None of this should ever have been allowed. Responsible adults should have blocked him from running, or failing that blocked him from getting nominated. Failing that they should have invoked the 25th amendment the minute he was inaugurated. Now we’re stuck with a mass murderer.

President Donald Trump faced new and troubling questions Thursday about his response to the coronavirus pandemic, as it became clear that there is a nationwide shortage of ventilators, masks and other crucial medical equipment. During a White House news conference, Trump was asked about the shortages and responded by falsely suggesting lying that the problem was unforeseen. He also shrugged off responsibility for the crisis and encouraged states to find their own resources.

That’s why. That’s why he should never have been allowed. He lies and he treats it as not his responsibility.

Since the beginning of the crisis earlier this year, Trump and his team have responded with dozens of dishonest and misleading claims. And the President’s comments about the ventilator shortages fit into his pattern of trying to avoid responsibility by falsely claiming that nobody ever predicted a pandemic like this, which he has said many times, even after it’s been widely debunked.

And it has always been obvious that that’s what he is. The fact that no one stopped him is a horrifying indictment of the US as a country.

The US intelligence community warned in 2018 and again in 2019 that the US was vulnerable to a large-scale flu or coronavirus pandemic, which would “strain governmental and international resources,” though it did not mention shortages of specific medical equipment. These reports were released by then-Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, a Trump appointee.

But Trump pays no attention to such things. Trump tweets and shouts and smirks, and that’s all he does. He’s evil and he’s lethal – but we can’t get rid of him.