WaPo: The lost days of summer: How Trump fell short in containing the virus

[TomCADem]

This is what happens when you have federal policy guided by the principle of narcissism where the object is not to protect and serve the people, but to push pro-Trump talking points that have no basis in reality.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/the-lost-days-of-summer-how-trump-fell-short-in-containing-the-virus/ar-BB17JUM2?li=BBnb7Kz

As the White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows is responsible for coordinating the vast executive branch, including its coronavirus response. But in closed-door meetings, he has revealed his skepticism of the two physicians guiding the anti-pandemic effort, Deborah Birx and Anthony S. Fauci, routinely questioning their expertise, according to senior administration officials and other people briefed on the internal discussions.

Meadows no longer holds a daily 8 a.m. meeting that includes health professionals to discuss the raging pandemic. Instead, aides said, he huddles in the mornings with a half-dozen politically oriented aides — and when the virus comes up, their focus is more on how to convince the public that President Trump has the crisis under control, rather than on methodically planning ways to contain it.

During coronavirus meetings, Meadows has repeatedly questioned the scientific consensus that wearing masks helps contain the spread of the novel coronavirus, officials said. He has regularly raised with Fauci and others a range of issues on which he thinks Fauci has been wrong, and he personally monitors the infectious-disease expert’s media appearances. When he catches Fauci sounding out of sync with Trump, the chief of staff admonishes the doctor to “stay on message,” officials said — and he has impressed upon Fauci, Birx and other public health professionals that they should not opine on restrictions or make policy in the media.

* * *
If the administration’s initial response to the coronavirus was denial, its failure to control the pandemic since then was driven by dysfunction and resulted in a lost summer, according to the portrait that emerges from interviews with 41 senior administration officials and other people directly involved in or briefed on the response efforts. Many of them spoke only on the condition of anonymity to reveal confidential discussions or to offer candid assessments without retribution.

[gratuitous]

1. "Fell short" implies there was some kind of effort expended

Maybe the Post sees something out of the White House that no one can discern.

[choie]

2. "fell short"

that may be the most profound understatement this year..

[Andy823]

3. This pretty much says it all

"Convince the public that President Trump has the crisis under control, rather than on methodically planning ways to contain it."

So that means lying your ass off to the public? I thought George W. was bad, but trump makes Bush look competent, or at leas half way competent. The WH should never have to lie to "convince" the public the president has things under control. It's pretty obvious he has "nothing" under control!