> We likely would have saved tens if not hundreds of thousands of lives had we come out with a unified message asking people to not participate in high density

> We likely would have saved tens if not hundreds of thousands of lives had we come out with a unified message asking people to not participate in high density activities (subway, etc.) because this new virus spread quickly This is not at all what Trump was trying to do behind closed doors. He’s on tape speaking to Bob Woodward at the time about his strategy. “Play it down” was what he wanted to do. When the Democrats made even small suggestions about needing to make stronger action, he sent his chief of staff out to accuse them of wanting to shut down the country to destroy the economy and ruin his re-election. This is all on tape. Yes, Trump approved the relatively weak travel ban proposed by his staff like Fauci. He then spent a month saying everything was fine and attacking anyone who warned of danger. When a CDC official went off message on Feb 24 to suggest that disruption to public life might happen, they were immediately removed from public communication by Trump who was still in denial. https://www.businessinsider.com/cdc-official-warned-us-coronavirus-was-silenced-documentary-2020-10?op=1 https://www.businessinsider.com/cdc-official-warned-us-coron...