At his lengthy, daily briefings, US President Donald Trump has kept struggling to answer variations of a simple question:

Why didn't he warn Americans about COVID-19 or demand the introduction of social distancing across the United States in February or early March, when the coronavirus began running rampant here?

If Trump's in a good mood, he avoids the topic or pats himself on the back for announcing travel restrictions on China in January.

If he's not, he attacks or tries to belittle the questioner. Yesterday, it was a CBS reporter.

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The confrontations resemble reality TV, the sort his staunchest supporters would cheer.

But the bluff and bluster don't hide the fact the White House still doesn't have a consistent explanation for why it dropped the ball so badly early on — a failure which has contributed to the US becoming the epicentre of the pandemic.

Some demonstrators used a cardboard cut-out of the US President at their rally. Donald Trump has tweeted that several states, including Michigan, Minnesota, and Virginia, should "liberate" themselves, inspiring protests. ( Reuters: Mike Blake )

The President needs new villains

With an election less than seven months away, Trump's opponents smell blood and continue to promote social media videos attacking the Commander-in-Chief's handling of the crisis.

They feature clips of him suggesting the virus is a "hoax" or like "the flu".

Trump's plans to run for a second term on a strong economy are in ruins and his Democratic opponent Joe Biden, who is getting very little airtime, leads him in most polls.

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So, as the death toll soars past 42,000 and the pressure on his administration grows, Trump's doing what he always does when he's in a tight spot, desperately looking for new scapegoats to take at least some of the blame.

Protests a welcome distraction

In recent days, the President has repeatedly endorsed a series of mostly small anti-lockdown protests, ensuring they have captured a disproportionate amount of media attention.

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In a tweet-storm on Friday (local time), he suggested three Democratic-led states needed to be liberated, as though they were held by the enemy.

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"These people love our country. They want to get back to work," Mr Trump said of the demonstrators, who were in some instances clearly breaking stay-at-home orders that are currently recommended by his own top health advisers.

The events are well organised, look co-ordinated and several of the participants seem to be right-wing activists.

Small groups of protesters gathered in several US states, demanding businesses reopen and questioning coronavirus containment measures. ( Reuters: Lindsey Wasson )

US media reports state some of the demonstrations have been promoted on Facebook by pro-gun provocateurs and many comparisons have been made with the early days of the conservative Tea Party movement, which formed in part to protest government bailouts during the last financial crisis.

Governors critical of the President's statements

Trump's backing of these anti-establishment protests is not hugely surprising.

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer was the target of "lock her up" chants from protesters demanding she drop social-distancing measures. ( Reuters: Jeff Kowalsky )

He's been chomping at the bit from the start to reopen the nation and his comments are part of a clear strategy to make state governors, not him, take most of the political heat as millions continue to file for unemployment benefits.

But polling suggests the activists are only representative of a small minority of voters right now. A recent Pew Research survey found two thirds of Americans are more worried the economy will be opened up too quickly.

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Also, many governors have seen their approval ratings soar during this crisis and several, including Republicans, have admonished Trump for his inconsistency.

They've accused him of trying to stoke divisions and undermining the views of leading health officials.

"I don't think it's helpful to encourage demonstrations and encourage people to go against the President's own policy," Republican Governor of Maryland Larry Hogan said.

"It just doesn't make any sense."

Republicans want Trump to blame China

Most of the state protests were backed by local Republicans and other conservative organisations. ( AP: Evan Frost )

Right now, many conservative and some establishment figures in Trump's party are urging him to focus on a much bigger target anyway: China.

You only have to tune in to Fox News in the evening for a couple of hours or watch a few campaign commercials to see a fairly clear theme.

Beijing not only gets a lot of the blame for the pandemic but Biden is accused of having a history of being too soft on the communist country.

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Republicans facing their own re-election races this November have repeatedly declared the Chinese Communist Party needs to face consequences for not being more open about the danger of the virus early on.

They feel it's a clear and obvious vote winner.

"China is culpable for unleashing this pandemic on the world," Republican senator Tom Cotton said this week.

"They continued to encourage travel outside of China.

"I believe that was a deliberate decision that was designed to seed cases around the world so China wouldn't be the only nation that suffered a relative decline of its power."

President continues to muddy his messages

The President has waxed lyrical in the past few months about doing a trade deal with China. ( Reuters: Kevin Lamarque )

Some of the Republican campaign advertisements have already been blamed for stoking xenophobia and discrimination.

They're being aired at a time when anti-Beijing sentiment is growing in America, but Trump himself remains something of an obstacle to his party's strategy.

His messages about China are also regularly mixed.

In press conferences, he will often say he's "not happy" with Beijing, then wax lyrical about doing a trade deal, before speaking in glowing terms about his friendship with President Xi Jinping.

In January and February, he praised China publicly on a number of occasions, then later on began referring to the contagion as the "Chinese virus". He now seems to have dropped this phrase.

Throughout his term, Trump hasn't suffered as badly from his flip-flopping and obvious missteps in the way other politicians might have.

So, it's dangerous to predict what the next few months might hold.

But it's likely right up to election day Trump is going to keep being asked: how did the world's most advanced nation fare so badly in a pandemic?

At a minimum, you'd think he and his team need to craft a more consistent answer.