[terry]

I would agree with your opinion that our president made it worse. How much worse is in most ways also hypothetical IMO. What I think we can say for sure is that the president did not present a picture of a competent leader. Disagreeing with his own experts is a horrible message to send to the population. Under other presidents, that wouldn't have happened. That is not because the president always agreed with the experts, but rather because  they would mutually agree upon and stay on message. While that would make us all feel much better (i.e. we are competently led), it may or may not result in markedly better outcomes.
If POTUS was more competent his "point of view" (whatever it actually is) might have prevailed to a larger extent than it has. Thank goodness that was not the case. If the POTUS was a stronger leader in a particular direction, would the state governors have behaved differently? That is hypothetical too, but IMO it would not have changed their actions significantly. Serious mistakes have been made (and continue to be made) by governors of both parties. Both Cuomo and Newsom have done things that I believe were errors, and certainly they weren't following Trump. Abbott and DeSantis may have been, but there is plenty of evidence these guys were "that way" without any help. Ducey supposedly saw himself as the "next Trump", so there may be some traction there. OTOH if that's how you see yourself, things may not go well anyway.

I believe Trump has quite a lot of influence. Trump has almost total control over the Republican party and he has tremendous influence over as much as 40% of the public. Trump has forced Republican officials to bend to his will on issue after issue, and he has turned the opinions of his voting base in whatever direction he chooses. Anyone in the party who tries cross Trump pays the consequences. Few are willing to try. 

If Trump had taken the pandemic seriously from the outset instead of denying and minimizing it, if he had supported tough lockdowns instead of actively undermining lockdowns, if he had supported mask-wearing instead of characterizing mask-wearing as a token of opposition to him, and so forth, then I think almost all of his party and his base would have followed him. Republican governors would have acted more quickly and more aggressively. Vocal GOP minorities in blue states would not have applied so much pressure on Democratic governors to re-open so quickly. I think we all would be better off.

[terry]

I would agree with your opinion that our president made it worse. How much worse is in most ways also hypothetical IMO. What I think we can say for sure is that the president did not present a picture of a competent leader. Disagreeing with his own experts is a horrible message to send to the population. Under other presidents, that wouldn't have happened. That is not because the president always agreed with the experts, but rather because  they would mutually agree upon and stay on message. While that would make us all feel much better (i.e. we are competently led), it may or may not result in markedly better outcomes.
If POTUS was more competent his "point of view" (whatever it actually is) might have prevailed to a larger extent than it has. Thank goodness that was not the case. If the POTUS was a stronger leader in a particular direction, would the state governors have behaved differently? That is hypothetical too, but IMO it would not have changed their actions significantly. Serious mistakes have been made (and continue to be made) by governors of both parties. Both Cuomo and Newsom have done things that I believe were errors, and certainly they weren't following Trump. Abbott and DeSantis may have been, but there is plenty of evidence these guys were "that way" without any help. Ducey supposedly saw himself as the "next Trump", so there may be some traction there. OTOH if that's how you see yourself, things may not go well anyway.

I believe Trump has quite a lot of influence. Trump has almost total control over the Republican party and he has tremendous influence over as much as 40% of the public. Trump has forced Republican officials to bend to his will on issue after issue, and he has turned the opinions of his voting base in whatever direction he chooses. Anyone in the party who tries cross Trump pays the consequences. Few are willing to try. 

If Trump had taken the pandemic seriously from the outset instead of denying and minimizing it, if he had supported tough lockdowns instead of actively undermining lockdowns, if he had supported mask-wearing instead of characterizing mask-wearing as a token of opposition to him, and so forth, then I think almost all of his party and his base would have followed him. Republican governors would have acted more quickly and more aggressively. Vocal GOP minorities in blue states would not have applied so much pressure on Democratic governors to re-open so quickly. I think we all would be better off.