President Trump's and the GOP's response to the novel coronavirus has been disastrous.

Downplaying the virus has led to Republican voters taking the disease less seriously.

This disaster underscores the problems with the Trump era.

Michael Gordon is a longtime Democratic strategist, a former spokesperson for the Justice Department, and the principal for the strategic-communications firm Group Gordon.

This is an opinion column. The thoughts expressed are those of the author.

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Earlier this month, during a House vote on the coronavirus response, Rep. Matt Gaetz wore a gas mask. By donning a showboat helmet, Gaetz punctuated President Trump's and the GOP chorus' position that the virus was not serious. Indeed, his wearing of the gas mask was to protect himself from the Republican gaslighting of America.

We should know now that the virus is no joke, and we should have known then. Tragically, one of the first deaths in the US was an elderly man living in Gaetz's own House district.

The disadvantage of no shame

From the beginning, Trump's patented short-termism devalued the virus. Instead of preparing the country, he was perfecting his spin, wishing the pathogen away with his words in the hopes that the public health and economic impact would not sink his reelection.

As is the state of our politics, there was a machine of right-wing media all too eager to go along with the President's downplaying of the emerging health crisis.

While the virus began to spread, so too did dangerous statements from the loudest voices in the pro-Trump cheering section. Radio host Rush Limbaugh likened the virus to the common cold and claimed incorrectly that it is less deadly than the flu. Fox Business' Trish Regan denounced it as a "scam," and Fox News host Laura Ingraham urged her audience to ignore the "left's coronavirus fearmongering."

To help Trump politically, right-wing media outlets were downplaying the coronavirus and not helping their followers stay healthy. In other words, they would rather protect the President's position than protect your health.

There's polling that shows that Republicans are less likely to believe that the virus is a threat, even though the average GOP voter skews older and is more at risk. Twice as many Republicans as Democrats think the concern is exaggerated. If Republicans don't believe the potential for a virus because of the media they consume, they can't prepare for when it stands on their corner.

I want my family in red America, my friends who love this President, my compatriots who rely on right-wing media to be just as prepared, just as sober about the percolating contagion as the rest of us. All of us in every Pantone of the political landscape should be over-prepared, not underwhelmed. Starting where the buck stops, we should be doing everything we can to minimize the death toll in this country.

The metaphor for our times

It took weeks and a failed statement to the union before Trump was able to address the most critical shortcoming of the public health response: our profound lack of testing. And despite a long press conference on Friday, he also has failed to let us in on what seems like a non-strategy in the event of a surge in Americans needing hospitalization. Instead, he has focused on his supposed "great" response with a tone and demeanor that gave up the truth.

Investors can see through the Republican spin zone. The stock market has been in free fall because investors know that Trump is all show, no substance. What the country needs is all substance, no show.

While some on the right, very recently, broke out of their cocoon and criticized both the President and his brethren, some still need to trumpet the President for political profit.

Red America, this is the perfect analogy for the life we are sharing. Crisis brings clarity. Tragedy begets transition.

The coronavirus has launched a naked spotlight onto the inadequacies of this President and his descendants, but the shadows were always there. This is not the first time that Trump has tried to fool some people all of the time. His betrayal about the seriousness of the issue and the unserious response is the most clarifying, and it is not just metaphorically dangerous.

Michael Gordon has a long history in Democratic politics and communications strategy. He worked in the Clinton White House and as a spokesperson for the Clinton Justice Department. He also has served on multiple national, state, and local campaigns.