He handled it poorly on purpose in an attempt to hurt Democrats, and politicized it at every point to try and rile up his base.
Exactly this. He saw that COVID was hitting New York hard and decided to not do anything because New York didn’t vote for him. As it hit blue states (which were more urban) hard and didn’t hit rural red states as badly, he refused to use federal funds to buy needed PPE. Blue states bought their own PPE with their own money and Trump had it confiscated to be redistributed to red states. It got so bad that some states had to sneak PPE in during the middle of the night as if they were smuggling in drugs.
Trump tried to hurt blue states for not voting for him. He was willing to let people die because they didn’t support him politically.
Given everything else he did and how presidents are given so much leeway with their actions, I doubt he’ll ever be found criminally liable, but he absolutely is responsible for many, many deaths.
Exactly this. He saw that COVID was hitting New York hard and decided to not do anything because New York didn’t vote for him. As it hit blue states (which were more urban) hard and didn’t hit rural red states as badly, he refused to use federal funds to buy needed PPE. Blue states bought their own PPE with their own money and Trump had it confiscated to be redistributed to red states. It got so bad that some states had to sneak PPE in during the middle of the night as if they were smuggling in drugs.
Trump tried to hurt blue states for not voting for him. He was willing to let people die because they didn’t support him politically.
Given everything else he did and how presidents are given so much leeway with their actions, I doubt he’ll ever be found criminally liable, but he absolutely is responsible for many, many deaths.