Everything's Going Great

Welcome to Campaign 2020! One unforeseen byproduct of the catastrophic COVID epidemic that has so far killed more than 160,000 Americans: It’s shortened the usual epic, endless campaign swings as candidates travel from sea to shining sea to kiss babies and press the flesh with assorted locals. One week, they’d campaign on their infrastructure platform; the next week would be about foreign policy; the following week would see them move on to talking about jobs and the economy; after that, healthcare, etc. etc. etc.

This year, though, asking Americans to assemble in large numbers is akin to sentencing a certain percentage of them to death. (Trump tried it in Tulsa, remember? Three weeks later, the state of Oklahoma saw their COVID cases spike higher than they ever had before.) So instead of actual campaigning, we’ve been treated to an almost-daily “press conference” from Trump, usually broadcast straight from the White House, in which he simply lies and rants about how— you should know it by now, but a brief recap: He’s great – in fact he’s maybe the best President ever, but the Fake News Media doesn’t want to tell you that, does it, because they’re all secretly working for Sleepy Joe Biden, who’s senile – but oh, by the way, did you know that the 1917 Spanish Flu ended World War II? (Reality check: The Spanish Flu was in 1918, and in case you’re really, really bad at math, no – it didn’t end World War II, which didn’t start until 1939.) Did you hear about his Wall, which is almost finished and everyone loves? Never mind that he’s only built three miles of new wall in three years—and never mind that the North Dakota contractor who Kevin Cramer lobbied for to get a $1.3 billion contract to build the wall is now having to explain why the ground below his wall has essentially washed away, rendering the wall useless, as people tried to warn him. No, Trump says: That guy is simply worthless— just another hater out to make Trump look bad!

Also, never mind those 160,000 dead Americans or the 30 million Americans out of work, as our economy contracts at a rate that, right now, is dwarfing the decline of the Great Depression – no, no, Trump tells us; “People are respecting the way we’ve handled” the Coronavirus. Which would be great, of course, if that were actually true – Americans are currently banned from traveling almost anywhere in the world other than Mexico or certain parts of South America, due to our country’s egregiously poor handling of the crisis. But Trump isn’t finished yet. “More importantly” than the people respecting how we’re handling a pandemic, he says, are the people who are “respecting the job numbers and the economy.”

Well, here’s hoping that you and your friends are doing a whole lot better than everyone I know. Thirty million Americans out of work means 30 million Americans on the verge of losing their healthcare. For my recently laid-off brother-in-law, whose five-year-old son has a rare heart condition requiring complicated surgeries and regular checkups, losing his employer-provided health insurance is essentially a death sentence – or a bankruptcy guarantee – for his family. Not to worry, though: On July 19, Trump promised his viewers on Fox News a “full and complete” health care plan – signed, sealed, approved by both houses of Congress, and delivered – ”within two weeks.”

Has anybody seen this plan? Have you heard anybody in Congress – which would have to introduce what would likely be the most complicated, most contentious bill they’ve ever faced, and then actually agree on it – even mention it? No. The bill, of course, doesn’t exist— but it makes a great sound bite on national television.

Same with his recent “Executive Order” about pre-existing conditions. Lots has been said about Trump promising this. Less has been noted about what he actually said. He didn’t say he’d signed an Executive Order to guarantee health coverage for pre-existing conditions. He didn’t even say that he would sign such an order if one existed. (Why didn’t he simply announce that he’d signed it already? As long as he’s trying to govern the country by simply Saying Things, why not produce the document right then and there?) No: He said his administration would “pursue” such an order.

Something he didn’t say: People with pre-existing conditions are, in fact, guaranteed coverage already by Obamacare— and Trump’s administration, at this very moment, has a case in front of the Supreme Court in which Trump’s henchmen are trying to have coverage of pre-existing conditions declared illegal.

It’s been noted by many people watching the administration and the election that most people, by now – including senior members of Trump’s own administration – have learned to simply ignore or disregard virtually everything that Trump says. Both national and state-by-state polls have him losing the upcoming election in a humiliating landslide (but not North Dakota!) – which is why, of course, Trump is already trying to declare the whole thing fixed, a fraud, Fake News, a scam, and a setup. I mean, who are you going to believe – Trump, or your lying eyes?

Corey Seymour is a proud NRHS graduate who went on to study political science, economics and literature at UND and Georgetown University. A former writer and editor on the National Affairs Desk at “Rolling Stone” and at many other magazines, he now works as a senior editor at “Vogue” in New York. Write him at [email protected].