Republicans Are Treating Donald Trump as Their Master, Not Their Leader

In a free democracy, no one should be anyone’s master, not even the President

“It matters not how strait the gate, How charged with punishments the scroll, I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul.”

(Invictus, William E Henley)

Trump is a leader. He’s charismatic and has the ability to energize great numbers of people by validating their desires, fears, resentments, and, yes, even their hopes for a better future for themselves and their families.

Trump’s a leader all right, albeit a dangerous one, the type that divides, humiliates, threatens, lies, over promises, blames and bullies. To me, he’s just like Littlefinger from Game of Thrones, who “would see this country burn if he could be King of the ashes.”

But this is not what worries me the most about President Donald Trump.

What’s of utmost concern is how too many people “under” him politically and professionally treat him: as master of their soul and fate.

I’m not saying every Trump voter of registered Republican should be calling out Trump on every lie or inappropriate comment. They wouldn’t have time for anything else.

I also don’t expect every Republican politician or government official to have a conscience, or to feel uncomfortable, at the very least, about the President’s actions and words.

But I am utterly, unfathomably, sadly surprised that there aren’t at least a dozen influential Republican politicians and donors routinely making clear and timely public statements about Donald Trump’s dangerous positions and actions.

Are they letting it all slip because they figure they can do good by minimizing the damage behind the scenes?

Or have they allowed the President to become captain of their souls?

I used to think it was the former and wish I could still think that today. The pandemic, however, has made it impossible, as the following two examples show.

Giving the President a pass on promoting false and unsafe treatments

“Take it. What do you have to lose?”

Trump has insistently promoted hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19.

“Take it. What do you have to lose?” pretty much sums up his position on the drug.

Beyond the fact that you could lose your life, promoting an unproven and potentially harmful treatment is just wrong, especially when you are the President of the United States.

Not only did the drug fail to benefit the sick, some people actually died or suffered adverse effects. Turns out some lost a lot.

The FDA ultimately revoked the drug’s emergency use authorization (EUA) for COVID-19:

“We made this determination based on recent results from a large, randomized clinical trial in hospitalized patients that found these medicines showed no benefit for decreasing the likelihood of death or speeding recovery.“

Influential Republicans could have prevented some of the damage by unequivocally denouncing the President’s statements. They still could.

It’s not a stretch to suspect the FDA’s initial EUA was due to the President’s persistent demand for it. The resulting deaths should weigh on the conscience of all politicians and government officials who have sold their soul to Master Trump.

Going along with Trump’s lies about the significance of testing

“Slow the testing down, please.”

At a press conference, Donald Trump said, “When you test, you create cases.”

At his campaign rally in Tulsa, the President stated he had asked his “people” to “slow the testing down, please.”

“Cases are up because we have the best testing in the world and we have the most testing,” he said on an interview in Fox News.

These are just a few of the President’s false or misleading statements on testing.

Cases increased a great deal. Period. The proportion of cases coming back positive is what matters. More testing reveals were cases are actually increasing as a proportion of the population and allows communities to prepare and respond.

Unchecked statements by the President have obviously lead to delayed precautions by individuals and community leaders alike. I’m talking about both complex reopening plans and simple actions like physical distancing when possible and facemask wearing.

How many deaths and what magnitude of suffering could have been prevented had a score of influential Republican politicians and donors called out and contradicted Trump’s statements?

How about if they had done so LOUD and FORCEFULLY ?

One of the most admirable qualities an individual can have is moral courage. I applaud Hannah Watters the high school student in Giorgia who posted pictures on Twitter of fellow high-schoolers packed in hallways, maskless.

She might have been afraid to do so, but it was the right thing to do. Her action may have prevented people from getting COVID and forced other schools to have stricter guidelines regarding mask wearing and physical distancing.

If a single high school student could make this happen, imagine the influence Republican politicians and donors could have if they spoke truth to power. I must single out Republicans because, given how divided our country is, their statements against Trump would carry immense weight and credibility.

As it is, they’ve made the President of the United States master of their souls and fate. In doing so, they have also decided the fate of thousands who have died from COVID-19.