DEAR EDITOR:

The president should be setting the example for this country and the world, since this country is supposed to be a ranking superpower and considered the wealthiest country of the industrialized nations.

It is one thing to be the strongest and wealthiest, and another thing to be able to lead, which I hate to admit is lacking in this country and even in our own individual states. From the minute this country found out that there was a pandemic taking place, President Trump blamed a political party of creating a hoax.

More than 95,000 people are dead, more deaths than in the Vietnam War, because valuable time was wasted, valuable resources were not mobilized to meet this crisis, and this president’s attitude and naive rhetoric made more headlines lying to the public than the actual facts. Instead of plans to fight this crisis, he and his cohorts came before the people with false information and various other falsehoods, leading us to believe that first, it was a hoax; second, that it would not be this severe; and third, that it has passed and now is pressing for states to reopen for “business as usual.”

Here are some facts that should have been shared with him: During the pandemic of 1918, over 650,000 people died in this country alone. More died during the second wave than the first. The reason? Opening up businesses and resuming business as usual too soon, not practicing social distancing and gathering in large numbers for parades, church services, schools, beaches, etc.

This pandemic is similar to the one in 1918. It’s killing people at a phenomenal rate, and deaths are increasing instead of decreasing. And while this is going on, you are told that the worst is behind us and that you can resume your normal lives,the same way they did in 1919.

Your president is not practicing the same guidelines that his own advisers have requested the public do, and still is having news briefings with false information, tweeting false information and spreading false hope, while also inventing new issues to shift the concerns of the public from noticing the worst has not passed us by.

So those of you who complain about businesses being closed, unable to gather at church, bars and clubs, requests to stay at home instead of socializing like you used to, we have a long way to go before this passes.

Hold this country’s leadership accountable for needless deaths now and with a lot more to follow because of greed and ignorance.

ERIC J. ALLI

Youngstown