Trump says he took ‘strong action’? in February to stop Coronavirus.

As millions of Americans begin their second month under lockdown, President Donald Trump is rewriting the history of his coronavirus response. In doing so, he is giving the public an inaccurate and cherry-picked retelling of what he did in the pivotal early months.

As part of this effort, during Monday’s daily coronavirus briefing, the White House played a propaganda video describing Trump’s “decisive actions” to deal with the pandemic. After facing questions about why the video omitted nearly the entire month of February, the White House followed up on Tuesday with a series of talking points about his “strong action” during that month.

February was a crucial time. The focus was on China, but public health authorities were warning the pandemic would reach the US with vigor. The US government started taking action, but Trump was out of step with the science and downplayed the threat. Had he acknowledged the severity earlier and acted accordingly, experts say, some of the worst could have been avoided.

Ignoring Trump’s denialism, the White House tries to portray him as a strong leader who saved lives. But its timeline is mostly full of press releases about plans and a list of conversations among politicians – heavy on talk, with little immediate action. This narrative excludes critical context and glosses over some key failures from the administration’s fumbling response.