–

Donald Trump’s rambling political rallies disguised as COVID-19 updates hit a dangerous new low yesterday when he suggested the possibility of injecting disinfectant into patients as a possible cure for the coronavirus.

Trump who has been President for 3 years, 95 days, 5 hours, forty minutes and 28 seconds has as of yet failed to understand the power of the bully pulpit.

Last month “A man reportedly died after ingesting a substance used to clean fish tanks that contains a form of chloroquine, a drug that President Donald Trump has claimed repeatedly could be a “game-changer” in the fight against the novel coronavirus.”

Below listen as he states “… What the hell do you have to lose…” in recommending the use of chloroquine and then read Today’s latest release.

Moments before this article was written, The Food and Drug Administration warned consumers Friday against taking malaria drugs chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine to treat Covid-19 outside a hospital or formal clinical trial setting after “serious” poisoning and deaths were reported.

Many American’s, particularly those who get their news from only one source, the Fox News Network take everything reported and Trump’s statements as gospel. Additionally, young people often tend to challenge one another to engage in risky behavior. When it’s on a subject the President has aggressively endorsed the danger becomes even more grave.

Doctors were so concerned after the April 23rd update they “… stepped forward after the briefing to challenge the president, calling his comments “irresponsible,” “extremely dangerous” and “frightening” in interviews with The Post as they rushed to warn people of the dire consequences of ingesting caustic chemicals.”

Perhaps it’s time for broadcast and cable channels to stop live coverage of the virus updates entirely. Certainly, it’s important to cover important news the President conveys. This could easily be handled by reporters either concurrently or immediately following news conferences summarizing all medically sourced information and providing selected clips.

This might serve to better inform the public of all the truth, not fake news (to use the President’s term) about America’s and the world’s progress in fighting this life-threatening, lifestyle-changing pandemic.

Many citizens are completely confused about COVID-19, it’s dangers, the progress being made and the potential pitfalls of not heeding the advice of the nation’s leading medical experts.

If it wasn’t so scary it would be comical to watch as Donald Trump’s own experts predicted a 2nd wave of the coronavirus and he weighed in on the lack of severity.

Confusion is understandable when the President tweets support for those protesting the “stay in place” and “shelter at home” orders. At the same time, his administration has posted a “three-phase approach for states and counties to begin reopening their economies, allowing residents to gradually return to something resembling normal life amid the novel coronavirus outbreak.”

Don’t like ads? Become a supporter and enjoy The Good Men Project ad free

Not surprisingly, he has left the ultimate decision to the states. This offers him the ability to deflect any criticism when the virus surely returns more strongly to states like Georgia that are not following the guidelines. He will simply blame the governors.

In a surprising development, the President did take issue with some of Georgia’s Governor Brian Kemp’s decisions on opening hair salons, tattoo parlors, and other non-essential businesses. That being said, he also deferred to the Governor’s, a longtime Trump loyalist decision.

Trump consistently asserts his power to “open up the states,” while delegating the responsibility to the governors..

Constitutional experts say President Donald Trump is wrong that he, not governors, has the power to “open up the states” where businesses were closed or residents were ordered to stay at home as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

Whether he has the power is not the overriding issue. The lack of a federal integrated policy and strong leadership has resulted in a debilitating and confusing response to the pandemic. It’s one that has led to the loss of lives and our inability to approach the handling of this crisis expeditiously.

How many more thousands of Americans will die before Donald Trump will pay attention to science not political polls in his stewardship as leader of the free world!

It’s time for the media who Trump assaults daily to work together and develop a plan to protect free speech while preventing the dissemination of dangerous incorrect information provided during the administration’s coronavirus updates. They have replaced the now defunct Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus which ran 146 years. America can’t wait that long!

Previously published on Medium

Don’t like ads? Become a supporter and enjoy The Good Men Project ad free

Top left cover photo: iStock, Top Right photo: DonkeyHokey, Meme created on img.flip.com