The White House Briefings Are Beyond Useless
There's a lot of misinformation floating around about Coronavirus. Should you wear masks (Yes, but you should know how to use them correctly.) or should you donate your masks (Only if they are N95 surgical masks.)? What's the deal with hydroxychloroquine? Does it actually cure Coronavirus? (It's a drug still in the early stages of testing. As of now, there is no definitive proof that it is effective.)We shouldn't even call this Coronavirus, right? Isn't it COVID-19? Or is that just the disease it causes? (Well, actually, the virus itself is called SARS-CoV-2. The sickness you get from it is Coronavirus's Monster. Wait, that's not right.)
See, there's a lot of confusing messages being put out there. Good thing we have had a President whose only role has been to further exacerbate this problem. The White House press briefings have been a clusterfuck of word vomit, with Dr. Anthony Fauci (the expert on infectious diseases) and Trump (the guy who used to try to sell you steaks at The Sharper Image) contradicting each other at every turn.
When the CDC tasked Trump with telling the American public to wear masks outside, he chose to immediately undermine those recommendations by declaring he wouldn't wear a mask. When asked about hydroxychloroquine, Trump effectively prevented Dr. Fauci from answering. Fauci has repeatedly stated that the effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine on treating coronavirus patients is purely anecdotal. Trump, meanwhile, is promoting the drug full stop to the point where Lupus patients (the disease hydroxychloroquine is actually intended to cure) can no longer get it. The messaging has gotten so confusing that some people are even buying chloroquine formulations over eBay and one man in Arizona died from ingesting it in an attempt to prevent Coronavirus.
The press briefings have devolved into a shitshow of the highest order with some media outlets even questioning whether to cover them. Instead of addressing the confusion and providing clear answers to the various questions up top (we're now almost 100% sure it is indeed referred to as Coronavirus's monster) Trump has used these briefings as a platform to explain away his failures and rally his base. They are essentially Dumpster Fireside chats, and god help us do we need something better.
Top Image: Executive Office of the President of the United States
