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Trump’s incompetence fueling coronavirus crisis in US: Analyst

Myles Hoenig

The incompetence of US President Donald Trump and Congress is fueling the coronavirus pandemic, leading to an unprecedented number of Americans losing their lives and incomes, a political analyst in Maryland says.

The Trump administration on Thursday looked set to join local officials in advising Americans to wear masks when venturing out during the still-exploding coronavirus pandemic, as the US death toll rose by 1,000 in a single day for the first time.

As of Friday morning, the US death toll from COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the coronavirus, stood at over 6,000, with more than 245,000 cases across all 50 states.

The death toll and infections “could have been far less if elected [US] officials took it more seriously than they did,” said Myles Hoenig, who ran for Congress in 2016 as a Green Party candidate.

“President Trump has shown himself to be a complete incompetent, much like how he has conducted many of his businesses; they went into bankruptcies; for us its massive deaths and suffering,” Hoenig said in an interview with Press TV on Thursday.

“Trump has been derelict in his duties and obligations, as well as fueling the crisis by being the idiot he is; believing he knows more than all the other real professionals dealing with this crisis,” Hoenig added.

“This is capitalism at its very worst; people are dying, losing their livelihoods, their jobs, their homes, and Congress only cares for those who contribute to their campaign.”

Trump has faced criticism for playing down the outbreak in its initial stages. He said early on that the virus was under control and repeatedly compared it to the seasonal flu.

Last week he argued the time was right to re-open the US economy, complaining that the cure was worse than the problem and setting a goal of economic rebirth by Easter on April 12.

With an estimated 90% of Americans under unprecedented orders to remain at home, the US government reported on Thursday that a record 6.6 million workers had filed for jobless benefits last week, double the previous all-time high set a week earlier.

The outbreak has spurred an unprecedented surge in Americans seeking government assistance. They have already outstripped applications for unemployment benefits that peaked at 665,000 during the 2007-2009 recession, during which 8.7 million jobs were lost.


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