Why is President Donald Trump demanding that children return to school in the midst of a deadly plague? 

On July 10, Paula Reid, White House correspondent for CBS News, provided the answer on the PBS program, Washington Week. 

According to Reid:

“Well, up until now the administration has really deferred to local leaders to determine when they want to reopen their communities based on the situation on the ground.  But then you saw this week, when it comes to schools, the president issuing this broad mandate that all schools must open in the fall or else potentially he will cut funding, when in fact we know most schools are locally funded, and he’s also made other threats. 

Paula Reid

“He’s made it clear that he is putting pressure on governors, and the question is, why is he taking this approach to schools specifically when he’s deferred to states on so many other aspects of this pandemic? 

“And just speaking with White House advisers, I’m told the president knows that in order to get parents back to work you need to get kids back to class, and for the president a lot of this is about hoping that that would give an economic boost to the U.S. ahead of his reelection in November.“

For which he could then claim credit. 

And Reid warned: “But one of the most significant things out of the administration this week is the fact that Dr.[Deborah] Birx [Coronavirus Response Coordinator for the White House Coronavirus Task Force] said that we really don’t have that much data on COVID in children because the under-10 set is really the least tested.”

On April 17, Trump, via Twitter, ordered his supporters to violate stay-at-home orders of Minnesota, Michigan and Virginia.

Masses of protesters—most of them unmasked, many carrying guns, wearing Trump MAGA caps and brandishing Confederate flags—descended on the capitols of those states. They claimed to be defending constitutional freedoms to refuse to wear masks or maintain “social distance” from others.

Thus, Trump risked the lives of thousands of his followers to “reopen the country” and save his endangered Presidency. 

Just as the ancient Canaanites sacrificed their children to the god Moloch, so does Trump expect his followers—and opponents—to risk their children’s lives for him.

A child sacrifice to Moloch

And the sacrifices are already coming.  

On August 10, CBS News reported:

“Nearly 100,000 children tested positive for the Coronavirus in the last two weeks of July, a new report from the American Academy of Pediatrics finds. Just over 97,000 children tested positive for the Coronavirus from July 16 to July 30, according to the association.”

And on September 10, Forbes magazine reported: “At least six educators in five states have died after contracting the coronavirus since schools began reopening in early August.”  

One of the harshest—and most poignant—attacks on Donald Trump came on August 17. It was delivered at the Democratic National Convention by Kristin Urquiza—the daughter of one of Trump’s 2016 supporters.

That supporter, Mark Anthony Urquiza, had died—from COVID-19.

In early June, he contracted the disease, shortly after Arizona lifted its stay-at-home order. He visited a karaoke bar with friends—and died after five days on a ventilator, alone.

“My dad, Mark Anthony Urquiza, should be here today, but he isn’t,” Kristin said during a televised segment. “He had faith in Donald Trump.

“He voted for him, listened to him, believed him and his mouthpieces when they said that Coronavirus was under control and going to disappear; that it was OK to end social distancing rules before it was safe; and that if you had no underlying health conditions, you’d probably be fine.

“My dad was a healthy 65-year-old. His only preexisting condition was trusting Donald Trump, and for that he paid with his life.”   

* * * * * * * * * *

Donald Trump is not the only one responsible for the deaths of 200,000 American men, women and children. His lies could not have wiped out their lives without the active collaboration of his 63 million Fascistic supporters and thousands of government officials at local, state and federal levels. 

Syndicated political columnist Mark Shields predicts that, despite Trump’s admissions that he lied about the dangers of COVID-19, “in the next poll next week, he will still have the solid support of 41, 42, 43% of the people.”

After World War II, millions of Germans who had enthusiastically carried out the orders of their Fuhrer, Adolf Hitler, blamed him for every atrocity inflicted by Nazi Germany. According to them:

• He—alone—had invaded Poland, Norway, Denmark, France, Greece, Russia and Italy.
• He—alone—had terrorized England with the Blitz. 
• He—alone—had tortured and murdered six million Jews.

Their plaintive refrain went:

• “We only followed orders.”
• “We didn’t do it—others did.”
• “We didn’t even know it was being done.”

Hitler cheated the victors by shooting himself. But that didn’t prevent the Allies from serving as much justice as possible on his surviving henchmen.

Americans must demand not simply a new President but a series of Nuremberg-like trials for those responsible for this wholesale COVID-19 slaughter. 

The survivors of those victims, like Kristin Urquiza, deserve—and demand—no less.