To the editor:

The COVID pandemic tested Donald Trump’s leadership. He failed. He mocked masking and social distancing. He suggested ingesting bleach and inappropriate medicines as COVID treatments. Scientific American reported that during Trump’s term, “COVID-19 mortality in the U.S. was 40 percent higher than” the rest of the G7.

Trump initially promoted the development of COVID vaccines. In February 2021, he boasted, “I handed the new administration what everyone is now calling a modern-day medical miracle.” At a rally that August, he advised, “I recommend taking the vaccines.” He was met by a chorus of boos from his audience, and he changed his tune. Instead of leading, he followed his followers. When asked later about his role in developing COVID vaccines, Trump ceded, “I’m not proud of it.” Still later he declared, “I will not give one penny to any school that has a vaccine mandate.”

Rejection of vaccines had consequences. A Yale study found that “the excess death rate among Republican voters was 43% higher than the excess death rate among Democratic voters” after vaccines became available.

As President, Trump failed to help Puerto Rico recover from a terrible hurricane. The American Southeast was just battered by two historic hurricanes. The Biden-Harris administration has been working on recovery efforts with both Republican and Democratic governors.

Trump muddied the waters with a barrage of lies. Biden and Gov. Kemp had already talked on the phone when Trump said that Biden would not answer Kemp’s calls. Trump alleged that FEMA has no money because Harris spent it on immigrants. He claimed that FEMA will offer victims of the hurricanes no more than $750 in aid. None of his lies has an ounce of credibility.

Republican and Democratic politicians from the region have been forced to debunk the lies out of fear that their constituents will neither cooperate with relief efforts nor apply for the aid they are entitled to.

To deal with real world crises we need a leader, not a liar. We need Kamala Harris. As a career prosecutor, she makes decisions based on evidence, not lies.

Sherwin Skar

Marshall