Trump craves attention but avoids real leadership

As I've written before, Trump loves to have media and public attention on himself, but he doesn't generally know how to lead. So he'll say things like he has a wonderful healthcare plan when he doesn't even have an inkling of a plan. The words, soundbites, and coverage matter to him, not reality like an actual plan.

When it came to responding to the covid pandemic, Trump was true to his stunted form. He had no plan. But when governors started taking action, Trump jumped into the fray to grab the attention yet again. Now Trump is trying to monopolize the attention on an reopening plan. He probably barely has a clue on what it should be, but that matters less to him than the attention. So he claims that his 'authority is total' on Monday, and walks it back a bit on Tuesday. He tweets about 'Mutiny on the Bounty' regarding governors on Tuesday, and then it drops. He says he'll adjourn Congress on Wednesday, but that's more fluff. He may not remember a particular Supreme Court ruling, but I do.

(By the way, pushback from Fox on Trump's claim of total authority: minimal.)

The federal government is putting together a plan. Some of it leaked to the Washington Post, and it's rather bare bones. Information campaign through May 1, then focus on increasing manufacturing of testing kits and protective equipment through May 15, then phased start to reopening schools and childcare. I can't say I agree with that last one. I'd reopen adult venues first. They are easier to close if infections spike and cause less disruption to fewer people. Schools should be later in the reopening, in my opinion. I haven't seen any scientific reasoning to open schools earlier. The reasoning behind opening schools was to have childcare for workers who'd be getting back to work. But I'm concerned about schools being vectors for transmitting the virus.

Image: runnelscountyregister.com

Extras. Covid virus moves more readily in the air, up to 13 feet. And it coats lots of surfaces, like door knobs and the soles of people's shoes. It's all over hospitals, even in the pharmacy where no patients are. Trump of course continued his strategy of capturing the newscycle, often through outrageous tweets.

Update 4/29/20. What was Trump doing before he got serious about the epidemic? Leaving it to Jared Kushner, who is another person to make decisions based on instinct instead of information. Also, a political strategist says not to defend Trump over the covid issues, just bash China.