Seniors Know Trump’s Coronavirus Response Endangered Their Lives
June 15, 2020
Seniors are among the most vulnerable to coronavirus in our country. Trump’s catastrophic failure to respond to the outbreak didn’t just disappoint them — it endangered their lives. It’s no wonder why older Americans are turning away from his campaign in droves.
Trump’s inability to manage coronavirus hit older Americans the hardest.
New York Times: “One-Third of All U.S. Coronavirus Deaths Are Nursing Home Residents or Workers”
Politico: “The unfolding tragedy in American nursing homes, where patients are dying in clusters, is another consequence of the coronavirus testing debacle. While America wasn’t looking, family visitors, staff and other health professionals unknowingly brought the virus into long-term care facilities, spreading it among the population least likely to withstand it.”
Seniors in long-term care facilities were endangered by Trump’s failure to secure testing and equipment, and data-collection efforts won’t capture the real scale of the crisis.
Kaiser Health News: “Federal Help Falters As Nursing Homes Run Short Of Protective Equipment”
Associated Press: “After two months and more than 10,000 deaths that have made the nation’s nursing homes some of the most terrifying places to be during the coronavirus crisis, most of them still don’t have access to enough tests to help control outbreaks among their frail, elderly residents.”
Wall Street Journal: “A recently launched federal effort to collect data on the impact of the coronavirus in nursing homes will leave the full toll unclear, because a new rule doesn’t require facilities to report deaths and infections that occurred before early May.”
Even as coronavirus ripped through nursing homes, Trump considered weakening infection-control rules at those facilities.
USA Today: “The federal government is considering rolling back infection control requirements in U.S. nursing homes – even as the long-term-care industry’s residents and workers are overwhelmed by the coronavirus.”
Older Americans know Trump left them behind, and are disavowing their support of his campaign.
New York Times: “The coronavirus crisis and the administration’s halting response to it have cost President Trump support from one of his most crucial constituencies: America’s seniors.”
Washington Post: “One of the most durable political assets that Republicans have enjoyed throughout the 21st century is their edge among Americans 65 and older, who tend to turn out at the polls more reliably than any other group. But with President Trump’s inept and erratic handling of the novel coronavirus pandemic, he is rapidly losing support among the age group most vulnerable to its ravages — which is a big warning sign to Republicans as they look to the fall. … The shift has been showing up in a string of recent polls, reportedly including those that have been conducted by Trump’s own campaign.”