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President Donald Trump's announcement on Tuesday that he'd be suspending American funding for the World Health Organization (WHO) sent shockwaves across the globe.
That Trump—in the middle of a pandemic—would revoke America's funding for the organization tasked with coordinating international responses to health care crises said a lot about how seriously he's treating the threat of the virus and its potential for resurgence.
According to the President, the World Health Organization favored China over other countries and helped cover up the virus. He went on to say that the WHO lost all credibility to provide "accurate, timely and independent information to make important public health recommendations and decisions."
But a new op-ed from Greg Sargent of the Washington Post shows that Trump—by his own standards—has made far worse missteps than those listed in the baseless allegations against the WHO.
I've compiled a side-by-side comparison of the reaction to coronavirus by Trump and the World Health Organization.â�¦ https://t.co/1qjmd9Psp1— Greg Sargent (@Greg Sargent) 1586960998.0
Sargent points out that the WHO, on January 23, warned that the virus could easily spread across countries given the ubiquity of international travel and asymptomatic infections. The organization told the public to prepare for drastic containment measures that would likely soon become necessary.
Meanwhile, on January 22 and January 24, Trump said he wasn't worried at all about the virus's spread, and he heaped praise upon China for its transparency.
On January 30, the WHO declared the virus a global health emergency. The same day, Trump warned his staff that declaring such an emergency would be "alarmist."
Most damningly, Trump assured far-Right Fox News host Sean Hannity on February 2, that the virus had been shut down coming in from China, and he continued to praise China's transparency.
In the time since Trump's travel restriction on China, over 430,000 people traveled from the country to the United States.
In the time since Trump's February interview, around 26,000 Americans have died.
Reported US coronavirus deaths: Feb. 14: 0 deaths Mar. 14: 58 deaths Apr. 14: 25,992 deaths— Ryan Struyk (@Ryan Struyk) 1586918689.0
People weren't falling for it.
Read this. WHO told Trump on JAN 23 to prepare for containment! But Trump went to his resorts, went golfing, andâ�¦ https://t.co/8L3RfPGMAQ— Hal Gumbertð��¨ð��½â��ð��»ð��´ (@Hal Gumbertð��¨ð��½â��ð��»ð��´) 1586968622.0
Wow! Epic failure on trump's part. https://t.co/weQzzpBF5b— D. R. Quinn (@D. R. Quinn) 1586978118.0
Brutal truth on our leadership void at the very top when we would need it most. https://t.co/5fJUXigKd1— (Staying) Home. Teeâ��d Up (@(Staying) Home. Teeâ��d Up) 1586966166.0
Trump's condemnation of WHO is actually a condemnation of himself. https://t.co/nf4YZA8W74— Maxxron â��ï¸�ð���ð���ð���ð��º (@Maxxron â��ï¸�ð���ð���ð���ð��º) 1586968619.0
The side-by-side timeline of what the @WHO and @realDonaldTrump ACTUALLY did/said on which days and when (with linkâ�¦ https://t.co/rNL0aGKCnk— Benjamin Bryant (@Benjamin Bryant) 1586971612.0
Trump's screed against the World Health Organization on Tuesday was predictably yet another attempt to pass the blame and distract from his own misinformation and dismissal of the virus.
Like everything, projection is the name of his game. And a lot of people are so profoundly stupid that they eat itâ�¦ https://t.co/yEcmQbbaCe— That's Ms. Missy to you, folks (@That's Ms. Missy to you, folks) 1586972306.0
Once again, Trump is shifting blame on anyone else...but himself. "I take no responsibility." https://t.co/llPAzAEPQk— Sam Barrington (@Sam Barrington) 1586973074.0
This WHO nonsense is just Trump's latest attempt to deflect attention and blame from his disastrous performance. https://t.co/lD7mA8HHjH— Christine Chinni (@Christine Chinni) 1586968969.0
Who will Trump blame next?