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What is Donald Trump's plan to deal with the expected near doubling of the daily coronavirus death toll to 3,000 in early June? There is none.
Unless reopening the economy and shifting the focus of the coronavirus task force to "safety and opening up our country again" is deemed a public health strategy.
Trump, who wasted valuable time before recognizing the threat from COVID-19, will position the daily carnage as acceptable collateral damage in order to rebuild the economy.
The Grim Reaper strategy is at the core of Trump's re-election campaign.
Former Jersey governor Chris Christie, who led Trump's presidential transition team, told CNN: "Of course, everybody wants to save every life they can—but the question is, towards what end, ultimately. Are there ways we can thread the needle here to allow that there are going to be deaths, and there are going to be deaths no matter what." In short, you are on your own.
NYU professor Jay Rosen, who writes the PressThink blog, wrote that Trump's plan is to default on public problem solving and then prevent the public from understanding the consequences of that default.
Sowing confusion is the key. Rosen wrote:
"The plan is to have no plan, to let daily deaths between one and three thousand become a normal thing, and then to create massive confusion about who is responsible—by telling the governors they’re in charge without doing what only the federal government can do, by fighting with the press when it shows up to be briefed, by fixing blame for the virus on China or some other foreign element."
What is the beauty of Trump's "no plan" strategy? The media won't be able to uncover any nefarious plot because the facts will be known, and simultaneously they will be inconceivable, noted Rosen.
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