gift to him had he not acted like a total fucking moron. National crises generally provide political bumps. After 9/11, Bush's job approval rating surged to 90%. Even a year later, it was still between 65-70%.

All Trump had to do was show some calm, steady leadership, reassure the American people that the government is doing everything it can, but also encourage everyone to do their part... wear a mask, maintain social distancing, but continue on with life, while doing so responsibly. Then let the experts do most of the talking. That's it. It's what Desantis did, and he came off looking pretty good. Sure, lefties still tried to "get him", but it didn't work. His popularity rating remained strong.

Instead Trump lied about covid, said it's no big deal, it's a hoax, it's just like the flu, it will magically disappear, held superspreader events himself, pushed unproven and later disproven treatments, rambled incoherently about injecting disinfectants at press conferences, and then explained it away that he was just "being sarcastic". People don't like having incompetent, lying morons in charge during national crises (shocking). Trump has no one to blame but himself.