Back in 1978, the Rev. Jim Jones ordered his cultists in Jonestown to commit “revolutionary suicide” by drinking Flavor Aid laced with cyanide. Mass suicide or mass murder, this brought about the deaths of some 900+ men, women, and children, 70% of them black.

In 2020, another cult leader, Donald Trump, refused to warn his country about COVID19 and lied to his country for months about the gravity of the threat it posed. Instead of setting an example of responsible cooperation with the public health authorities, he refuses to wear a mask and ridicules those who do. 

Trump’s lies about COVID19 were, of course, believed, are still believed by the members of his MAGA cult. Trump’s contempt for masks encouraged the self-destructive “anti-masker” movement that is undermining efforts to bring the virus under control. Whether you call it nonfeasance or criminal negligence, his self-serving behaviors have contributed to the deaths of 200,000+, a disproportionate number of them black.