I'm really, really not trying to sound like a lib here. I'm aware that a hypothetical Hillary/Bernie/Jeb/Biden in his position wouldn't have changed the fact that America was fundamentally unprepared for a global health crisis. That is because of decades (centuries?) of policy and administration.

But I think it's pretty fucking obvious that having a President in office who wasn't actively peddling conspiracy theories would have led to fewer deaths. How many fewer? I don't know. Would somebody else (possibly a failed Trump with his own media network in this scenario) have taken up the anti-covid shit? Of course, it's AMerica. Governors would resist or be inadequate. But the head of the federal government and the loudest mouthpiece in America fought coronavirus regulations at basically every step. Of course it was worse with Trump.