On the first day of spring, March 19, 2020, the American President called a news conference to ostensibly update the country on the effort to stem the tide of the Covid-19 virus. Things were going well, then the President announced there was a drug that worked well against the coronavirus had been approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

Before the day was out, the FDA corrected the information the President gave in his press conference regarding the availability of a cure for coronavirus. No drug has received FDA approval to fight this disease.

But that’s not all. The presser turned bizarre when Trump called upon Chanel Rio, a reporter for a pseudo-news outlet named One America Network. She asked Trump if he considered the term “Chinese food” racist.

Despite the onset of the most significant challenge America has ever faced, the President entertained this silly question with glee, while at the same press conference, he was unable to say how many mask and protective gear was available for doctors and hospital workers. The President would only say the country has “a lot.” A term he has frequently used in describing the readiness of his administration to deal with the pandemic.

His response prompts the question: How many is a lot?

Meanwhile, in Italy, the number of deaths from the coronavirus surpassed the number of lives lost in China. Most scientific experts project that the situation in America is tracking the outbreak in Italy.

Harold Michael Harvey is the author of Freaknik Lawyer: A Memoir on the Craft of Resistance. He is a Past President of the Gate City Bar Association. He is the recipient of Gate City’s R. E. Thomas Civil Rights Award, which he received for his pro bono representation of Black college students arrested during Freaknik celebrations in the mid to late 1990s. An avid public speaker, contact him at hmharvey@haroldmichaelharvey.com.