“Two of the biggest U.S. news events in decades, the Covid pandemic and the Jan. 6 storming of the Capitol, are seldom the first thing on people’s minds when it comes to their memories of the Trump administration, for example, according to an April Times/Siena survey of registered voters nationwide.

When asked to describe the one thing they remembered most from Donald J. Trump’s presidency, only 5 percent of respondents referred to Jan. 6, and only 4 percent to Covid.”

The New York Times

The COVID pandemic was a catastrophe that decimated our economy, shuttered our churches, schools and entertainment venues, infected most Americans and killed over one million of us.

Trump’s response to this tragedy was ineffectual from the beginning when he tried to dismiss the pandemic as no different from the flu. He disregarded the advice of the CDC and his own health officials, promoted quack cures like bleach and ivermectin, and generally tried to downplay the crisis for political expediency.

Post pandemic thanks to the efficacy of vaccines and the implementation of social mitigation measures COVID is now a seasonal virus like the flu, and most Americans seem to have forgotten Trump’s abysmal response to the pandemic.

The January 6 Insurrection was a failed coup and an existential threat to our democracy, and former president Donald Trump was the instigator and enabler of the insurrectionists who stormed the Capitol.

The insurrectionists are languishing in jails in D.C. and most Americans have forgotten that Trump was the chief insurrectionist.

Historians will devote volumes to Trump’s mishandling of the COVID threat and to his attempt to undermine our democracy, but according to the Times poll what most Americans remember about the Trump administration are the economy and his behavior.

It’s about the economy stupid, and Trump’s behavior is execrable, but as the 2024 general election quickly approaches, we mustn’t forget Trump’s botched response to COVID or his contempt for our democracy.

America managed to survive Trump’s administration, but if he regains power, it may mean the end to our democracy.