The question of who’s to blame for the mess we’re in with coronavirus is not a fun one. It’s clear that the U.S. response has been pretty terrible on a number of fronts: the testing component has been a disaster, as has the lack of preparation regarding medical equipment, from personal protecting gear to ventilators. And then there’s the president, who’s public statements have mostly been erratic. 

As Tom Edsall wrote in the New York Times, Trump "has lurched from complete denial (“One day, it’s like a miracle, it will disappear”) to “I am not responsible” to “We’re doing a great job” to “It’s going to disappear” to “It will go away” to awarding himself a 10 out of 10 to calling the unavailable tests “PERFECT” to claiming “We have it very well under control” to setting Easter, April 12, as the date to reopen the country “a beautiful time, a beautiful timeline” to boasting of high ratings as death projections soared. On Tuesday, Trump seemed to have come to his senses, at least for now: “This is going to be a very painful, very, very painful two weeks.”

But the question of how to critique the president is delicate. The instinct for everyone to row in the same direction at this moment of crisis is strong and understandable. At times of emergency, Americans often rally to the president. And that’s reflected in the fact that Trump’s approval rating has risen recently. 

However, compared to leaders of other countries, the bump in Trump’s approval rating is pretty small: 5 points compared to increases of 18 to 29 points for the leaders of Germany, Canada, Australia and Britain. 

We’ve begun to see political ads criticizing the president’s response, and that struck me as a rather delicate maneuver. So I spoke with Guy Cecil, who runs Priorities USA, one of the most influential Democratic super PAC’s in the country. They spent $190 million in the 2016 presidential election and over the past week spent $7.5 million to run ads critical of the president’s response to the pandemic in five key states that will likely decide the 2020 election: Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Florida, and...

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