I hate to be in the position of defending Trump. He was the reason I left the Republican Party in 2016 (granted, I was a nominally registered Republican) after he clinched the GOP nomination. I have directly contradicted over a dozen of his tweets and have written hundreds of critical tweets, dozens of critical blog posts. I have supported both of his impeachments and subsequent trial convictions.
I've made it clear I've been highly critical of the imperial Presidency, which I find anti-Constitutional. Trump was always claiming he had powers he didn't have and certainly pushed the limits of his expansive view of his powers, adapting Obama's infamous pen and phone. He notably took credit for the "greatest economy" in American history, arguing lowest unemployment figures for minority groups, among other things. Was it? Nope. Not even close. He never achieved 3+% GDP growth, our long-term trend, even for one full year. Did he help improve the economy over Obama? Probably. He inherited globally high, noncompetitive business tax rates. Business regulations and related economic uncertainty were near an all-time higher under Obama. But his rejection of TPP, trade wars, economic sanctions, massive deficits, and anti-immigrant policies had anti-growth effects, so it's a mixed bag. As for unemployment numbers, keep in mind cited numbers are based on the arbitrary definition of the labor force (long-term unemployed are not counted).
So what set off this rant? One progressive Twitter user too many who continues to charge each COVID-19 death in the US to Trump. I rebuked the trend, and of course it was inevitable that some troll responded; and of course, it's annoying to see in my notification feed other progressives pile on with their engagements (likes and retweets) for the troll's nonsense. I initially responded to it, but figured it would probably trigger Twitter Mommy and deleted it.
Let's be clear. I've been highly critical of Trump's leadership during the crisis. The CDC initially stumbled out of the gate on COVID-19 tests. Trump clearly didn't understand the importance of testing in terms of trying to contain the pandemic; in fact, he seemed to think that testing made the pandemic seem worse than it was and discouraged testing. He seemed to be impatient and impulsive, demanding that churches reopen for Easter, threatening to cut off federal funding for schools if they didn't reopen for in-person instruction, etc. Trump was constantly using COVID-19 pressers for self-promotion, including the infamous one where he suggested developing drugs that could work like disinfectants on COVID-19. He targeted Dr. Fauci and others, suggesting he might fire Fauci after the election. He sent mixed messages (not practicing what was preached) on mask-wearing and social distancing. He had been openly critical of lockdown policies. His travel bans had double standards (for returning US travelers) and initially focused on China, even as COVID-19 was spreading through Europe.
But does Trump deserve blame for the pandemic? Consider up to 42000 people a year die from vaccine-preventable and up to 40% of deaths from the 5 leading causes of death are premature. To what extent does any POTUS deserve blame for those? We don't even know when or how the original US infections incurred, and it took weeks for the first reliable tests to be available (in short supply). For the record, despite mixed messages, Trump did endorse the mantra of masking, social distancing and personal hygiene. It's not like Trump was responsible for policies like Nursing Home Killer Cuomo. Aren't Americans responsible for their own health compliance decisions?
Yes, it's tragic over 400,000 Americans have died from COVID-19. But let's stop scapegoating politicians for matters beyond their own control.
