Conservative columnist: It's clear Trump isn't running the government anymore
With so many mistakes amid a crisis, it has become clear that President Donald Trump is no longer in charge, wrote conservative Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin on Sunday.
"When House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) announced she had reached a deal with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, it predictably did not include that payroll tax," Rubin noted, citing Trump's plan to help the economy. "Increasingly, the way to get anything done is for Pelosi and Mnuchin to hammer out a reasonable compromise, let Mnuchin sell it to the president and then present it as a fait accompli to the Senate Republicans who have no ideas or legislation of their own, having become vassals of the president. This is how it went on the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement trade negotiations."
"Today, the House is taking the next step to put Families First. We are proud to have reached an agreement with the Administration to resolve outstanding challenges, and now will soon pass the Families First Coronavirus Response Act," Pelosi wrote in her letter to colleagues, after making a deal with Mnuchin.
"This legislation is about testing, testing, testing," she said. "To stop the spread of the virus, we have secured free coronavirus testing for everyone who needs a test, including the uninsured. We cannot fight coronavirus effectively unless everyone in our country who needs to be tested can get their test free of charge."
Rubin noted that Trump claimed that testing was available to anyone who wanted one and that it was rolling out smoothly. All of his "facts" had to be "corrected."
The bill also gives paid sick leave, enhanced unemployment insurance, increased SNAP benefits, student meals for children whose schools have closed, as well as senior nutrition programs. The bill will also increase funds for Medicaid in local, state, territories, and tribal systems. It's a huge first-step to reassure the country that they'll be taken care of as the virus gets worse.
"Trump often announces things that are not quite ready (drive-through testing)," wrote Rubin. "As he has done for his entire career, he makes all sorts of declarations, exaggerating the speed and scope of his plans."
Such was the case during Trump's Rose Garden news conference this week when he said that people would be able to be tested from their own cars and that a new Google site would be launched Sunday night to help people find test sights.
"The plan to build a broadly available website is nowhere close," the Post reported.
"Trump is incapable of mastering any level of detail or accurately conveying it to the public," wrote Rubin. "He either cannot remember, or never understood, what he is supposed to roll out and instead often chooses to make himself look better. His penchant for ad-libbing (as he did with the disastrous result during his Oval Office speech Thursday night) causes more chaos and confusion."
She closed by saying that it's clear the U.S. is no longer relying on Trump to get us all through the crisis. He doesn't have the mental capacity or the emotional capability to handle a crisis. "To the contrary, we will come through this horror only by working around an entirely unfit president."
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