ABSTRACT
Donald Trump’s performance of the COVID-19 crisis in the US was laden with populist scapegoating, polarization, and disdain for expertise, but it engendered institutional paralysis, not bold and decisive action. Rather than mobilizing state resources and “the people” to address a public health emergency, Trump downplayed the threat of the virus, defied scientific and medical recommendations for testing, mask-wearing, and social distancing measures, abdicated responsibility to subnational authorities to contain the virus, and politicized their responses. Lockdown measures or the lack thereof turned into markers of political identity that polarized American society and blocked a coherent national response.
