In response to RNC Chair Michael Whatley asking voters if they are better off today than four years ago during the toilet paper shortages and skyrocketing unemployment of the early COVID crisis, DNC Rapid Response Director Alex Floyd released the following statement: 

“Yes.”

Four years ago, Donald Trump was already failing in the country’s coronavirus response and refusing to take any responsibility for massive testing delays. 

Business Insider: “’I don’t take responsibility’: Trump says he’s not to blame for persistent delays in coronavirus testing from the CDC”

“The US was far slower to produce test kits through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention than other countries, creating ongoing delays in getting the tests to state-level public-health authorities and healthcare providers.” 

“Not only has the US tested far fewer of its citizens per capita than other developed countries, but doctors and patients have also expressed frustration at US patients not meeting the CDC guidelines for testing or being able to get a test despite showing symptoms consistent with COVID-19.”

Associated Press: “Trump disbanded NSC pandemic unit that experts had praised”

“Public health and national security experts shake their heads when President Donald Trump says the coronavirus ‘came out of nowhere’ and ‘blindsided the world.’

“They’ve been warning about the next pandemic for years and criticized the Trump administration’s decision in 2018 to dismantle a National Security Council directorate at the White House charged with preparing for when, not if, another pandemic would hit the nation.

“‘It would be nice if the office was still there,’ Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institute of Health, told Congress this week.”

Trump also began touting unproven COVID treatments like hydroxychloroquine as the crisis grew, which potentially resulted in the deaths of thousands who used these treatments.

Bloomberg: “Trump Touts Drug That FDA Says Isn’t Yet Approved for Virus”

Politico: “Hydroxychloroquine could have caused 17,000 deaths during Covid, study finds”

“Nearly 17,000 people may have died after taking hydroxychloroquine during the first wave of Covid-19, according to a study by French researchers.”

Meanwhile, the stock market was in free fall and unemployment was soaring as families struggled to find basic goods like toilet paper.

CNBC: “Dow drops nearly 3,000 points, as coronavirus collapse continues; worst day since ’87”

“Stocks fell sharply Monday — with the Dow suffering its worst day since the ‘Black Monday’ market crash in 1987 and its third-worst day ever — even after the Federal Reserve embarked on a massive monetary stimulus campaign to curb slower economic growth amid the coronavirus outbreak. 

“The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 2,997.10 points lower, or 12.9%, at 20,188.52. The 30-stock Dow was briefly down more than 3,000 points in the final minutes of trading. The S&P 500 dropped 12% to 2,386.13 — hitting its lowest level since December 2018 — while the Nasdaq Composite closed 12.3% lower at 6,904.59 in its worst day ever.

“‘The markets are getting no break with yesterday’s historic Fed actions and COVID-19 dominating the world’s headlines,’ Frank Cappelleri, executive director at Instinet, said in a note. ‘While the news continues to worsen and with the price action doing things we’ve only seen a handful of other times in the last century, it’s nearly impossible to keep things in perspective.’”

CNBC: “Coronavirus: State unemployment websites crash as applications surge”

“Workers who have suddenly found themselves without a paycheck because of the growing coronavirus pandemic in the United States are now dealing with another frustration — state unemployment websites crashing because of high traffic.”

New York Times: “Coronavirus Cost to Businesses and Workers: ‘It Has All Gone to Hell’”

“Not since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, has a crisis enveloped so much of the economy so quickly. Broadway is dark. The college basketball tournaments are canceled and professional sports are on indefinite hold. Conferences, concerts and St. Patrick’s Day parades have been called off or postponed. Even Disneyland — which stayed open through a recession a decade ago that wiped out millions of American jobs and trillions of dollars in wealth — is shuttered.

“‘This hits the heart of the economy, and it hits the economy on all sides,’ said Diane Swonk, chief economist at Grant Thornton. ‘It’s not just that we’re slowing down things. We’re actually hitting the pause button, and there is no precedent, there is no mold for that.’”

BDN: “If you run out of toilet paper, here’s what you can use instead”

“With the novel coronavirus reaching pandemic levels, everyone has been stockpiling for the Centers for Disease Control’s recommended social distancing, self-isolation and self-quarantine, which could last for several weeks. That’s led to stores running out of products like hand sanitizer, hand soap and toilet paper.

“Hopefully, you have enough toilet paper or flushable wipes to last your family for the next few weeks.”

While President Biden has helped create nearly 15 million new jobs, Trump had the worst jobs record since Herbert Hoover – and job growth had slowed even before the pandemic.

Fortune: “Trump to leave office with the worst jobs record since Herbert Hoover”

Washington Post: “President Trump took office at the crest of the longest economic expansion in U.S. history. He leaves presiding over the worst labor market in modern U.S. history, as an already-sputtering economic recovery has turned negative.”

Bloomberg: “Trump’s Jobs Record Fell Short of Promises Even Before the Virus”

Bloomberg: “Job growth was slightly slower in Trump’s first three years before Covid than it was during the last three years of the Obama administration, when the economy added 2.7 million jobs a year on average. Under Trump, that average was 2.2 million, until this year’s tumult more than wiped out the gains.”