Any Other President Would Have Given This Speech

From a former federal speechwriter, a speech to calm a crisis

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This is a sample 20-minute speech that any president should be giving at this time of crisis. I wrote it Friday morning — after the Oval Office speech, but before the Rose Garden press conference — as if I’d been assigned the task by the president or any of the Members of Congress or the Cabinet I worked for when I was a government speechwriter. The draft took less than one hour to prepare, leaving plenty of time for review by a White House staff and subject-matter experts that Trump chose not to use. It is presented here in all upper case as if it was prepped for a teleprompter.

MY FELLOW AMERICANS AND OUR FRIENDS AROUND THE WORLD:

THIS IS A TIME OF GREAT TRIAL NOT ONLY FOR THE UNITED STATES, BUT FOR THE FAMILIES OF THE GLOBAL COMMUNITY.

The Enemy

WE ARE BEING TESTED BY A COMMON ENEMY — THE CORONAVIRUS — WHICH HAS, SO FAR, BROUGHT IMMEASURABLE HEARTACHE AND LOSS OF LIFE TO SO MANY OF AMERICA’S OWN CITIZENS AND TO OUR NEIGHBORS ACROSS THE GLOBE.

ALREADY MANY AMERICANS ARE SPENDING THEIR SECOND WEEK IN QUARANTINES IN MILITARY BASES ACROSS THE COUNTRY. I KNOW THEIR FAMILIES ARE WORRIED ABOUT THEM, AND I KNOW THAT THOSE WHO ARE…