President Donald Trump just said the coronavirus was worse than the attacks on Pearl Harbor and the World Trade Towers.

How stupid does he think the country is? More than 2,400 died when Pearl Harbor was attacked, and almost 3,000 at the World Trade Center. Six died at a nursing facility in Kirkland, Washington, which was the first major outbreak of the virus in this country. Presidents Roosevelt and Bush called those attacks acts of war. Trump said the virus was like the flu and an attack on him.

Roosevelt got the country producing ships, planes, tanks and everything needed for war. He got the most brilliant physicists to work on the atom bomb. Bush sent CIA-backed fighters to Afghanistan to attack the Taliban, and then our military to the area. Both got other countries to fight with us. Both put the war in the hands of experienced, competent people.

Trump ignored the warnings of those who had dealt with epidemics. He preferred believing what he saw on Twitter and talk-show TV. He squandered two months while the virus spread. He pushed snake-oil remedies and put his incompetent son-in-law in charge of obtaining tests and medical equipment.

President Trump is fond of asking, “what have you got to lose?” The answer is now clear, your life, your parents, your job, your business. Be grateful Trump was not in charge on 9/11 or after Pearl Harbor.