Empathy and Compassion is Not His Thing

If there is one conclusion we can draw from our experience with the COVID-19 pandemic it is that in President Trump has little empathy or compassion for others unless they support his position and his words 100%. He does not act in the best interests of the nation. He acts in his own self-interest virtually all of the time. Rather than set an ethical tone at the top to guide the nation into doing the right thing, such as in dealing with the spread of COVID-19, Trump stands for whatever helps Trump or whatever someone says that paints him in a positive way.

Trump is the reason there will be hundreds of thousands dead from the virus. Make no mistake, the way he has handled the spread is nothing short of incompetence. First, he down-played the significance and likelihood of spread in the U.S. We were told it would disappear with the warm weather. Trump touted cures such as Hydroxychloroquine even though virtually all the scientists and researchers said it doesn’t work against the virus. He is now saying we could get a vaccine by election day. Should we believe him? The sad thing is many Americans do.

Trump argues for the opening of the economy and schools even though the likelihood of spread is still very real as the data suggests. He doesn’t care. He just wants a rapid economic recovery to bolster his chances of re-election. He touts getting young kids back to school, although there is no evidence that the spread has been contained and cannot affect young kids. The worst case scenario is schools that open will be shut down within a week or two – maybe even days. This is what we've seen in Georgia high schools and the University of North Carolina. More closings are bound to happen.

Trump seems to be indifferent to the shocking number of deaths from the virus, surpassing 170,000. He lacks the compassion needed to be the world's leader. We make up 25% of the world's fatalities yet only 4.29% of the world's population.

Trump only cares about what is good for him and that plays to his ego. In fact, it is all about him, all of the time. He lacks a moral compass and has a narcissistic personality disorder. Watching him constantly drone on during his news conferences about how he saved America from even more virus spread and deaths is painful to say the least. His incompetence shows every time he reads from a script the same old garbage about how he is the savior of the U.S. economy and saved so many lives by his actions. At this news conferences, speakers must say “under this President’s direction,” something or another has occurred. Mike Pence and other speakers at his news conferences must pay homage to our supreme leader.

COVID-19 Has Unmasked Trump's Shortcomings as an Ethical Person. It is, quite frankly, sickening to watch him distort the facts, ignore them, and/or lie to the American people all the while more and more Americans die from the virus. It saddens me how so many have died and the toll it has taken on the elderly. Just think about your mom or dad dying from the virus. What a way to go. What an awful way to say goodbye.

Trump's threat to cut off funding for the U.S. Post Office because he fears what might happen if the states go to mail-in voting for all, and his perceived reduced chances of being re-elected, is nothing short of irresponsible. It does illustrate his thirst for power and he'll do virtually anything to get re-elected.

Trump rewards loyalty, as we see quite often in his picks for high government positions. Support him and you are in his good graces. Praise him and you are in line for a cabinet position. Go against him and its bye, bye. There is nothing wrong with loyalty to another but it should never be used to mask loyalty to the truth or the integrity of one’s actions. In other words, doing the right thing because it is the right thing to do.

It is ironic that the idiom “trump up” is defined as to conceive, concoct, or devise some idea or piece of information in a fraudulent and self-serving manner. This describes Trump’s approach to life and his Presidency.

I could go one but suffice it to say that Trump should not be the next President of the U.S. We need a person who brings back dignity and trustworthiness to the highest office in the land. We need someone who is a positive role model for others to emulate.

While it's true Trump has handled the economy well and done other good things, his self-serving behavior, talking down to some countries and leaders -- even friends -- that don't do what he thinks should be done, and creating a climate that has contributed to racial tensions has raised questions in the mind of many Americans about whether he should be re-elected. About 60% of Biden voters say they are voting against Trump, not for Biden.

You may not agree with everything they say or their positions, but Biden and Harris are genuinely good, thoughtful people. All you had to do was to watch their press conference last week when Biden introduced Harris as his running mate. They did not have to read from a script with their head down as does Trump. They addressed the American people from the heart. If they win, perhaps a healthy dose of civility will be brought back to a country that sorely needs it.

Posted by Steven Mintz, aka Ethics Sage, on August 18, 2020. You can sign up for our newsletter and learn more about Dr. Mintz’s activities at: https://www.stevenmintzethics.com/. Follow him on Facebook and on Twitter .