“Let’s blow it all up.” That was the sentiment that animated any number of Republican primary voters in 2016. The “it” was (take your pick) the Republican Party, the “establishment,” the country. There were many good reasons for voters to be dissatisfied with the state of things in 2016. There were also any number of able candidates who could have instituted reforms. But that wasn’t the mood, at least not for the nihilistic 30%. It’s hard to think of a less conservative impulse than “Burn it down!” But that’s what this minority did, voting for the malignant narcissist who had never served anything other than his bottom line.

Eventually, when the Republican Party’s winner-take-all rules made Donald Trump the likely nominee, most Republicans threw in their lots with him, too, because partisanship is the opiate of the people. By elevating Trump, they violated their sacred responsibility. Before considerations of policy or identity or history or “fight,” voters must ask themselves whether the person to whom they are granting the powers of the presidency is fit to handle an emergency. If the answer is even a bit uncertain, that person must be ruled out.

Trump has been fortunate until now — as have we all — because no crisis happened. But the coronavirus has obliterated that lucky streak. It’s the most serious challenge we have faced since the 9/11 attacks, and it may yet turn out to be far deadlier. Dr. Brian Monahan, the attending physician for the U.S. Congress, estimates that between 75 million and 100 million Americans will contract COVID-19. If the mortality estimates of 1% hold up, that would mean up to a million Americans could die. It may not be as bad as that, but it could be worse.

If we are not successful in inhibiting the spread of the virus right now — to “flatten the curve” as the epidemiologists have taught us to say — the crush in our hospitals could be catastrophic. If hundreds of thousands of sick Americans show up at hospitals all at once, the staffs will be overwhelmed. The U.S. has about 1 million hospital beds, and 68% of them are usually occupied. That leaves about 300,000 spare beds. In China, 15% of those infected required hospitalization. If the virus spreads very rapidly, and if only 5% of American cases require hospitalization, we will run out of hospital beds on May 16. This is, as the saying goes, as serious as a heart attack. It means many Americans who are now out for dinner and walking the dog will die on gurneys in makeshift clinics in hospital cafeterias. Some percentage of them will die because they couldn’t access intensive care.

Trump did not create the virus, but his solipsism has deepened the crisis. What is his chief talking point? That he halted flights from China. He did this on Jan. 31, after major airlines like United, Delta and American had already canceled dozens of flights and waived cancelation fees for their passengers.

Trump spent the next six weeks boasting about this brave defiance of political correctness while also lying to the American people about the scope of the threat. Just at the key moment when people needed to wash their hands, avoid crowds and learn ways to protect themselves and others to slow the progression of this pathogen, Trump and his mendacious minions were peddling a stream of falsehoods. On Feb. 24, for example, the president tweeted: “The Coronavirus is very much under control in the USA. … Stock Market starting to look very good to me.” Two days later, he said, “(The number of people infected is) going very substantially down, not up.” And he said, “The 15 (cases) within a couple of days, is going to be down to zero.” When the stock market panicked, Larry Kudlow suggested that investors buy the dips.

Rush Limbaugh told his 20 million listeners on Feb. 24 “the truth” that “the coronavirus is the common cold, folks.” Sean Hannity quoted an “MIT guy” to the effect that “coronavirus fear-mongering by the ‘deep state’ will go down in history as one of the biggest frauds…” Fox host Laura Ingraham told her viewers that “Democrats and their media cronies have decided to weaponize fear and also weaponize suffering to improve their chances against Trump in November.”

The crowd that howls about “fake news” is the most pernicious purveyor of it — even on a matter of life and death.

Mona Charen is a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. Her new book is “Sex Matters: How Modern Feminism Lost Touch with Science, Love, and Common Sense.” To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate webpage at www.creators.com.

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