The old people I knew in the South would often warn us children, “You don’t believe fat meat is greasy!” Their point, in case you don’t speak Southern, was that we were acting like we didn’t believe in consequences. Not believing fat meat is greasy was like, say, not believing adults promising to punish our misbehavior would follow through.
Among the consequences of his term was the U.S.’ high Covid death rate (at least compared with Europe) as Trump abdicated his responsibility as a leader
We see a collective disbelief that fat meat’s greasy from people trusting Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump to lead a “Make America Healthy Again” movement. Among the direst consequences of his term in office was the U.S.’ high Covid death rate (at least compared with Europe) as Trump abdicated his responsibility as a leader and deceived the public as the most serious health crisis in a century unfolded. (He did find time to send Covid-testing kits to Russian President Vladimir Putin, though.)
Trump was hazardous to this country’s health when he was president, and you’d be a fool to believe he wouldn’t be every bit as hazardous if he were elected again.
Consider his endorsement of quackery, his embrace of snake-oil treatments and anti-vaccine partisans, such as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The president of the United States lending credence to the idea that drugs used to treat malaria and lupus would cure Covid helped cement the idea that being conservative means not believing data or embracing the scientific method. (It also put at risk the lives of lupus patients who couldn’t get their needed drugs.)
Trump’s joining forces with RFK Jr., perhaps the country’s best-known disparager of vaccines — and saying he’d consider giving Kennedy a role in a second Trump administration — is a promise to keep inflicting harm upon the public’s health.
Trump’s Sunday rally at Madison Square Garden was problematic for reasons other than the racism on display. It was there that Trump said he’d let Kennedy “go wild on health.” At a previous rally, Trump said: “Let’s go, Bobby. You gonna make us healthy, Bobby?”
Though Trump deserves credit for Operation Warp Speed, which fast-tracked Covid vaccines into existence, many of his core supporters don’t credit him for it; they blame him for it, and so he’s mostly stopped taking credit for his administration’s single greatest achievement.
His fear of losing the “I did my own research” vote led him to make the horrible promise that he would “not give one penny to any school that has a vaccine mandate.” Already — in evidence that suggests that Republicans’ antagonism toward vaccines is contagious — the proportion of children who entered kindergarten without the recommended complement of vaccinations was the highest it has ever been during the 2023-24 school year. And public health officials have been sounding the alarm that this new and unwarranted outrage at vaccines is helping resurrect once-vanquished diseases.
Louisiana’s surgeon general in September railed against mask mandates and “coerced vaccinations” and complained that when he prescribed ivermectin for Covid patients, some pharmacies wouldn’t fill it. His counterpart in Florida has discouraged people most at risk of Covid complications from getting booster shots. Without Trump and his willingness to openly spread dangerous medical misinformation, it’s inconceivable that any governor would put doctors such as these in public-facing public health roles.
His fear of losing the “I did my own research” vote led him to promise that he would “not give one penny to any school that has a vaccine mandate.”
And let’s not forget Trump’s failed attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act when he was president. On Monday, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., suggested that if Trump were to win again, there’d be “no Obamacare.” While having insurance is no guarantee of being healthy, vowing to take away people’s health insurance certainly isn’t a strategy for greater health. It’s such a horrible message in 2024 that even Trump’s campaign said Thursday, “Repealing Obamacare is not President Trump’s policy position.” He’s likely still working on his “concept of a plan.”
The nation’s health is serious business, but there’s an inherent ironic comedy to hearing Trump embrace a health message. The former president, who has somehow managed to survive on a reported diet consisting of mostly McDonald’s and Diet Cokes, offered silver platters of his greasy faves to the Clemson Tigers football team when it showed up to celebrate its national championship. (Trump bragged about paying for the fast food himself, since the event took place during a government shutdown.)
This campaign season, Trump’s surrounded himself with people who believe making America healthy again means promoting unpasteurized milk. That is, he’s not only the candidate for those who doesn’t want kids to go to schools that have herd immunity against preventable but potentially dangerous viruses, but he’s also the candidate for those who don’t believe salmonella and E. coli can punish their insides in a way they won't soon forget.