People were metaphorically shouting from the mountaintops about the consequences of a Trump presidency.
- We knew about Trump's racist and anti-immigrant rhetoric, and people were told what the likely consequences would be.
- We knew about Trump effectively ending the pandemic response team long before COVID-19 hit, and people were told what the possible consequences would be.
- We knew that Trump said and did things like a despot-wannabe, we knew Trump was already calling the 2016 election a fraud if he lost, and he suggested that people who embrace the Second Amendment were the only ones who could take the country back from the election fraud if Clinton won.
- We knew Trump was calling the 2020 election a fraud long before the election took place, and people were told what the consequences would likely be.
Don't act like the consequences of a Trump presidency were unknown. You were told. Everyone was told. What you're doing is gaslighting.
There was no evidence that Clinton was anywhere as bad as Trump. Sure, Clinton wasn't my first choice (nor my second, nor my third), and there are plenty of criticisms of Clinton to go around (and I'd probably agree with most of them), but there was ample evidence that she would have been a decent president, and there was no evidence she would have been nearly as bad as Trump.
You are right that it would be unfair to say 100% of the American COVID-19 deaths are Trump's fault. It is fair to say, however, that many of those death's are Trump's fault. From a post I made back in October:
Trump's initial failures include, but aren't limited to:
- Effectively ending the pandemic response team a year or two before the pandemic hit
- Downplaying risks by saying publicly that COVID-19 was not a big deal and nobody should be worried <-- We know that this alone contributed and continues to contribute to increased infection rates
- The lack of a federal response to address a lack of testing
- The lack of a federal response to address a lack of PPE
- A lack of a federal response to address social distancing
- Encouraging states and municipalities to reopen too quickly
- Encouraging states and municipalities not to shutdown at all
- A failure to address needed financial stimulus aside from the initial round (January update: We got a second round of $600. Whoa buddy, don't spend it all in one place).
- Continuing to this day to peddle misinformation about masks, suggesting they cause one to be more likely to catch COVID-19
- Suggesting disinfectant in the lungs can be an effective treatment against COVID-19
- Continuing to this day to hold super spreader rallies with no social distancing and few masks, inside and outside
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trump_administration_communication_during_the_COVID-19_pandemic
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._federal_government_response_to_the_COVID-19_pandemic
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veracity_of_statements_by_Donald_Trump#COVID-19_pandemic
No, we wouldn't have had zero COVID-19 deaths if Clinton had been elected president. Based on other countries with comparable population densities who enacted policies that Clinton was advocating from the sidelines, the COVID-19 deaths in the United States could have been hundreds of thousands less than what it was.