A Failure of Political Communication Not a Failure of Bureaucracy: The Danger of Presidential Misinformation During the COVID-19 Pandemic

• DOI: 10.1177/0275074020941734
• Date: 01 August 2020
• Published date: 01 August 2020
• Author: William Hatcher
• Subject Matter: The Case For & Against BureaucracyBureaucratic Failures from a Comparative Lens

https://doi.org/10.1177/0275074020941734

American Review of Public Administration

2020, Vol. 50(6-7) 614 –620

© The Author(s) 2020

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DOI: 10.1177/0275074020941734

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Bureaucratic Failures from a Comparative Lens

Starting in November 2019, a novel coronavirus began

spreading in Wuhan, China (World Health Organization

[WHO], 2020). The virus causes a deadly respiratory disease

that has been termed COVID-19. During the first months of

2020, the virus moved across the globe. The spread of the

virus led the WHO to label the outbreak as a pandemic

(WHO, 2020). As of April 2020, the virus has infected mil-

lions worldwide, including close to a million individuals in

the United States (“Coronavirus in the United States,” 2020),

causing a public health threat that the world has not dealt

with since the 1918 flu pandemic. Nations have struggled to

respond to the crisis. Some nations, like Italy, the United

States, and the United Kingdom, initially were slow to

respond to the threat, which has led to outbreaks in these

countries. Others, such as New Zealand and South Korea,

were quick to respond through expert-based practices, such

as widespread testing for the virus and community surveil-

lance. The pandemic has highlighted the need for public

administration to incorporate public health into our scholar-

ship and practice, the importance of leadership from profes-

sional bureaucracy that follows evidence-based policies, and

the danger of political leadership that is not equipped to deal

with such a crisis and/or actively tries to mislead the public.

In addition, the pandemic highlights how tension between

a country’s leader and the bureaucracy can harm that nation’s

response to the crisis. This commentary addresses how mis-

leading communications by a nation’s leader can have

disastrous effects on the bureaucracy’s response to a health

crisis. During valuable weeks that could have been dedicated

to fighting the outbreak in the United States, President Trump

denied the danger of the virus and misled the public about the

problem, the policies and procedures surrounding the prob-

lem, and the politics needed to solve the problem. This lack

of transparency in communication from the nation’s highest

office restricted the ability of the bureaucracy at all levels—

federal, state, and local—to respond to the crisis. The failures

of the United States in addressing the pandemic are not fail-

ures of bureaucracy but rather failures of communication by

President Trump.

Building on my earlier research on how President Trump

communicates health-related issues, this commentary exam-

ines his communication during the early months of the pan-

demic. Since 2016, I have researched how President Trump

communicates issues of public health. This research has pro-

duced two main studies. In an editorial for the American

Journal of Public Health (2018), a coauthor and I reported an

analysis of how the major candidates, Donald Trump and

Hillary Clinton, talked about public health during the 2016

941734ARPXXX10.1177/0275074020941734The American Review of Public AdministrationHatcher

research-article2020

1Augusta University, GA, USA

Corresponding Author:

William Hatcher, Augusta University, Augusta, GA 30912, USA.

Email: wihatcher@augusta.edu

A Failure of Political Communication Not

a Failure of Bureaucracy: The Danger of

Presidential Misinformation During the

COVID-19 Pandemic

William Hatcher1

Abstract

President Trump’s communications during the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic violate principles of public health,

such as practicing transparency and deferring to medical experts. Moreover, the president’s communications are dangerous

and misleading, and his lack of leadership during the crisis limits the nation’s response to the problem, increases political

polarization around public health issues of social distancing, and spreads incorrect information about health-related policies

and medical procedures. To correct the dangerous path that the nation is on, the administration needs to adopt a more

expert-centered approach to the crisis, and President Trump needs to practice compassion, empathy, and transparency in

his communications.

Keywords

COVID-19, public health, President Trump