Dan Rather on Trump's Coronavirus Approach: 'It's Disgraceful'

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March 24, 2020 12:50PM ET
Dan Rather on Trump’s Coronavirus Approach: ‘It’s Disgraceful’
The veteran newsman on whether the president’s press conferences are propaganda and what he would like to ask Trump
By David Browne


“As Lyndon Johnson said, ‘I’m hunkered down like a mule in a hailstorm,’ ” says Dan Rather from his New York apartment. Now 88, the veteran reporter and newsman is holed up like many in his city, but he’s hardly silent. Although it’s been 14 years since he and CBS News parted ways, Rather remains active in his business; he’s gearing up for a new season of his Big Interview series on the AXS TV network and has a SiriusXM show, Dan Rather’s America.

In recent years, Rather, known for confrontational interviews with presidents Richard Nixon and George H.W. Bush, has also become one of President Trump’s most vocal critics. And he’s used his Twitter account, which he’s had since 2009, to tweak and critique the ways of Washington: “We stockpile bombs and ammunition for our national security, at huge cost. Why haven’t we stockpiled respirators, masks, and other gear at a fraction of that cost?” or “Excuse me but why is the Senate gym apparently open? Doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence.”

We checked in with Rather to get his take on the current pandemic — and how both the Trump administration and the media are handling it.

You’ve been witness to a lot of history, from the civil-rights movement to Vietnam to Watergate. Can you compare what we’re going through now to anything you’ve experienced?

No. None of us Americans have seen anything quite like this since the great flu of 1918, and even I, at my advanced age, was not alive in 1918 [laughs]. This is completely uncharted territory. When this is over, there’s just no way we will be the same country. We can’t and probably shouldn’t be, for that matter.

But we haven’t had this kind of test in our lifetime. I think you’d have to go back to the very first days of Pearl Harbor and the Japanese attack. It looked like we could well lose World War II, and the whole nation felt those were scary and sad times. But what we’ve learned from ancient and modern history is that we reach into the wellsprings of hope and resolve to get through things like this, and I think we will.

You’ve been a regular critic of Donald Trump. How would you rate his performance so far during this pandemic?

I’m trying my very best to be objective, but his performance is disappointing, to say the very least. It’s clear that he has decided to lead from behind. He says he doesn’t want to take any responsibility for any strategic or tactical decisions. That’s always somebody else. It’s disappointing and dispiriting and, frankly, disgraceful.

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https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/dan-rather-on-trumps-coronavirus-approach-971864/