If there is a silver lining to the coronavirus pandemic, it may be that the virus has exposed the dangers of America’s growing dependence on communist China. Nearly 80% of the key ingredients in medicines are produced overseas, largely in China.

But China doesn’t have a good record when it comes to quality and safety.

ABC News reported Tuesday that 56% of counterfeit or fraudulent COVID-related products (masks, medications, etc.) were coming from China. One senior official said that 85% of all counterfeit goods intercepted by the government over the past five years originated in China.

I could go on with a whole list of things, from tainted toothpaste to drywall to dog food, but you get the point.

Thankfully, President Trump is taking action to reduce our dependence on communist China. This week, the administration announced that the iconic American film company Kodak had been awarded a major contract under the Defense Production Act to domestically produce as much as 25% of the active ingredients for the nation’s generic drug supply.

As a result of this new contract, Kodak is creating hundreds of new jobs and expanding its facilities in Rochester, New York, and Saint Paul, Minnesota.

In announcing the deal Tuesday, President Trump declared:

When the China virus landed on our shores, it became clearer than ever before that restoring American manufacturing is a core matter of national security. We must never be reliant on a foreign nation for America’s medical or other needs…

This is just the beginning. In the coming months, we will continue the largest onshoring campaign in American history. We will bring back our jobs, and we will make America the world’s premier medical manufacturer and supplier.

Confronting Communist China

As congressional leaders haggle over the next round of emergency economic relief/stimulus measures, a new Rasmussen poll finds that 53% of likely voters feel that China should pay some of the costs associated with the coronavirus pandemic. Only 31% said China shouldn’t pay.

Count me in that 53%. China’s communist bosses repeatedly lied about the severity of the outbreak. They punished doctors who spoke out. And they attempted to corner the market on vital medical supplies, while shipping junk products to other countries in desperate need.

Meanwhile, there are disturbing new reports regarding Beijing’s war on faith. The Chinese Communist Party has banned the depiction of miracles in movies or television shows. The move is clearly designed to censor religious content.

As one Chinese Christian filmmaker put it, “If we film the life of Jesus avoiding the content banned by the guidelines, we will only be presenting Jesus as an ordinary person, and this is unacceptable to Christians.”

As further evidence of just how little respect the communist regime has for human rights, there are growing calls to investigate China’s forced harvesting of human organs. I was recently interviewed by Fox News about this outrageous practice. You can read more here.

Spreading Panic

If you need more evidence that the media and progressive politicians are spreading fear and panic regarding the coronavirus, we’ve got it.

One of the world’s largest public relations companies recently surveyed 1,000 Americans about their views of the coronavirus. Perhaps the most shocking finding was the extreme difference between perception and reality.

The survey found that most Americans believe 20% of the country has been infected with COVID-19. That’s 20 times higher than the CDC’s confirmed figures.

They also believe that 9% of the country — roughly 30 million Americans — have died from COVID. That’s 225 times the number of confirmed deaths.

If that’s what the American people believe, then clearly the media are failing to report the facts. All they are doing is spreading fear and panic.

Biden’s Promise

Joe Biden may have cultivated a moderate persona throughout much of his political life, but he’s doing everything he can to shed that image now. Tuesday, Biden vowed that if elected, “I’m going to be … one of the most progressive presidents in American history.”

While “Uncle Joe” may say a lot of goofy things, he’s serious about this one.

Socialist Bernie Sanders wrote much of his platform. From abortion on demand to taxpayer-funded sex changes, from open borders to crushing religious liberty, a Biden presidency would destroy America as we know it.

Biden also addressed the riots of recent weeks during Tuesday’s rambling press conference, saying:

We should never let what’s done in a march for equal rights overcome what the reason for the march is. And that’s what these folks are doing. And they should be arrested — found, arrested and tried.

Sorry, Joe, but the violence is not wrong simply because it is detracting from the cause. For many so-called “progressives,” it seems violence is their cause!

The violence is wrong because people are being killed. Businesses and livelihoods are being destroyed. Law enforcement officers are being injured and blinded. And the progressive movement that Joe Biden is leading wants to defund the police.

It’s no wonder that more than 100 police departments are refusing to provide security at the Democrat National Convention next month!

If any of the reporters at Tuesday’s press conference were actual journalists and not just Democrat hacks, someone would have asked the obvious follow-up question: “Mr. Biden, will you condemn the progressive mayors and other politicians who are siding with anarchists and arsonists, and restraining the police from restoring order?”

We can’t go back to the Obama/Biden malaise days.

We must defeat the radical left!