced he is planning for future pandemics. He said, “My goal is to produce everything America needs for ourselves and then export to the world, including medicines.”
If that’s such a great idea, why didn’t he do it this time? He blames Obama for not leaving supplies for him. Whether or not that’s true, it was three years ago. Trump had plenty of time and plenty of warning that there could be a pandemic.
The fact is that public health is not a priority for the wealthy corporations and financial institutions that run the country or the politicians, including Trump, who represent them. Only in a crisis like this do they even feel they have to pretend to care. We need a government of essential workers – everyone who produces or delivers the goods and services we need – to make the decisions affecting our lives.
Featured image credit: Mandel Ngan / AFP
