Flickr / van huy nguyen

President Trump diverted attention from a dangerous health crisis that is predicted to kill hundreds of thousands of Americans on Wednesday so that he could instead talk about Mexican drug cartels.

After touching on the “all out war” America was waging against the “horrible, horrible virus,” Trump veered off course to discuss the thing that is surely utmost on everyone’s mind: illegal narcotics.

“As governments and nations focus on the coronavirus, there’s a growing threat that cartels, criminals and other malign actors will try to exploit the situation for their own gain and we must not let that happen. Today the United States is launching enhanced counternarcotics operations in the Western hemisphere to protect the American people from the deadly scourge of illegal narcotics.”

Then Defense Secretary Mark Esper hopped on the podium to announce that U.S. Navy ships were setting sail to battle drug trafficking in the Caribbean. He was followed by Attorney General Barr who warned of the Mexican cartels.

Wag the Dog?

Actor Wendell Pierce, who lost a friend to coronavirus, calls the move “criminal.”

The day after a friend dies of the coronavirus at the height of this pandemic, I waited with anxiously to hear the White House update. To watch President Trump trying to divert attention from this crisis to WAG THE DOG and pretend anything else is of importance is CRIMINAL

— Wendell Pierce (@WendellPierce) April 1, 2020

Americans have been streaming pandemic movies recently, but it may be time to watch Wag the Dog, the 1997 movie Pierce mentions. The film is about a president seeking reelection who takes the country to the brink of war to distract voters from a White House scandal.

Zero Damns Given

Author Demetria Lucas also is angry with the administration’s callous disregard for the lives of those affected by the virus. She begs the administration to focus on providing essential equipment for health workers and patients instead of running around chasing drug cartels.

I give ZERO DAMNS about drug cartels right now. Sir! Do the healthcare workers have PPE? Does NYC have its ventilators? Where are the tests and the masks? What is going on with Navy ship in Guam? FOCUS, DAMMIT!! #COVIDー19

— Demetria L. Lucas (@demetriallucas) April 1, 2020

The Pentagon has a Briefing Room

The sudden switch in focus was questioned by CNN national security reporter Nicole Gaouette, who points out the coronavirus briefing was not the place for an unrelated announcement.

So… why did @EsperDOD use the White House CoVid19 briefing to announce that the Pentagon will send Navy destroyers & other assets to the Pacific & Caribbean to fight illicit drug trafficking by the likes of Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro? The Pentagon has a briefing room.

— Nicole Gaouette (@NicoleCNN) April 1, 2020

The answer to her question is clear. Trump used the White House briefing for the announcement because millions of Americans, desperate for information and help, tune in to the briefings. Instead, they saw a president so incompetent, shameless, and callous that he would endanger Americans’ lives to improve reelection chances.