Trump’s coronavirus response is disastrous – but at least it is scrutinised

Dominic Raab, Matt Hancock and Priti Patel hardly carry the menace of Donald Trump, or even Donald Duck. Yet all have been meekly allowed to dodge straight questions, spout drivel and give insulting non-apologies, barely challenged, says Matthew Norman

Donald Trump said the press had not reported on his coronavirus response ‘as they should be’ (AP)

You could spend centuries debating which of Donald Trump’s decisions was the most lustrously bananas, and historians will. But to drop one contender into this teeming pot, glance at the Council To Reopen America photo montage broadcast by Fox News.

Fans of superhero movies will be familiar with posters of Iron Man, Black Widow, Thor, Captain America and Hulk, their grimly determined faces pointing towards the existential battle ahead. If Trump’s gang suggests a fantasy film supergroup, however, it isn’t Marvel’s Avengers. It’s DC’s Suicide Squad – although since this mob aren’t putting their own lives on the line, Homicide Squad seems more apt.

However bizarre the council’s members, its absentees are more so. The team advising the portly old goat when and how to relax restrictions is devoid of doctors. America’s top mind on infectious disease isn’t there, though Anthony Fauci is on another roster. He’s now on Trump’s hit list after conceding that, had Trump acted quicker on his coronahoax, many fewer would be dead and dying.