By Paul Kink, Stevensville
The death toll from COVID -19 has now exceeded 200,000. A word picture to illustrate this tragic statistic is: the seating capacity of Washington Grizzly Stadium is 25,203. That means the current U.S. death toll from COVID-19 would fill eight Washington Grizzly Stadiums!
Putting this heartbreaking number into terms we can all understand made me wonder, how could our current President and his administration let this happen?
During a private interview with journalist Bob Woodward, President Trump indicated he was more aware of the COVID-19 threat than he was conveying publicly. The President said to Woodward that the virus is “horrible and unbelievable.” He also stated to Woodward that he knew the virus was transmitted through the air. He admitted to playing down that threat, concealing from the American people what he knew. On February 7, 2020, President Trump told Bob Woodward that the virus is more “deadly than the flu,” yet, during the President’s “State of The Union” on February 4, 2020, Trump spent a mere 20 seconds of his 78 minute speech, addressing COVID-19.
While President Trump knows the truth about COVID-19, and despite the death toll that is increasing every single day, he continues to make the following false statements, which are just a few of many he has made:
“The risk to the American people is very low.”
“We have it totally under control.”
“We pretty much shut it down coming in from China.”
“It’s totally unnecessary to everybody to get tested” because the coronavirus “will pass through.”
“By April, you know, in theory, when it gets a little warmer, the coronavirus miraculously goes away,”
As you enter the polling booth or send in your ballot, PLEASE think about the death toll that raises daily and the complete lack of a coordinated response and contradictory and false statements that have come from this administration. Can our country survive four more years of Donald Trump? How many more of our loved ones or perhaps ourselves have to die? Also, as you consider down ballot candidates, realize that Senator Steve Daines, gubernatorial candidate Greg Gianforte and candidate for Senate District 44, Theresa Manzella, all have voiced their full support of Donald Trump and his administration.
How many more Washington Grizzly Stadiums do we need to fill with dead Americans before we send a resounding rebuke to these folks on November 3, 2020?