A day after he addressed the nation in a more somber tone that many Americans welcomed, Trump was back to being Trump.

“This is a pandemic, I’ve felt it was a pandemic long before it was called a pandemic,” US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday. “I’ve always viewed it as very serious, there was no difference yesterday from days before.”

It was the same man who tweeted on February 24 that “The Coronavirus is very much under control in the USA” and said on February 26 that “the risk to the American people remains very low” and said “it’s going to disappear” on February 26 and “we’re prepared, and we’re doing a great job with it. And it will go away” on March 10. 

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A day after he addressed the nation in a new, more sombre tone that many Americans grappling with a new reality welcomed, Trump was back to being Trump.

He took to Twitter to lash out at Michigan’s Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer for saying governors should work through their own supply chains to get ventilators and other needed medical equipment instead of relying on the federal government to get it for them.

Trump’s echo chamber in the right-wing media was right there with him. Fox News hosts who had previously derided the media as “panic pushers” engaged in “yet another attempt to impeach the president” were praising Trump’s handling of a “sobering and scary” crisis.

On his favourite morning show on Tuesday, Fox & Friends, the hosts were even socially distancing themselves six feet apart on set instead of snuggling on the so-called “curvy couch”.

“We have a responsibility to slow down this virus and to think of other people during this time,” said host Ainsley Earhardt. “And so, if you can keep your distance and prevent someone from getting close to you that might be sick, you can save your family, you can save the elderly and help our country as a nation.”

Trump’s change in tone came following a series of alarming briefings with dire projections about how many Americans could be infected if drastic action is not taken. But he also heard from Republican allies – including some on Capitol Hill – who urged him to alter course, fearing that earlier missteps may be eroding his reelection chances in November.

Those supporters are apparently so concerned that they took the dramatic step this week of reaching out to sitting Republican-appointed federal judges and told them that if they were planning on retiring, doing so sooner rather than later – before a change in administration or election that leads to Republicans losing control of the US Senate that confirms those judges – would be advisable.

Few expected Trump’s more measured approach to last, but some were surprised it was so short-lived and said it failed to erase the ill will generated over the previous weeks.

“I’m not sure a change in tone makes up for a kind of complete lack of leadership that the country has seen in the first few weeks of this crisis,” Princeton University presidential historian Julian Zelizer told The Associated Press news agency.

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