Opinion | Jared Kushner's chilling new role

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Editor's Note: Frida Ghitis, a former CNN producer and correspondent, is a columnist on international issues. She is a frequent contributor to CNN opinion, a contributing columnist for "The Washington Post" and a columnist for "World Politics Review." Follow her on Twitter @fridaghitis. The opinions expressed in this comment are specific to the author.

(CNN) - President Donald Trump's son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner rarely speaks to the public. Now we know why. When he stood on the White House podium on Thursday, what Americans heard was the believer's chilling performance in a small government, done at a time when only a big government can save the situation.

Of all the times a pandemic could occur, did it have to happen just during the reign of an administration that wants to reduce the government to a fraction of its capacity? Did he have to come under a president who doesn't respect essential experience or qualifications, who has surrounded himself with people whose main talent is his ability to pay public tribute to him?

If there was ever a time for big government, for ambitious programs, for a central role for federal authorities, it is now. If there ever was a time for qualified people in government, it is now.

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Kushner's translucent presence, his affection, without the slightest hint of empathy, in perfect sync with his callous words, was a fitting show for our nightmarish times.

Now we know why Trump has put him in charge of so many intractable problems. Kushner suffers from an overabundance of unwarranted self-confidence. He is an introverted Trump; arrogance without bombast.

Kushner chided the governors, with citizens literally gasping for air, for asking the federal government to help find fans who saved lives. "Don't ask us for things when you don't know what you have in your own states. Just because they are afraid, they ask their medical professionals and they don't know it, "he said.

At one point he suggested that the federal reserve for emergency medical supplies is not earmarked for the states. "It is supposed to be our reserve," he said. It is unclear who he meant by "ours."

It is a well-documented fact that Trump held countless government positions with people completely disqualified for their jobs. It is not surprising, then, that the implementation of the emergency programs is proving less than impressive. Millions of Americans have already lost their jobs just weeks after the pandemic, so Congress quickly approved billions of dollars in aid programs.

Many government professionals are doing their best in an unprecedented emergency, but the early days of the rescue plan are not encouraging. Restaurant workers, suddenly unemployed, with families to feed, may not receive the promised check of $ 1,200 per month. Despite the votes for people to have the money in two weeks, it looks like it could take 20 weeks, or four months, for the checks to be mailed.

Small businesses wondering if aid would arrive in time to avoid bankruptcy, they looked with hope when Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Thursday that emergency loans would be available the next day. But just as he spoke, the banks said they still needed guidance from the Small Business Administration before they could disburse the funds.

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The programs are huge. Perhaps the problems can be solved soon.

But there is no excuse for the incompetence and delays during this coronavirus crisis that have been a direct result of Trump & Co.'s disdain for the government.

The inescapable reality is that some challenges are so daunting that only the government can organize an effective response; some so catastrophic that only the federal government has the strength to do so.

New Yorkers die at the rate of one every three minutes. The national economy is now in an induced coma, a desperate effort to avoid an even greater catastrophe. Now is when the earth should shake with the sounds of cavalry to the rescue. In the midst of all this, Trump tirelessly launches small attacks on Democrats, and goes to Fox News to tell Sean Hannity: "I don't think you need 40,000 or 30,000 fans," after Andrew Cuomo, governor of the state that is the national epicenter of the pandemic will advocate for urgent aid.

Gabriel Sherman, in "Vanity Fair," wrote that, according to some reports, it was Kushner who told Trump that "... I am making my own projections ... New York does not need all the fans," says a participant in a recent meeting at the White House. Andrew Cuomo explained during a CNN forum about the coronavirus: “It is very simple: a person enters the ICU unit. They need the fan or die. " Help may come, but not without delay.

If the federal government were in good hands, it would have taken care of the crisis much earlier. Trump would not have resisted urgent calls to enact the Defense Production Law weeks ago, when the Chamber of Commerce persuaded him not to use his power to order the production of fans.

Now states, watching the tidal wave of cases move in their direction, are struggling to secure needed supplies. Incredibly, they are competing against each other, and are now competing against the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

On CNN Thursday, Andrew Cuomo made a suggestion so practical, so logical, it's hard to believe it hasn't been implemented. Instead of everyone struggling simultaneously to buy the same products - even from China, no less - why not arrange for a continuous deployment of supplies, distributed where they are needed, as the pandemic increases in different states at different times?

Imagine proactive, efficient, transparent, and reliable management, coordinating the purchase, production, and distribution of fans and protective equipment to the places where they are needed, and organizing the transportation of surpluses from one state to another, as the need arises.

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The good governance we would like to have would also have ensured that everyone has health insurance. Incredibly, Trump on Thursday rejected a proposal to reopen Obamacare registration so that uninsured Americans can get coverage amid projections that millions could get sick. Even health insurance companies were pushing for that, but Trump said no.

The White House says it is exploring other options, but it is not clear what they could be. With millions losing their jobs, and the insurance of most people linked to employment, the number of people without insurance could increase at the worst possible time.

With more competent management, the Navy hospital ships deployed with so much fanfare would not float mostly empty, as patients are concentrated in overflowing hospitals. "A tangle of military protocols and bureaucratic obstacles have kept the Comfort from accepting many patients," reported The New York Times.

Without a strong and large government, even the paragons of capitalism, the country's iconic corporations, could disappear. Thanks to an encouragement, taxpayers are saving them. The government should save taxpayers, their livelihoods, their lives.

But this government does not believe much in government. At first he had promised to "deconstruct" the sinister "administrative state." It is painfully evident how much we need experienced administrators.

Paraphrasing a figure from another crisis, you go into a pandemic with the government you have. We can only hope that this administration improves rapidly, and then we should try to have a better government before the next crisis.

Jared Kushner