Trump is the 'biggest obstacle' to beating COVID-19 -- and the GOP must 'get rid of him': columnist

A brutal opinion piece from USA Today deems President Donald Trump the "biggest obstacle" to beating the coronavirus in the United States, and it begs Republicans to dump him for the good of the country.

"If Republicans actually want to get Americans back to work, what they have to do is simple: Get rid of Donald Trump now," writes columnist Jason Sattler. "While it’s almost science fiction to imagine the Republican Party and its billionaire backers growing something resembling a spine and compelling Trump to resign or, at least, not seek reelection in 2020, it’s at least a scientific possibility, unlike any hope of having a fully tested vaccine in the next few months."

Sattler then documented how Trump's pathological need for praise and attention has stifled America's ability to respond to the pandemic, particularly when the president denies the reality of the disease to make himself look good.

"More than anything, we are where we are now because Trump prioritized his own interests above the well-being of the United States. And our response will always be limited by his addictions to adulation and political gain," he writes. "We’ll never know what 2020 would have looked like if the most powerful man on earth hadn’t spent the beginning of this year echoing Chinese government propaganda and downplaying the threat of COVID-19."

Read the whole op-ed here.