Budowsky: Bloomberg, Biden and Trump’s Katrina

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ormer New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg and former Vice President Joe Biden, the two candidates I am most likely to support for the Democratic nomination, should have used Tuesday’s debate, and should use every opportunity today, to warn the nation about the grave danger created by President Trump’s incompetent response to the coronavirus crisis.

It is possible that coronavirus comes under control and is someday seen as a serious problem but not a gigantic worldwide catastrophe. It is also very possible that the virus becomes a deadly worldwide pandemic that will lead to countless deaths, a global economic recession, a major stock market crash and catastrophic damage to America, the world and the political fate of Trump that will be politically reminiscent of Hurricane Katrina under former President George W. Bush.

Trump deserves no blame for the origin of coronavirus. But he deserves great blame for the incompetence of his destruction of America’s capability to anticipate, and respond to, deadly dangers of extreme health emergencies and other extremely dangerous crises.

Today only hundreds of Americans have been tested for the virus. There is a horrifying and potentially catastrophic shortage of medical masks. If the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is right, and the question is not if but when coronavirus arrives in America, there could be a national health care emergency that would lead to a significant number of deaths, a recession in the national economy, a stock market crash and Katrina-like political hell to pay for the president.

Biden, Bloomberg and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) mentioned the virus briefly, late in the debate, but the crew of candidates spent the evening raising their hands like teenagers, to get the attention of moderators, to peddle low-end insults against each other.

Democrats have reason to be alarmed watching Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) use the debate to suggest he can win key electoral states and elect Democrats to Congress by championing socialism and praising Fidel Castro, and watching Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) pursue an obsessive vendetta against Bloomberg, when both of them have far more to offer our nation and their party.

Bloomberg and Biden in particular have the stature and experience to rise above the claptrap. Act like presidents. Charge Trump with failing to adequately prepare for and respond to the coronavirus crisis. From the beginning to the end of the debate they could have offered presidential caliber leadership and sounded the trumpet about the grave danger of a deadly global pandemic — and offered the bold call to action that should have long ago been offered by Trump, but was not.

Bloomberg and Biden should charge the president with incompetently conducting his presidency with Russian-style purges. Waging political warfare against his own appointees. Firing whole tiers of officials responsible for anticipating, preventing and responding to crises and emergencies including deadly pandemics.

Bloomberg and Biden should charge Trump with incompetently showing contempt for fundamental facts, knowledge and science. Executing vendettas against America’s intelligence services. Shrinking and politicizing his National Security Council. Turning his Department of Homeland Security and Department of Health and Human Services into political instruments. Making more false statements than every previous president put together. Demanding his officials act like cheerleaders and sycophants who parrot his political propaganda.

Biden, Bloomberg and other Democratic candidates should charge that all of these actions contribute to causing the grave dangers from inadequate anticipation, preparation and response to a potentially deadly and economically catastrophic coronavirus pandemic.

Let’s hope and pray that the coronavirus crisis abates and does not become a global pandemic that will do extreme damage to our nation and the world. But make no mistake, the danger is real, a catastrophe could be imminent, and the mismanagement of Trump makes these dangers more likely and the damage more deadly from what would be Trump’s Katrina, if it occurs.

If Bloomberg, Biden or any other candidate rises to the occasion and acts like a president, a grateful nation will applaud him, or her.

Budowsky was an aide to former Sen. Lloyd Bentsen (D-Texas) and former Rep. Bill Alexander (D-Ark.), who was chief deputy majority whip of the House of Representatives. He holds an LLM in international financial law from the London School of Economics.