“Normally, when something happens”—a war, an earthquake—“everybody waits to see what the Americans are doing, for better or for worse, and then they calibrate their own response based on that.”
This time, Americans are doing … nothing.
Or to be more specific, because plenty of American governors, mayors, doctors, scientists, and tech companies are doing things, the White House is doing nothing.
There is no presidential leadership inside the United States; there is no American leadership in the world. Members of the G7—the U.S. and its six closest allies—did meet to write a joint statement.
But even that tepid project ended in ludicrous rancor when the American secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, insisted on using the expression “Wuhan virus” and the others gave up in disgust.
Not only is the president talking nonsense, not only is America absent, but the nation’s top diplomat is a caricature of a tough guy—someone who throws around insults in the absence of any capacity to influence events.
. . . .
I wish I could say for certain that a President Joe Biden could turn this all around, but by next year it may be too late.
The memories of the prime minister at the airport, welcoming Chinese doctors, will remain.
The bleach jokes and memes will still cause the occasional chuckle.
Whoever replaces Pompeo will have only four short years to repair the damage, and that might not be enough.
And if Trump wins a second term?
Any nation can make a mistake once, elect a bad leader once.
But if Americans choose Trump again, that will send a clear message:
We are no longer a serious nation.
We are as ignorant as our thoughtless, narcissistic, ignorant president.
Don’t be surprised if the rest of the world takes note of that, too.
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