Politics
Disasters like Helen and Milton test leaders. Trump fails every time
In 2019, Alabama residents were needlessly alarmed after then-President Trump incorrectly said Hurricane Dorian was headed their way. However, instead of admitting he made a mistake, Trump questioned the National Weather Service and showed Americans a falsified weather map, which is against the law.
Opinion columnist
LZ Granderson
LZ Granderson writes about culture, politics, sports and life in America.
Now the former president is telling lies about relief efforts and federal resources, at a time when those affected by Hurricanes Helen and Milton need advice and help. State and local Republicans have called on him to stop, because apparently misinformation is spoiling rescue and relief efforts. Of course, Trump doesn't care as long as his lies ruin the election too.
What can I say? Same Trump, different year.
After intentionally downplaying the threat of COVID-19 in the early months of 2020, Trump said he deliberately misled the public to avoid panic. As a result, our country was poorly prepared. Our hospitals were quickly overrun, with people dying in school gymnasiums and bodies kept in refrigerated trucks as morgues overflowed.
The pandemic started when he lied to us about the severity of the virus. Four years later, and once again, Trump's instinct as a leader during a national crisis is to lie to the American people and complain about The View.
Elections have consequences. Trump's first term added $8.4 trillion to the national debt and forced rape victims to give birth after Roe v. Wade was overturned by Trump's judges. If you look through Project 2025, the plan developed by conservatives to reshape the federal government under a second Trump administration, you'll see that the second round would be much worse.
Trump would even make natural disasters worse.
Plan 2025 calls for carving up and selling off much of the federal government's weather data collection agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. This is where the National Hurricane Center is located. The expert who suggested Trump eliminate the parts agency, Thomas F. Gilman, was an auto industry veteran before joining Trump's Commerce Department in 2019, the same year Trump redesigned the road of a hurricane with a Sharpie.
Project 2025 aims to replace tens of thousands of experienced civil servants with relevant expertise with political appointees who are initially loyal to Trump appointees like Gilman. If you're still wondering how bad this could be, know that while the nation was preparing for Hurricane Milton on the heels of Hurricane Helene, one of Trump's allies, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R -Ga.), used his platform to tell Americans that they control the weather.
She didn't say who they are, how they do it or what House Republicans would do to stop them. This seems absurd because it is. But we must not confuse absurdity with inconsistency. Elections have consequences.
Greene might believe 9/11 was a hoax, but Republicans who know better put her on the Homeland Security Committee to appease Trump. The committee's official website says it was created in 2002 in the wake of September 11, 2001, and yet Republican Party leaders put a Holocaust denier on the panel to appease someone they know is lying currently on hurricane relief efforts. Loyalty to Trump is the only currency that matters to some of these people. Neither expertise, nor traditional conservative values, nor integrity.
And so the party of Lincoln has unfortunately become the party that responds to national emergencies by scapegoating others: by pretending they control the weather; they eat domestic animals; they are paid actors rather than traumatized survivors of a school shooting. To this day, House Speaker Mike Johnson refuses to say who won the 2020 election. Instead, when reporters ask him, he accuses them of throwing trick questions at him, which may be good for his dealings with Trump but does not help the country in any way.
All of which brings me here: For more than 50 years, since Richard M. Nixon took on John F. Kennedy, televised debates have been a staple of presidential politics. With Trump at the center of attention, the first Republican primary debate of 2016 gave Fox the most-watched non-sports event in cable history. The second debate also brought high marks. Trump didn't start skipping debates during the primary until Fox News announced it would use videos of his previous appearances to hold candidates accountable for their comments.
That's why he and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), oppose fact-checking during debates and interviews. Accountability is why Trump avoided debating Ambassador Nikki Haley during the 2024 primaries. It's why he fought with reporters at a press conference last summer. That's why he's afraid to debate Vice President Kamala Harris again.
When a businessman has a history of escaping the consequences of his misdeeds by declaring bankruptcy as often as Trump, I can understand why he would be uncomfortable with the idea of ​​being held accountable.
However, a president or a candidate cannot escape his responsibilities any more than the country can escape the consequences of an election. Trump's lies in office have done damage. His lies today are hurting people who need help. And no one should be surprised: In every crisis, Trump has proven himself to be a liar, not a leader.
@LZGranderson
Sources 2/ https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2024-10-11/hurricane-milton-helene-harris-biden-trump-desantis The mention sources can contact us to remove/changing this article |
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