May 8, 2020
NO ONE EXPECTS IDEOLOGUES TO UNDERSTAND SCIENCE:
Trump blocks national testing program -- why? Because tests make us "look bad" (DAN FROOMKIN, MAY 8, 2020, Press Watch)
On Wednesday, Trump explained himself with an extraordinarily revealing quote -- one that included both a lie and a confession."In a way, by doing all this testing we make ourselves look bad," Trump told reporters on Wednesday,It was a lie because the number of tests administered in the U.S. -- currently about 7 million -- is tiny compared to the actual need.It was a confession because Trump was acknowledging what many of us have perceived all along: He sees testing as a matter of his own political health rather than an urgent question of public health.The context of his comment was also revealing, because he was speaking entirely about the public perception of the problem rather than the problem itself -- and he started off, as usual, by ascribing ill intent to the media for accurately reporting its extent.
Increased testing would demonstrate how many more of us have been infected than we now know, showing how much less deadly the virus is than feared. As a political matter, it would help speed reopening if we could send folks back to work who already have antibodies.
Posted by Orrin Judd at May 8, 2020 7:57 AM