On Tuesday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who already triggered outrage this month for his comments regarding the Supreme Court, waded into the rhetorical arena yet again, this time calling President Trump’s response to the coronavirus “incompetent.”
As Breitbart noted, Schumer stated:
Now, I’m going to be blunt. We are very worried about the president’s incompetence and lack of focus on fighting the spread of coronavirus. We believe that his lack of focus, his hamstringing efforts to address this public crisis, and inflicting pain on the stock market. One word could describe thus far the administration’s response, “incompetence.”
The best way we would tell the president, the best way to ensure economic security right now for the American people is to focus on fighting the illness and the spread of the illness. Ask any CEO today what they want most. I’ll bet they tell you they want the coronavirus to be contained. And you know what doesn’t help stop the spread of the coronavirus is more corporate tax cuts. Here’s what we’re worried about, that the president will pay attention to the special interests instead of the people.
Schumer then managed to please his environmental constituency by weaving in an attack on oil companies and ignoring the fact that any administration has many things going on simultaneously:
Here’s a headline from The Washington Post; just came out; “White House likely to pursue federal aid for shale companies hit by oil shock, coronavirus downturn.” We don’t have enough tests. People can’t determine if they’re ill or not. They have to wait days, and they’re concerned with the oil companies that pierce the shale and get oil. Is that incredible?
Schumer said in 2014, “Overall, the Democrats throughout the country have supported fracking. The president has, most of us have, and it’s worked quite well.” When asked if he would like to see fracking in his home state of New York, Schumer dodged, “If the governor feels it’s going to be done carefully, I sure would.”
On Tuesday, Schumer continued by lecturing: “Let me tell President Trump what does stop the spread of coronavirus, steady smart scientific and competent leadership from the government. President Trump and his administration should be putting people before corporations and they should be focused on taking steps that keep the American people and their economic security safe.”
Despite Schumer’s protestations, a recent Gallup poll found that 77% of respondents felt somewhat confident in the government’s ability to handle the coronavirus. During the Obama administration, Gallup found only 58% of respondents felt that way about the Ebola virus in 2014 and 67% felt that way about the swine flu in 2009, as The Washington Times noted.
Schumer might also take note that California governor Gavin Newsom, who has been strongly critical of Trump in the past, has praised Trump for his efforts regarding the coronavirus. Newsom stated: “We had a private conversation, but he said, ‘We’re gonna do the right thing’ and ‘You have my support, all of our support, logistically and otherwise.’ He said everything I could have hoped for. And we had a very long conversation and every single thing he said, they followed through on.”