His brain can’t process any scenario as anything other than immediately transactional. Rather than actually doing the job and protecting all Americans, he found it more beneficial to separate his supporters, rally them around a cause, and bank on that base sweeping him to reelection. He was also terrified about what shutdowns would do to the economy which was about the only feather he had left in his cap.

If he could’ve taken the time and energy to see more than 3 inches in front of his face, he would’ve seen the value in not fucking up the covid response and using temporary shutdowns to gain a foothold against the virus until testing and tracing efforts were improved/standardized.

Donald Trump was about the worst possible leader to have in this crisis. You can’t bully your way out of a pandemic. You can’t shift blame your way around a virus. A total failure of leadership.