Flashback to March 19, 2020. . .
https://time.com/5806657/donal...ronavirus-war-china/
Covid-19 was beginning to spread, the impeachment trial had recently ended, and Trump now had a golden opportunity to change the subject and lead the country's fight against this "invisible enemy," a lowly virus! Despite wasting over a month piddling around, reassuring us it was all under control, downplaying the seriousness, it seemed he was going to step up and do something.

The travel ban on China was helpful, but the "front door" to the country was wide open on the East Coast, which got creamed with the virus. Eventually, travel from Europe was banned, too. But neither was a complete ban, and the virus was already here, partying with Mardi-Gras folk, spreading in Washington, CA and other states.

Since March 19, however, Trump's whole focus has been vaccine development and treatment -- funding companies who can get this out soon. Very good, too. That will be the "end game."

BUT -- what Trump DID NOT DO was protect America's vulnerable as we wait for a vaccine! He -
- never encouraged mask-wearing,
- never wore one himself,
- scoffed at social distancing,
- pushed against CDC guidelines for re-opening,
- ridiculed people who wore masks,
- undermined medical experts,
- convened huge crowds without masks and distancing,
- spewed misinformation about the danger of the virus,
- promoted ineffective medications,
- and never promoted any kind of national policies for safety to the American people.
He could have emphasized mask-wearing as patriotic, backed up the experts, encouraged safe re-openings, but he did not do so. All he wanted, it seemed, was his "beautiful economy" to sprout up quickly, never mind how many got killed in the process.
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/10/3...researchers-say.html

This was a missed opportunity for Trump, who could never become leader we needed during this time.
- All terribly consequential for so many thousands and their families who experienced death because of Trump's negligence.
- You'd never know the U.S. is supposed to be a "first-world" nation.

If Trump loses the election, this will be the primary reason, and it will not be the fault of the media. He will be reaping the consequences of his narcissism and incompetence.

Trump's typical response to a rival is to try to brand him/her through lies and spin, using his friends in right-wing media to assist. It's just how he does things, and it's been no different with Covid-19. The problem for him, however, is the virus doesn't care what he thinks -- nor anyone else, for that matter. It operates in a realm of lawfulness that transcends reality TV, which is where Trump's mind seems to be centered.

Another thing to note is the complete lack of empathy and compassion with which Trump approaches this topic. One would never know that he himself had contracted the virus, and it was a rather serious infection, judging from the regimen of interventions he received for days in the hospital with doctors and nurses looking after him 24 hours a day. Instead of coming out humbled and then re-focusing his approach, he noted how he'd never felt better and basically told Americans this was nothing to fear -- no big deal, really.

Every day for weeks now, our "wartime President" has presided over a regime that allows thousands of civilians to be infected each day, with hundreds of losses. For the past few days, we've had over 80,000 infections with around 1,000 losses per day. His son, Donald, Jr., stupidly stated on Fox News that there were virtually no deaths per day now, and went unchallenged.
https://www.politifact.com/fac...-deaths-almost-noth/

To make matters even worse, Trump falsely states that Covid deaths are inflated because doctors make more money if a death is linked to Covid-19.
https://www.usatoday.com/story...covid-19/6101540002/

The fact-checks won't matter to Trump supporters, however, who only consider such to be "Fake News."

But, again, the real clue as to Trump's surrender to the virus is in his unwillingness to acknowledge the losses. These people died horrible deaths, mostly alone, and families were unable to even have a decent funeral for them.
- All on his watch!

As of this writing, Trump has lost the election, but refuses to concede.

Covid-19 rages, with over 200,000 new cases a day now and around 2,000 deaths.

Trump has no comment, but has confined himself to spreading misinformation about the integrity of America's election process while attempting to overturn vote counts in several pivotal states.

So it goes in the USA!