[2006alum]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/gregpmiller/status/1264309533079453696?s=20[/tweet]

I recall this seeming inevitable at the time, as we were noting the insane crowding in security checkpoints that resulted from it:
[tweet]https://twitter.com/BrookeGMcDonald/status/1238986272137502720[/tweet]

[2006alum]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/gregpmiller/status/1264309533079453696?s=20[/tweet]

I recall this seeming inevitable at the time, as we were noting the insane crowding in security checkpoints that resulted from it:
[tweet]https://twitter.com/BrookeGMcDonald/status/1238986272137502720[/tweet]

[oldalum]

Part of the mess was caused by lack of preparation on our end for the influx of travelers returning, and part of it was due to Trump's inability to read the damn script in front of him (and I'm assuming here it was even in the script). By announcing he was banning ALL travel from Europe to the U.S., and leaving out the part about except for citizens and permanent legal residents, he created a frenzy of returnees within a 2-day period that jammed the flights and overwhelmed the airports. If he had just led off with, citizens and permanent legal residents can return at any time and that will not change, the surge would have been lessened.

An interesting part of the WaPo story was that even Trump's travel ban from China was so late that it was not really his doing: two major airlines had already announced they were going to suspend their flights; United had decided to do so but was last to announce and said they'd hold up and let Trump announce the ban if he would do it quickly, which he did within hours.

[oldalum]

Part of the mess was caused by lack of preparation on our end for the influx of travelers returning, and part of it was due to Trump's inability to read the damn script in front of him (and I'm assuming here it was even in the script). By announcing he was banning ALL travel from Europe to the U.S., and leaving out the part about except for citizens and permanent legal residents, he created a frenzy of returnees within a 2-day period that jammed the flights and overwhelmed the airports. If he had just led off with, citizens and permanent legal residents can return at any time and that will not change, the surge would have been lessened.

An interesting part of the WaPo story was that even Trump's travel ban from China was so late that it was not really his doing: two major airlines had already announced they were going to suspend their flights; United had decided to do so but was last to announce and said they'd hold up and let Trump announce the ban if he would do it quickly, which he did within hours.

[oldalum]

So it is rich that now Trump's response to the criticism that the 100,000 death toll is due in part to his failures is that his decision to stop travel from China saved more than 1.5 million lives.


Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump
For all of the political hacks out there, if I hadn’t done my job well, & early, we would have lost 1 1/2 to 2 Million People, as opposed to the 100,000 plus that looks like will be the number. That’s 15 to 20 times more than we will lose. I shut down entry from China very early!
8:18 AM · May 26, 2020·Twitter for iPhone

[oldalum]

So it is rich that now Trump's response to the criticism that the 100,000 death toll is due in part to his failures is that his decision to stop travel from China saved more than 1.5 million lives.


Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump
For all of the political hacks out there, if I hadn’t done my job well, & early, we would have lost 1 1/2 to 2 Million People, as opposed to the 100,000 plus that looks like will be the number. That’s 15 to 20 times more than we will lose. I shut down entry from China very early!
8:18 AM · May 26, 2020·Twitter for iPhone

[BostonCard]

Nobody should be surprised.  Even a conventional politician, when accused of not doing enough to address a crisis, will point at what he or she did and say "it could have been worse".  While I think the travel ban(s) did diddly squat to protect Americans because they were enacted once there was already community spread in the US (so, akin to shutting the barn door once the horse is already out), if I were in Trump's situation I would be making the very same claim he is.

And, of course, his claim of having saved 1.5 to 2 million lives is not falsifiable.  But it is just as easy to say that we'd be looking at more like 25,000 deaths and milder shutdowns if Trump had taken the threat seriously from the beginning been proactive about testing and tracking, and worked with local officials to craft an adequate response.

BC

[BostonCard]

Nobody should be surprised.  Even a conventional politician, when accused of not doing enough to address a crisis, will point at what he or she did and say "it could have been worse".  While I think the travel ban(s) did diddly squat to protect Americans because they were enacted once there was already community spread in the US (so, akin to shutting the barn door once the horse is already out), if I were in Trump's situation I would be making the very same claim he is.

And, of course, his claim of having saved 1.5 to 2 million lives is not falsifiable.  But it is just as easy to say that we'd be looking at more like 25,000 deaths and milder shutdowns if Trump had taken the threat seriously from the beginning been proactive about testing and tracking, and worked with local officials to craft an adequate response.

BC

[chrisk]

Nobody should be surprised.  Even a conventional politician, when accused of not doing enough to address a crisis, will point at what he or she did and say "it could have been worse".  While I think the travel ban(s) did diddly squat to protect Americans because they were enacted once there was already community spread in the US (so, akin to shutting the barn door once the horse is already out), if I were in Trump's situation I would be making the very same claim he is.

And, of course, his claim of having saved 1.5 to 2 million lives is not falsifiable.  But it is just as easy to say that we'd be looking at more like 25,000 deaths and milder shutdowns if Trump had taken the threat seriously from the beginning been proactive about testing and tracking, and worked with local officials to craft an adequate response.

BC

If Trump's administration was as effective as Tsai Ing-wen's, the US would have 100 deaths.

[chrisk]

Nobody should be surprised.  Even a conventional politician, when accused of not doing enough to address a crisis, will point at what he or she did and say "it could have been worse".  While I think the travel ban(s) did diddly squat to protect Americans because they were enacted once there was already community spread in the US (so, akin to shutting the barn door once the horse is already out), if I were in Trump's situation I would be making the very same claim he is.

And, of course, his claim of having saved 1.5 to 2 million lives is not falsifiable.  But it is just as easy to say that we'd be looking at more like 25,000 deaths and milder shutdowns if Trump had taken the threat seriously from the beginning been proactive about testing and tracking, and worked with local officials to craft an adequate response.

BC

If Trump's administration was as effective as Tsai Ing-wen's, the US would have 100 deaths.