Donald Trump was hardly unique in his unwillingness to take the virus seriously in its early days. What sets him apart is his actions after the severity of the crisis became obvious to everyone: his refusal to wear a mask; his demands to open up states that were not ready for it; his repeated efforts to downplay the issue; his indifference to the suffering caused by the virus; and his refusal to take responsibility for mitigation measures that were clearly within his jurisdiction. His failures caused tens, and possibly hundreds, of thousands of unnecessary deaths. He was judged harshly by the electorate for it, and justly so.
Now that he is out of office, the MSM are discovering that a number of very visible Democratic governors did not exactly cover themselves in glory, either. Their mistakes pale, both in terms of kind and degree, next to Trump’s. Will these news stories nonetheless have the effect of rehabilitating Trump, at least to a limited extent?
Unfortunately, the most likely answer to that question is yes. On a more positive note, Biden will not be impacted, as he bore no responsibility for the crisis before taking office. If he makes mistakes in office, and the pandemic gets worse, that is legitimately on him.