This Jared Kushner debacle is even uglier than we thought
If you think “president” Trump leading the coronavirus fight is scary, it just became terrifying: Politico magazine is reporting that Jared Kushner has taken charge. Considering how successful Kushner has been with his earlier assignments (not), nothing could possibly go wrong. Don’t count on it. His brilliant idea centers around involving people and companies in the private sector in testing, medical supplies, and getting supplies to where they are most needed. One of his right-hand men is his former roommate. I’m sure Kushner knows what he’s doing, especially when you recall his wonderful Middle East peace negotiations.
Kushner is part of what Politico calls a “behind the scenes working group” and has been busy duplicating what has already been done by federal agencies. Kushner’s group is creating grave concerns among health agency officials who said the group is focused on “rapid, short-term decisions.” “Short term” is not going to be very helpful with a virus that spreads the way Covid-19 is spreading. We need to get ahead of it, which requires long-term solutions.
One official said that Kushner is trying to “work around” government bureaucracy to appease Trump, who is frustrated with the way things are going. Well, if Trump would consider anyone but himself for once in his life, he might have been able to get ahead of the virus. We all now know that he tried his damndest to hide it, not fight it. Instead, he now has two inept groups heading up the pandemic: one led by Kushner and the other led by Pence. This is beginning to look more like an episode of the Keystone Cops.
Making matters even worse, Trump decided to invite Kushner to join him at a briefing. It didn’t go well. While Kushner bragged on his “supply chain task force” and continually patted himself and his father-in-law on the back, he said something that angered people according to HuffPost. Kushner showed his true ignorance on how things work by stating: “The notion of the federal stockpile was it’s supposed to be our stockpile. It’s not supposed to be states’ stockpiles that they then use.” Correct me if I’m wrong, but aren’t the states part of the U.S. and its federal government? That means that they are indeed “our” stockpiles, not Kusher’s or Trump’s. This is what happens when you put an ignorant, arrogant person in charge of something of which he has no knowledge. Kushner has absolutely no medical training and no experience with government. Yet, he’s magically equipped to handle a pandemic? Good luck with that. Adding Kushner to his Covid-19 team is likely doing Trump more harm than good.
Politico reported that Trump’s coronavirus numbers have taken a nosedive. He has gone from a positive approval rating to 52% disapproving of his management of the pandemic. The scary number is the 47% who still approve. They must not be watching his bumbling daily briefings that raise more fears than alleviating them. As of publication of Politico’s article, 266,671 cases have been confirmed, including 6,921 deaths. These numbers will go higher before they peak and begin to wind down. If only Trump had listened to experts like Dr. Anthony Fauci instead of relying on his inept family.
Shirley is a former entertainment writer and has worked in the legal field for over 25 years