200,000 dead as Trump vilifies science, prioritizes politics

 With nation’s COVID-19 death toll at 200,000, President Donald Trump is engd in an ongoing war against his ministration’s own scientists.

Over past six months, Trump ministration has prioritized politics over science at key moments, refusing to follow expert vice that might have contained spre of vel coronavirus and disease, COVID-19, it causes. Trump and his people have routinely dismissed experts’ assessments of gravity of pandemic, and of measures needed to bring it under control. y have tried to muzzle scientists who dispute ministration’s rosy spin.

Just last week, Trump described Dr. Robert Redfield, a virologist and he of U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as “confused” because he said a vaccine was t likely until late 2021. Trump, without evidence, said it could be rey before election.

While re is indication that Trump’s desperation for a vaccine has affected science or safety of process, his insistence that one would be rey before election is stoking mistrust in very breakthrough he hopes will help his reelection.

Trump vs. science dynamic has been evident from very beginning.

In late January, when virus first emerged in China, CDC launched its emergency operations center. What was needed, epidemiologists said, was aggressive public education and contact tracing to identify and isolate first cases before disease spre got out of control.

Inste, Trump publicly played down virus in those crucial first weeks, even though he privately ackwledged seriousness of threat.

“I wanted to always play it down,” president told journalist Bob Woodward in March.

By mid-March, hospitals in New York and elsewhere were deluged with patients and storing bodies in refrigerated trucks.

On March 31, nation was still grappling to understand scope of pandemic. Dr. Deborah Birx, White House coronavirus response coordinator, and Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, stood next to president to explain jaw-dropping death projections. doctors said unless country opted masks, practiced distancing and kept businesses closed re would be 100,000 to 240,000 deaths.

y stressed that if U.S. opted strict measures, deaths could remain under 100,000.

“We would hope that we could keep it under that,” Trump said n.

Still, inste of issuing a national mask mandate, Trump ministration within weeks posted its “Opening Up America Again” plan.

CDC began developing a thick document of guidelines to help decision-making about reopening. But White House thought guidelines too strict. y “ would never see light of day, ” CDC scientists were told. Associated Press would eventually release 63-p document which offered science-based recommendations for workplaces, day care centers and restaurants.

predictable happened: Cases surged after communities reopened, and hope for keeping death toll under 100,000 vanished.

CDC recommendations continued to be routed through White House task force for vetting before release.

Redfield has been criticized for t being a strong eugh defender of ncy, and those who long worked at CDC hope to see its leership stand up for science in face of politics.

“I’m sure this won’t be easy, but it’s essential to CDC’s reputation,” said Dr. Sonja Rasmussen, a 20-year CDC veteran and medical professor at University of Florida. “We need a strong and trusted CDC to get ourselves through this pandemic — as well as through next public health emergency after this one.”

Even as Fauci was restricted in his media interactions — his candor did t wear well with ministration — Trump elevated a new public face for his pandemic task force: Dr. Scott Atlas, a Stanford University neurologist with infectious disease background.

In Atlas, Trump has a doctor who has downplayed need for students to wear masks or social distance. Atlas has vocated for allowing virus to run amok to create “herd immunity,” idea that community-wide resistance can be built by infecting a large portion of population. World Health Organization has discredited approach as dangerous.

White House officials say Atlas longer supports it.

As Fauci said in August, re is “a fundamental anti-science feeling” at a time when some people are pushing back at authority.

At same time, at least 60 state or local health leers in 27 states have resigned, retired or been fired since April, according to a review by AP and Kaiser Health News. Those numbers have doubled since June, when AP and KHN first started tracking departures. Many quit after political pressure from public officials, or even violent threats from people angry about mask mandates and closures.

White House has realized re is a downside to publicly undermining science. Officials recognize voter concerns about speeding vaccine production timetable as an emerging public health crisis too. y say y’re worried re will be unnecessary deaths and ecomic impact if Americans are afraid of getting vaccinated, according to two White House officials who spoke on condition of anymity.

ministration has ordered a campaign to bolster public confidence in development process. It would include elevating profiles of Trump targets like FDA Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn and CDC’s Redfield.

One person is t on board — Trump. Less than seven weeks from Election Day, he appears driven to say and do what he sees as necessary to secure a second term, wher backed by science and evidence or t.

And despite grim death toll, president continues to frame past six months as a success.

Trump told a raucous Ohio crowd at a rally Monday: “We’re going to deliver a vaccine before end of year. But it could be a lot sooner than that.”