From COVID to Helene, Trump's Lies Make Him the Real Disaster in Every Crisis

Brett Meiselas

In the face of Hurricane Helene’s destruction, Donald Trump has once again proven himself to be not just unfit to lead, but an active danger in moments of crisis. His dismissive comments calling it “a little hurricane” on September 27, as reports of widespread death and destruction poured in, are a chilling reminder of how Trump treats every disaster as just another opportunity to feed his own ego. This is the same man who told Americans the COVID-19 pandemic was under control as hundreds of thousands were losing their lives. Now, he’s playing the same dangerous game—this time with the lives of those affected by Hurricane Helene.

Trump’s response to the devastation is nothing short of grotesque. As communities mourn their dead and face unimaginable loss, he offered the kind of hollow, tone-deaf reassurance that only a man devoid of empathy could muster: “You’ll be okay.” It’s the same empty rhetoric he spewed during the pandemic, where he repeatedly downplayed the virus, contradicted medical experts, and refused to take responsibility for the carnage that unfolded under his watch.

Trump on Monday said: “Nobody thought this would be happening, especially now it’s so late in the season for hurricanes.” This sounds awfully similar to his comments on February 27, 2020, when he said regarding COVID, “It’s going to disappear. One day — it’s like a miracle — it will disappear. And from our shores, we — you know, it could get worse before it gets better. It could maybe go away. We’ll see what happens. Nobody really knows”

In both situations, people did, in fact, know. Experts had been warning about COVID since at least late 2019. Even before then, Trump had been warned about the effect of future pandemics. Trump ignored these warnings and disregarded the pandemic playbook left by the Obama administration. Trump’s comment that “nobody thought” a hurricane would happen in peak hurricane season would be laughable if it were not so dangerous.

https://www.meidasplus.com/p/from-covid-to-helene-trumps-lies