President Donald Trump speaks about the coronavirus in the James Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House, Thursday, April 9, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Yesterday, The Washington Post published a piece about the efforts of U.S. governors to address the COVID-19 pandemic in their respective states. The article was critical of President Donald Trump for not taking the lead in the effort to combat the spread of the virus.

According to the article, anonymous officials working in the White House – yes, of course they were anonymous – indicated that Trump was avoiding dealing with the problem by allowing the governors to handle the issue.

“Administration officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity to described internal deliberations, say the White House has made a deliberate political calculation that it will better serve Trump’s interest to put the onus on governors – rather than the federal government – to figure out how to move ahead,” the author wrote.

Predictably, high-profile progressives tried to use the article to castigate the president for leaving it to the state’s governors to solve the coronavirus problem. Apparently, none of these individuals have heard of federalism and believe that it is the federal government’s responsibility to take care of a crisis, not the state’s.

CNN’s Brian Stelter quoted the article, and wrote, “Let that quote sink in.”

Admin officials "say the White House has made a deliberate political calculation that it will better serve Trump’s interest to put the onus on governors — rather than the federal government — to figure out how to move ahead."

Let that quote sink in… https://t.co/v2QVZBXslD

— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) April 11, 2020

MSNBC’s Maddow did the same, and quipped, “Good luck, America.”

Good luck, America.

"Administration officials say the White House has made a deliberate political calculation that it will better serve Trump’s interest to put the onus on governors — not the federal government — to figure out how to move ahead."https://t.co/Cq2ixPnjqz

— Rachel Maddow MSNBC (@maddow) April 10, 2020

Pod Save America Host Jon Favreau also weighed in.

We're on our own:

"Administration officials..say the White House has made a deliberate political calculation that it will better serve Trump’s interest to put the onus on governors — rather than the federal government — to figure out how to move ahead."https://t.co/jkTmcR47RG

— Jon Favreau (@jonfavs) April 10, 2020

Rep. Darren Soto intimated that this story proves that Trump’s leadership is not up to par.

“White House has made a deliberate political calculation that it will better serve TRUMP’S INTEREST to put the onus on governors — rather than the federal government — to figure out how to move ahead.” That says it all about his leadership! https://t.co/jt4kjmltZi

— US Rep. Darren Soto (@RepDarrenSoto) April 11, 2020

According to the article, President Trump is focusing on reopening the economy. Next week, he will announce the members of his new coronavirus task force, which will be responsible for determining how the country should go back to work.

So what should we make of this? It seems that two possibilities are likely. The corporate press doesn’t know, or care about, the idea of federalism. They believe that the federal government should be responsible for solving the nation’s problems and the states should take a backseat.

The second possibility is that the corporate media is not concerned with how government works and are only looking for another way to attack the Trump administration and this story provided a convenient opportunity. It is unlikely that they would criticize a Democratic president for taking the same type of approach.

Of course, both could be true as well. But either way, it is apparent that they have no respect for the notion that each state should handle its own problems. The reality is that governors working together to discuss solutions is exactly how this issue should be addressed.

Each state has different needs. Expecting the president to provide a one-size-fits-all solution is ludicrous. It is for this reason that the concept of federalism exists in the first place. The leaders of a particular state know what their residents need far better than the president. The federal government is only to serve as a back up to the states as they fend off the virus.

However, corporate news outlets are counting on the hope that their audience does not know how our government works. Unfortunately, they might be right.

Let me know what you think in the comments below!

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