President Trump’s coronavirus response has been one marked by an inordinate balance between credit-seeking and empathy. A Washington Post review last month of his coronavirus task force briefings showed Trump spent 10 times more time praising himself and his administration (45 minutes out of 13 hours) for its response than expressing condolences to victims (4 ½ minutes). And he spent even more time attacking and blaming others (two hours).
On Friday, Trump seemed to try to rectify this, to some degree. In a tweet, he announced that flags would be flown at half-staff over the next three days “in memory of the Americans we have lost to the CoronaVirus.”<
Donald J. Trump
✔@realDonaldTrump
I will be lowering the flags on all Federal Buildings and National Monuments to half-staff over the next three days in memory of the Americans we have lost to the CoronaVirus….
It’s clearly something he needs to work on — and something that could prove an electoral liability. Continue reading.