Vox: Trump has set the U.S. up to botch a global health crisis
“…[T]he chances of the U.S. being hit with some kind of pandemic in the next four years is high. (The U.S. is already fighting Zika within its borders …) Based on what we’ve seen from President Donald Trump so far, the U.S. seems poised to botch an outbreak response. ‘America has long been unprepared for a dangerous pandemic,’ Ron Klain, the former Ebola czar under President Obama, told Vox, ‘but the risks are especially high under President Trump.’ Let’s walk through the four reasons why. 1) Trump hasn’t named a CDC director and could cut 12 percent of its budget … 2) ‘America first’ doesn’t work during pandemics … 3) Trump has advocated for closing borders to countries dealing with outbreaks. That’s dangerous. … 4) The fallout from Trump’s travel ban could hamper research collaboration that could save lives…” (Belluz, 3/4).