https://brownstone.org/articles/was-trump-tricked-into-lockdown-or-not/
That goal of minimization of even elimination was the unquestioned presumption going into this weekend three years ago. The little junta of fools gathered around Trump explained that the reduction of cases was the desiderata on which he should be focused. Xi Jinping locked down and defeated the bug. Trump was at least as good and wonderful as the head of China so he should do the same, or so he believed or so he was convinced..
Trump, known to be a germaphobe and believing strongly in his own prowess, agreed and bought the idea that he could shut down society for two weeks and then turn it on again. His advisers convinced him that this was the right and brave decision to make. After which, he would be celebrated as a great hero.
There is every evidence that he believed this. “If everyone makes this change or these critical changes and sacrifices now,” Trump said at his March 16 presser, “we will rally together as one nation and we will defeat the virus and we’re going to have a big celebration together.”
That perfectly positioned his advisors to come back in two weeks with good news and bad news. The good news is that we are making progress. The bad news is that if he opens now, cases will go up and that will make him a liar. That’s why we need another 30 days, they told him. He approved that. And so on it went until the vaccine was made available. In the meantime, Trump himself lost control and was eventually booted from office.
In this scenario, Trump is the dupe, a man convinced to destroy the America that he promised to make great. Instead, he wrecked it. The fault lies entirely with the bad advisors Fauci, Birx, Kushner, Pence, and Gottlieb. And that is a compelling version of events. Trump was tricked!