Like everyone else, I've taken to grading Trump's job performance on a curve. Although my curve is not as absurdly lenient as that of right-wingers, if Trump doesn't obviously screw the pooch, I can live with it.
So when Fauci delivered the good news that we're projected to see 60,000 dead Americans from Covid-19 rather than the 100,000-240,000 dead Americans originally projected, I cheered. Like any patriotic American would.
And while Trump, true to form, continues to lash out at the press for no reason at his conferences, I also noted that Trump and Fauci hadn't been seen arguing in public in over a week. While Trump himself couldn't bother himself to don a face-mask, he at least sorta-kinda acknowledged that wearing one might be a good idea. And while Trump has repeatedly hinted at re-opening the country on a very aggressive timeline, he at least implicitly acknowledges that social distancing is working for now.
I made a few memes like these tentatively expressing support for Trump Administration's new response which had apparently changed course from the near-total denialism and deflection that we'd seen earlier.
Then Fauci over the weekend, being asked about a NYT article on the early Covid-19 response, went on to say that even *more* lives could have been saved had we acted earlier. Which is obviously true.
Fauci's criticism and implicit confirmation of the NYT reporting was very soft-pedaled and didn't even call out Trump by name, but the right-wing mediaverse still interpreted it as an attack. And Trump himself retweeted the above nonsense on Sunday. On Monday afternoon, a paid spokesman of Trump by the name Hogan Gidley went on to clarify that Fauci was *not* being fired. Exactly the kind of statement organizations are forced to put out when such questions are lingering in the air!
Jesus.
These hardcore Trumpists aren't looking at the facts of this situation on the ground, even as thousands of Americans are dying. They only care about the narrative to the extent it could impact Trump's re-election chances.
So whether Trump is just feeding his base right now or legitimately is mulling over firing Fauci, it's not the leadership we need. Vote him out.
Caption this Meme 