| Get Jonathan Bernstein's newsletter every morning in your inbox. Click here to subscribe. I'm seeing a lot of people in the media express contempt for those who are going out in public without following best practices for containing the coronavirus. I'm here to defend ordinary citizens. But first: Wear a mask! The more this goes on, the more it seems clear that masks are the first line of defense. Social distancing is also important, along with hand-washing; indoors is riskier than outdoors. But the big thing the U.S. is failing at compared to other countries is mask-wearing. Do it! That said: I'm not blaming ordinary citizens for how they've handled this. The truth is that government efforts to inform the public about the pandemic have been a colossal failure, which means that most people are hearing mixed and muffled messages about what to do. It's not surprising that a lot of folks are believing misinformation as a result, and others are just throwing up their hands. Plenty of people have contributed to this failure, but by far the heaviest responsibility lies with Donald Trump, who as president has both a particular duty to accurately inform people and by far the largest microphone. Trump should've been making sure from the start that the government was pushing a clear message, putting experts out front and backing up what they said with action. He should've been aware of the dangers of politicizing the message, and therefore made it as bipartisan as possible — including by enlisting politicians, celebrities and other influential Americans to get the word out. Trump briefly tried saying that the country was at war with the coronavirus. Whatever the merits of that framing, he never acted like it was true. The general consensus seems to be that this president simply can't tolerate sharing the spotlight with anyone else, even if doing so would benefit him politically (as containing the virus surely would have). Perhaps there's some other reason. But the results are clear. Trump sidelined the experts, never so much as gestured toward bipartisanship and — even during the brief period when he took the threat seriously — spent little time explaining what ordinary citizens could do to help. Now he just avoids talking about the whole thing.
And it's not just the president. A lot of Republican politicians have for months treated the pandemic as if it was no longer a threat. Some Democrats and even public-health authorities have added to the mixed messages by acting as if protesting was some sort of shield that would keep people safe. The media, too, has made mistakes. But all of this is in the context of a president who apparently gave up on his responsibilities two months ago. No, this doesn't absolve ordinary citizens of responsibility (seriously — wear a mask!). Nor does it mean that other politicians or the media should give up on trying to encourage safer behavior. Overall, though, it's the president who dominates the information environment when it comes to public-health emergencies and who has the most responsibility for ensuring that people are informed about their obligations. Trump has failed. 1. Seth Masket on how Republicans are planning to use their 2016 platform in 2020. He's correct. I do wonder, though, whether this will turn out to be a way of avoiding the one-page platform that the president's son-in-law wanted: First just agree to use the old platform, then "realize" it has to be edited and updated, and eventually wind up doing the normal platform work after all. If this speculation is correct, they'll have to get to it soon. 2. Nathaniel Persily on how we can have well-run 2020 elections. 3. LaGina Gause at the Monkey Cage on one reason the current protests may be more effective. 4. Here at Bloomberg Opinion, Joni Balter on what's actually happening in Seattle. I'll add that it's odd for a president to be bragging about losing a major U.S. city on his watch; it's even weirder when it's fiction. 5. Olivia Rockeman and Jill Ward on distress in the jobs market. 6. And Harry Enten on the trouble Trump is in. Get Early Returns every morning in your inbox. Click here to subscribe. Also subscribe to Bloomberg All Access and get much, much more. You'll receive our unmatched global news coverage and two in-depth daily newsletters, the Bloomberg Open and the Bloomberg Close. | 
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