President Trump’s inept handling of the coronavirus pandemic has put us all in danger. But that’s just one of the many examples of the president’s incompetence.

Here are three more: yes-men, racism, and Christian privilege.

Supporters often claim Trump has the right to fire anyone in his administration. Fair enough. But is surrounding himself with yes-men good for the country?

Doing so means every government employee must do what Trump dictates. When asked about the high turnover rate and lack of stability in his administration, Trump said, “We have acting people. The reason they are acting is because I’m seeing how I like them” and, “There are people who have done a bad job, and I let them go. If you call that turmoil, I don’t call that turmoil. I say that is being smart.”

Though his first attorney general, Jeff Sessions, technically resigned, at Trump’s behest, after following the law and recusing himself from the Russian meddling case that came out of the 2016 election. The current AG, William Barr, is now facing criticism for trying to drop the Department of Justice’s case against former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who pled guilty to lying to the FBI.

“(The) government’s extraordinary argument that it is lawful for a witness — a government employee, no less — to lie to the FBI about contacts with a high-ranking representative of a hostile foreign power simply cannot hold water,” a group of former DOJ officials said in a brief opposing the case’s dismissal.

While national security adviser, Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster clashed with Trump on multiple policy matters before being forced out. He was replaced by John Bolton, who also failed to get along with Trump and was subsequently let go.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s dismissal followed his accurate statement that Russia had been responsible for poisoning a former double agent in the United Kingdom. This comment contradicted Trump’s spin on the killing.

Secretary of Defense James Mattis technically resigned in response to Trump withdrawing troops from Syria, and after many of his previous decisions were overruled.

Trump retaliated against those who told the truth during the impeachment hearings by firing several people, including Director for European Affairs for the National Security Council Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman and U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland. Trump also fired two directors for Europe and Russia on the National Security Council, Fiona Hill and Tim Morrison.

Dr. Rick Bright, Ph.D., the director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, was demoted. That agency’s mission is to protect the nation from biological threats such as the coronavirus. CBS News reported: “Bright is the highest-ranking government scientist to charge the federal government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic has been slow and chaotic. He says (Trump) has prioritized politics over science and has cost people their lives.”

The president’s racism is also shining through.

In the article “White Nationalism’s Deep American Roots” in The Atlantic, author Adam Serwer says that Trump’s racist immigration policies mirror the 1924 immigration bill. That bill was heavily influenced by white nationalist Madison Grant and his book “The Passing Of The Great Race.” Madison writes, “America is being taken away from white people who it rightfully belongs to because of immigration.”

Sessions praised the 1924 immigration bill that curbed immigration from Asia, Africa, Eastern, and Southern Europe. Sessions and Trump claim we are on a path to surge past what the immigration situation was before the 1924 bill. They believe a draconian immigration policy that will curb immigration from “sh*thole” countries (Trump’s words) to preserve white political and cultural dominance is necessary.

Trump’s treatment of Christians also reveals prejudice — toward those who don’t practice that religion.

On May 22, Trump declared houses of worship “essential.” As Barbara Alvarez, the Freedom from Religion Foundation’s first Anne Nicol Gaylor Reproductive Rights Intern, writes, declaring religious services essential and abortion nonessential reveals the allegiance of anti-abortion politicians is with religious dogma.

Anti-abortion politicians took advantage of the pandemic in 11 states by proclaiming abortion nonessential. They attempted to restrict access to abortion under the guise of protecting the American public during the epidemic. But as The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and other medical associations said in a joint statement, “abortion remains an essential and time-sensitive service during the COVID-19 crisis.”

Alvarez also writes Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who also deemed religious worship an essential service, needlessly put women’s lives at risk by closing abortion clinics. Many other anti-abortion governors, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, also provided exemptions for religious services in their stay-at-home orders.

Those aren’t all the ways in which President Trump is inept. But they are three examples of how he is hurting the country, and putting some Americans above others.

Tom Waddell is president of the Maine Chapter of the Freedom from Religion Foundation. He welcomes comments at president@ffrfmaine.org

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