In response to reports that U.S. President Donald Trump had tested positive for COVID-19, the London-based daily Al-Quds Al-Arabi, which has been Qatar-owned since 2013, wrote in its October 2, 2020 editorial that Trump's mockery of his rival Joe Biden's mask-wearing attests to Trump's populist policy that disparages science and encourages hatred and polarization.
The editorial, titled "Trump – Where Has The American President's Irresponsibility Taken The World?" stated that this policy will impact the entire world and that "opportunistically attaining the seat of power does not impart immunity to that seat's occupants." It should be noted that since the announcement of Trump's diagnosis, the daily has published numerous cartoons mocking him.
Trump and the Coronavirus (Source: Al-Quds Al-Arabi, October 5, 2020).
The following is the translation of the main points of Al-Quds Al-Arabi's October 2, 2020 editorial:
"Just two days before we were informed, on Friday [October 2], that he was infected [with COVID-19], U.S. President Donald Trump mocked his rival Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden for always wearing a mask in public places, saying, I don't wear a mask like he does. Every time we see him he is masked.
"Earlier, on Thursday [October 1], Trump went with his campaign team to New Jersey to participate in a fundraising event at his golf club, where he spent time near dozens of people while not wearing a mask, either during the event or during his flight [to and from it].
"This last event, at which Trump was infected, represents an individual and general way of thinking. From the beginning of his campaign, he has insisted on participating in large-scale events, advancing various forms of false treatments [for the coronavirus], lying to the public about the dangers of the pandemic, and mocking officials in order to motivate them to reopen the schools. This reflects... statements by The Washington Post regarding [Trump's] complete insensitivity towards others and his inability to think about anyone's life but his own.
"The truth is that Trump's position regarding the coronavirus can be extrapolated to every issue that his irresponsible policy touches: to the U.S. itself, where the virus has taken the lives of 207,000 people, and to the world, and particularly to our Arab region that has come up against massive arrogance from its allies in the region. [This was] because [Trump] gave Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu freedom of action against the Palestinians, and because this administration threw all its weight – by means of [Trump's] son-in-law Jared Kushner, extremist ambassador to Israel [David Friedman], and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo – into passing the 'Deal of the Century' and pressuring the Arab countries to normalize relations with Israel.
"In the past few years, we have seen also how Trump freely allowed Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to implement his policy of oppression – one of the salient characteristics of which the world remembered a few days ago, on the [second] anniversary of the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi. [We also see] his approach to the policy of [Egyptian President] Abd Al-Fatah Al-Sisi, whom he called his 'favorite dictator,'[1] and how he gave his patronage to [Israel's] normalization agreement with Bahrain and the UAE [the latter of which] shirked [its responsibility] for the establishment of militias and prisons in Yemen and Libya and for the hiring of mercenaries and international assassins to carry out missions of murder and abduction.
"Actually, Trump's opinions reflect [those of] a wide and influential stream of thought in most corners of the world. This refers to his views that are dismissive of science and that mock those who seek to protect the environment and the planet. His populist trends lay the foundation for the majority's hatred of minorities, for strong's [hatred for] the weak, and for the rich ones' [hatred for] the poor, without the slightest thought that this policy will [ultimately] impact everyone and that opportunistically attaining the seat of power does not impart to that seat's occupants immunity from the impact of nature and of the planet Earth on which we live, and does not make them more resistant to pandemics. Neither does it strengthen our lands as much as they [i.e. those who attain power opportunistically] think, because sharp polarization is a sure recipe for civil war."[2]
Additional Cartoons In Al-Quds Al-Arabi On Trump And The Coronavirus
"The coronavirus vanquishes Trump"Al-Quds Al-Arabi, October 3, 2020.
"Trump, from his announcement of his ability to overcome the coronavirus until he contracted it!!" (Al-Quds Al-Arabi, October 2, 2020)
[1] Trump referred to Al-Sisi as his "favorite dictator" as he waited to meet with him at the G7 summit in Biarritz, France on September 13, 2019. Wsj.com/articles/trump-awaiting-egyptian-counterpart-at-summit-called-out-for-my-favorite-dictator-11568403645, September 13, 2020.
[2] Al-Quds Al-Arabi (London), October 2, 2020.
