Donald Trump is not a good critical thinker. He, very publicly and very frequently, falls victim to a form of “magical thinking.” We are all tempted by this fallacy. When we want something to be true, we can try to imagine it is true and believe, somehow, that will make it true.

Trump really wants the economy to be strong before the election, so he is trying to wish away the seriousness of the pandemic by urging people go back to a normal life, soon, as though that will magically make the medical threat disappear.

It’s not surprising. He does the same thing with the climate change crisis. Ignore it and it will disappear, just like he claims the virus will do.

The trouble is, he is pandering to the magical thinking of many voters who also wish the pandemic would just go away.

This country really needs the president to be a clear thinker. The result of his fallacious thinking might be more lives lost and an economy in even worse shape by fall.

Bill Frayer, Lewiston