SECONDNEXUS
percolately
georgetakei
comicsands
George's Reads
President Donald Trump's response to the health crisis facing the United States has been widely criticized.
He initially dismissed the virus as a hoax before his administration bungled a rollout of testing kits and ordered governors to fend for themselves. Against the near-unanimous advice of health officials, Trump said as recently as Tuesday that he hopes to scale back crucial social distancing measures by Easter—in 18 days.
But rather than Trump's slowed response to a health emergency, at least one Republican Senator is blaming the impeachment proceedings against the President for the United States' lack of preparation.
Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) accused Democrats of hindering Trump's ability to respond.
He did lose "precious weeks" forced to defend himself against bogus impeachment charges. https://t.co/aG9r4iNgP8— Senator John Cornyn (@Senator John Cornyn) 1585085587.0
The President hardly concerned himself with impeachment hearings past Twitter. His administration complied with no congressional subpoenas and the President himself didn't testify.
Trump was acquitted on February 5. There were 11 cases of the virus in the United States. Trump would continue to minimize the threat of the virus until March 16.
Even in his own words, Trump contradicted the idea that impeachment in any way inhibited his response to the virus.
Trump said on March 5:
"We got hit with the virus really three weeks ago, if you think about it, I guess. That's when we first started really to see some possible effects."
Like many of Trump's claims, this was false (the first confirmed case of the virus in the United States was in late January), but Trump himself admitted he didn't really "see some possible effects" until a week after his acquittal.
The President held campaign rallies throughout the impeachment proceedings and, after his acquittal, held a lengthy speech at the White House to boast.
People pointed out that Trump didn't participate in official impeachment proceedings, and only addressed it to mock Democrats and mobilize his supporters.
What incredible nerve. He did NOTHING. NOTHING. He watched Fox News and played golf and ate Quarter Pounders. https://t.co/PaDrqxgD3P— Karoli (@Karoli) 1585105187.0
He...didn't really participate in that process. Can your guy not do more than .25 things at a time? Maybe he sho… https://t.co/l5IPBTlaRh— Tiffany Bond (I) 🎱🦞🇺🇸 (@Tiffany Bond (I) 🎱🦞🇺🇸) 1585096233.0
1) Not bogus. 2) I didn't see him testifying or running his defense. Maybe use some of his "executive time" to do r… https://t.co/ksEraFSQW9— Markos Moulitsas (@Markos Moulitsas) 1585085919.0
By watching TV & Tweeting? Ya... he lost precious weeks alright. 😠 https://t.co/deQZ1mlMMO— Devin Nunes' Cow (@Devin Nunes' Cow) 1585102208.0
He held rallies and played golf. Death cult scum. https://t.co/DvYH51lZ8b— Freya Storm (Frisky Fox) (@Freya Storm (Frisky Fox)) 1585108682.0
"Defending" himself didn't stop him from: Playing golf Holding rallies Attending the Daytona 500 Holding fundraiser… https://t.co/cIyrzl19M8— Brian Milinsky (@Brian Milinsky) 1585143176.0
Even if Trump had participated in the impeachment proceedings, what President has never had to multitask?
Imagine a president who can work on more than one issue at a time. https://t.co/HawNnbkKke— Gary Legum (@Gary Legum) 1585087334.0
Are you saying he not only extorts foreign nations and tries to cover it up, but that he isn't capable of acting ou… https://t.co/6VdOgFTqUa— Irregular Baxter (@Irregular Baxter) 1585086626.0
@JohnCornyn “Wait, you want me to walk AND chew gum??”— Santa Claus, CEO (@Santa Claus, CEO) 1585099204.0
Try again, Senator.