Trump is
playing a disgusting political game with our lives
By The Denver Post Editorial Board
April 10, 2020 "Information
Clearing House" -
President Donald Trump is treating life-saving
medical equipment as emoluments he can dole out as
favors to loyalists. It’s the worst imaginable form
of corruption — playing political games with lives.
For the good of this nation during what should be a
time of unity, he must stop.
In just the latest example of his gross display,
the president tweeted on Wednesday:
Trump had only days before prevented Colorado Gov.
Jared Polis from securing 500 ventilators from a private
company, instead, taking the ventilators for the federal
government. Polis sent a formal letter pleading for
medical equipment, but the president took the time to
make clear he was responding to a request from Gardner.
We are left to believe that if Colorado didn’t have a
Republican senator in office, our state would not be
getting these 100 ventilators. How many ventilators
would we be getting if we had a Republican governor and
a second Republican senator? Would that indicate we had
more Republican lives in our state worth saving for
Trump and resources would start flowing? Should Utah be
concerned that Sen. Mitt Romney voted to remove the
president from office?
This behavior comes, of course, weeks after Trump
informed states they would have to compete against one
another in the procurement of medical supplies at a time
of global shortages due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The federal government should be procuring medicine,
masks, and ventilators and distributing them to states
on a set formula based on population, rate of infection
and need. Instead, Trump’s messaging makes it feel as
though he will watch with glee from the White House as
people suffer in states being led by his enemies. If
that’s not the case, then the president needs to act as
though he’s working on behalf of all of us, not just
those who voted for him or cow-towed to his corrupt
administration.
