Barack Obama Warns Against Politicizing the Coronavirus Pandemic

Former President Barack Obama is urging the nation to focus on the science behind the coronavirus pandemic rather than the politics as he points to evidence the United States is falling behind other countries in its response to the outbreak.

Obama issued a tweet early on Wednesday reminding Americans the coronavirus does not mind public affairs and it is crucial to address the issue at hand.

“The latest data offers a tragic reminder that the virus doesn’t care about spin or ideology––and that the best thing we can do for our economy is to deal with our public health crisis,” Obama said.

Obama linked to a New York Times opinion piece titled “The Pandemic Could Get Much, Much Worse. We Must Act Now.”

The column written by historian John M. Barry argued politics has not solved the issue and the only way to bring an end to the crisis is to focus on the science.

Barry compared the nation’s growth rate of new coronavirus cases to those of other countries and concluded the United States has the highest in the world.

According to the historian, the United States failed to replicate European success including maintaining the shutdown until reaching a downward slope in cases, compliance with health advice, and creating a workforce to test, trace, and isolate cases.

Barry suggested the solution is to continue to practice social distancing, wearing masks, washing hands, and self-quarantining.

He acknowledged Trump’s public appearance wearing a mask, but suggested even with all of these practices it is nearly impossible to bend the curve downward.

“These things will reduce spread, and President Trump finally wore a mask publicly, which may somewhat depoliticize the issue,” Barry wrote.

He added, “But at this point all these things together, even with widespread compliance, can only blunt dangerous trends where they are occurring. The virus is already too widely disseminated for these actions to quickly bend the curve downward.”

He noted steps to limit private gatherings and implement selective shutdowns including sources of large-scale spread as solutions to slowing the spread.

Obama followed his first tweet with another expanding on how the nation has responded to the pandemic.

“Here’s a quick look at how our response stacks up with countries around the world,” Obama said.

He linked to a New York Times graphic illustrating the United States second to Brazil in the number of new coronavirus cases.