I don't want to defend Trump here. I just want to know specifically what we should have done? Why were all those field hospital beds and extra ventilators unnecessary? PPE distribution was a major blunder, and Trump's demeanor through this has been a joke. What else?
The spring breakers haven't killed their grandmas, or we would have heard about it. Some cases have spread from open factories, but not many deaths. The majority of cases have stemmed from mass transit and and business travellers. We knew from the first cases in Washington State that LTC facilities were tinderboxes. Their fatality rate amply covers the 30% increase in expected deaths which occurred in the deadliest week of the curve. I just don't know what measures another president might have taken that might have stopped those nursing home deaths.
His messaging has been pure chaos. One week it's a hoax, the next its the flu, the next is a pandemic, the next is shut it down, the next is open by Easter, the next is miracle cures, the next is open up now....all in what, three months time?
He's been Tom Crean changing defenses five times on every possession.
During a crisis you need tough leadership and straight forward messaging to galvanize the country.
Again most crisises are a boom for incumbents as the country typically doesn't want to change leadership during one. Trump has been exploited with his 'you figure it out' strategy along with his back and forth stances.
Personally if we had president Tommycracker. In Jan when this this was breaking out I'm talking to European allies on what the f are you dealing with, gathering my team of experts and figuring out the game plan so I can best communicate the message.
Again the US was the last to get it. We had a preview of it unlike Europe and Asia, and we still have the worst numbers.
President Tommycracker comes out and shuts everything down, explains the sacrifice and that this threat is above party arguments and then I gather as much data as I can.
I want massive testing and to contact trace as much as possible to one try to identify where it's hiding and two to gather data.
I want to know is it really just a major issue for compromised people? What is the infection pattern? Does it spread the same indoor VS outdoor? I want to arm myself with data so I can open back up with a bundle of knowledge. Not because my poll numbers are dipping.
Lastly President Tommycracker takes the heat for shutting down. A shutdown only works if it's an all or nothing, not if MN does while Wisconsin doesn't (Wisconsin is twenty minutes from St. Paul). By not taking the heat Trump has just divided the nation even more. I make it known that I'm the one to be pissed with while explaining why I'm doing it.
This would lead to a galvanizing message against one common enemy...not this absolute cluster of different messages where no one believes anything.