At a press conference at the White House Tuesday, President Trump began the almighty task of trying to erase his weeks-long record of downplaying the threat posed by the novel coronavirus, which causes the disease COVID-19. The United States had its first case in January, but up until this past Friday, Trump's public statements were primarily geared towards making the case there would be no major economic or social disruptions in American life as a result of the growing pandemic.

Trump said it was contained, that it would miraculously go away, that it would not rise from the level of 15 cases, that people were going to work while sick—no big deal. His clear public stance, echoed by his administration and conservative media, was that the threat was being blown out of proportion by Democrats and The Fake News Media. The official response reflected this, most prominently in the miserable American effort to get reliable and accessible test kits. The comparisons between the U.S. and other countries—most prominently South Korea, which had its first case one day before yet has proceeded to run hundreds of thousands more tests since—are not flattering. The president did not take this seriously enough, early enough.

Except on Tuesday, the president suddenly had a new line: "I've felt it was a pandemic before it was called a pandemic. All you had to do was look at other countries...I have always viewed it as very serious." This is simply an insane lie, an attempt to gaslight the country when there are mountains of video evidence suggesting the opposite.

The president's new focus and dedication, such as they are, should be welcomed. His previous record, however, should not be forgotten just because he lies about it very loudly, over and over again.

Jack Holmes Politics Editor Jack Holmes is the Politics Editor at Esquire, where he writes daily and edits the Politics Blog with Charles P Pierce.

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