Dr. Thomas K. Lu
In early 2021, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, I distinctly remember seeing a patient in my hospital who had died of respiratory failure. , which unfortunately wasn’t uncommon at the time. What sticks in my mind is that no matter how much oxygen he was breathing, my patient never took off his red “Make America Great Again” hat. And every time I walk into a room, between labored breaths, I talk about how evil Dr. Anthony Fauci is, how dangerous the newly released mRNA vaccines are, and how the Democrats are trying to get me off with their mask policy. They complained about how they were trying to control us.
Experiences like this made it clear to me how closely politics can be intertwined with medicine. Starting from the top, trust in the public health system and in science itself can influence people to make healthier choices. On the other hand, leaders who foster distrust of these institutions can lead to death and suffering.
In this year’s elections, we will once again choose between a leader who advocates science-based public health and the very same people and their political factions that created such animosity. Speaking from my experience as a hospital-based physician who treats the sickest and most vulnerable people, I must advocate not voting for President Donald Trump and the MAGA-inspired politicians who follow him. It doesn’t have to be.
President Trump’s record as president during an unprecedented public health emergency provides insight into how a second Trump administration will respond to new disasters. No one could have predicted the devastation caused by the new coronavirus, but President Trump subtly stirred up racist impulses with the term “China virus” and said the coronavirus would “go away,” leading to the spread of the virus. It minimized the threat of
President Trump then declined to fully support mask mandates and social distancing, and downgraded his top public health adviser, Dr. Fauci. He repeatedly questioned the seriousness of the threat, even as people were dying, and suggested widespread testing was artificially inflating the number of infections. While Americans are dying by the thousands, the coronavirus has “impacted virtually no one,” he said.
By minimizing the threat of the coronavirus, it undermined the argument that citizens should protect themselves and their loved ones.
Opinion: COVID-19, influenza, and RSV still exist. The “triple demic” does not care whether we have overcome the disease or not.
President Trump’s dangerous denial of reality makes him unfit for public office
President Trump’s statement that “virtually no one will die” is equivalent to the fact that more than 1 million Americans have died from COVID-19 in less than two and a half years. Some estimates suggest that the Trump administration’s mishandling of the crisis and mixed public health messaging contributed to more than 400,000 of these deaths.
Let’s understand that.
400,000 Americans – grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles, mothers and fathers – did not return to the dinner table because they had heard the president’s selfish, misguided words.
While we look forward to what the incoming Trump administration will bring, we fear for the health and safety of our sick, elderly, and vulnerable.
He said there was a “vision” for a health plan, but it had not yet been announced. But during his previous term, he moved to undermine the Affordable Care Act, which thousands of Americans depend on. Four more years and we’ll probably be even weaker.
President Trump has done little to curb gun violence, boasting that he has done nothing to control firearms even though mass shootings are on the rise.
He and the far-right Republican Party continue to politicize scientific issues like climate change, calling them hoaxes cooked up by China.
His allies are blocking funding for the Cancer Moonshot initiative, which aims to cut cancer deaths in half and even cure cancer, simply because of its association with President Joe Biden. I even did it.
Opinion: Congress voted against cancer treatment funding just to block Biden’s victory
Trump and the policies of MAGA supporters reflect that Trump does not care about the health of the American people. He cares about getting elected, he cares about crowd size, he cares about how he’s perceived, but he certainly doesn’t care about actual American health care issues. His rhetoric and record show that he cares about expanding health care to more vulnerable populations, how global warming is increasing chronic disease, and how guns continue to kill innocent children. It shows you don’t do it or don’t believe it.
And he certainly didn’t care about my MAGA hat-wearing patient, a patient he may have considered “virtually a nobody” to him, but who ultimately He died from coronavirus infection. We cannot risk our health and safety for four more years under Donald Trump or his MAGA allies.
Vote as if your life, and the lives of all Americans, depended on it.
Dr. Thomas K. Lu is an assistant clinical professor at Stanford University School of Medicine and an attending physician in the Department of Hospital Internal Medicine at Stanford Healthcare Tri-Valley. All opinions expressed are his own. Follow him on X: @TomasLew
