I seriously doubt Trump gave any consideration to the reaction of the Left.
The evidence that America was facing an endemic was piling up in February. The World Health Organization had declared a pandemic. The virus was in several dozen countries including the US and spreading daily. Medical supplies and equipment such as reagents for test kits, protective gear for medical personnel, and ventilators were already back ordered.
The federal government needed to respond and respond rapidly, but Trump needed time to shift his message from "it's under control", "just the common flu", and a "democrat hoax" to a national emergency. Unfortunately, the time it took Trump to shift gears allowed the virus to spread across the country and for new cases to enter from abroad .
What should have been an orderly implementation of an epidemic management plan became a chaotic exercise in planning as you go with false starts and reverses, and constant fighting over whose responsible for what and scapegoating. America had become an example to the world in how not to manage and epidemic.
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