In both countries, people who usually support the leader may not be as willing to do so when their own well-being is on the line. And in both countries, the leaders’ instincts conflict with the best practices of virus response.

As Ashley Parker and Philip Rucker of The Washington Post write:

With the first case of coronavirus not tied to foreign travel being announced in California on Wednesday, Trump finds himself grappling with a crisis for which his record suggests he is particularly ­ill-suited to respond. At a moment that demands sobriety and honesty, Trump is a leader prone to hyperbole and falsehoods. As the financial markets and the public crave order and clarity, Trump has a penchant for creating chaos and confusion. And at a time when expertise is paramount, Trump has hollowed out the government agencies responsible for the tasks at hand.

Peter Nicholas writing last week in The Atlantic:

Trump insists on being the protagonist in every drama. He wants to promote the idea that everything on his watch is improving. Virology isn’t politics, though. Tweets don’t beget vaccines. Following his instincts in the face of an outbreak that has left the world on edge risks making things worse.

And my colleague Paul Krugman writes: “Maybe Trump — and America — will be lucky, and this won’t be as bad as it might be. But anyone feeling confident right now isn’t paying attention.”

If you want to understand the basics of the virus itself, yesterday’s episode of “The Daily” offered an excellent explanation.

The mayors’ race

There are no more governors or former governors left in the presidential race. But there are three former mayors: Bernie Sanders, Pete Buttigieg and Michael Bloomberg. In a new book, Rahm Emanuel — a former White House chief of staff and mayor of Chicago — argues that the new political prominence of mayors is no coincidence.

Much of government seems broken today, Emanuel writes in “The Nation City: Why Mayors Are Now Running the World.” But city governments are not. They are, by necessity, “immediate, intimate and impactful,” dealing with the issues that affect people every day, like education, crime, snow removal and public parks.