On Jan. 23, China suddenly shut down every highway, airport & rail line in the Wuhan region, quarantining more than 50 million people in a step WHO called "unprecedented in public health history."

At that point, all doubt was gone. China's earlier lies were exposed. We knew. 1/9

So yes, Trump can credibly blame China's lies and the WHO's ignorance for his inaction up to that date of Jan. 23. That's fair. But after that, after a siren that loud & obvious, it's on him, & it would be another seven weeks before he finally, grudgingly faced the truth. 2/9

We didn't use those seven weeks to restock masks, gowns and ventilators; we didn't use it to create and manufacture tests, or to educate the public. Trump used it to deny the science, to downplay the virus and to viciously mock and disparage those who tried to warn us. 3/9

His primary concern seemed to be to protect the stock market; he feared that preparing for a possible pandemic might endanger investor confidence and undermine his re-election narrative. So from Jan. 23 to March 16, the man was all bluebirds and sunshine. 4/9

That's the time we lost: Jan. 23-March 16. On the 16th, a glum Trump finally faces the nation and admits that hell is coming. By the 16th, the market had already collapsed, losing almost a third of its value. By 16th, tens of thousands of Americans were already doomed to die. 5/9

Yes, the virus was always coming. Nobody, not Trump or anybody else, could have stopped it; a lot of people were going to die. But we had ample time and warning to prepare, to significantly reduce the scale of death and economic disruption. We simply did not use it. 6/9

We did not, and we are not. The Trump White House still seems shell-shocked by what its own incompetence has wrought. It is devolving power to the states not out of some carefully thought-out strategy, but because its panicky helplessness has given it no other choice. 7/9

Think about it. When has Donald Trump ever been satisfied with being the "backup" anything? When has he ever seen a parade he did not demand to lead? Every president has a crisis, this one is his, and we've all witnessed him shrink from it rather than rise to it. 8/9

Oh, they bluster. They brag & bully. They announce plans, statements & task forces in hopes of creating the illusion of action, but we don't have the tests, we don't have the equipment, we don't have a strategy. It's almost 4 months from Jan. 23, & thousands more will die. 9/9