He’s been killing people right along. An incomplete list: victims of hate crimes, which his hateful rhetoric encourages; refugees sent back home to the deadly gang violence they tried to flee; the Kurds, after he deserted them in Syria; children stolen from their immigrant families who died in US custody; women who died from bungled illegal abortions when they couldn’t get legal ones; poor people unable to get health care because he’s cut Obamacare as much as he can; and these days, many thousands from COVID-19 who might be alive if he had taken action in January instead of March.

Now the federal government is stockpiling PPE (personal protection equipment) by outbidding states and even just taking stuff the states have managed to buy. Trump wants states to be “nice” to him before he gives them any of it, no matter how much their people need it. States should not have to bid for PPE. The federal government should be doing all that work, locating and buying it, and distributing it to states as needed, not according to how much their governors are willing to kiss his ass.

Worst of all perhaps, Trump has been pushing the “opening” of the country, an end to the virus quarantine, and encouraging his followers to protest the lockdowns of their states. This in spite of overwhelming evidence that it is far too soon to go back to business as usual. We are still in the midst of a surge. All the numbers we see are way too low, since so few tests are available. Opening back up too soon will mean a huge spike in sickness and death.

But the man who is supposed to protect this country does not care how many of us die. The sad truth is that though healthcare workers, police and firefighters are literally dying to keep us safe, the world’s most powerful person only cares about getting re-elected.