I don't enjoy political debates and so I won't get into one, but I'll give you a response and then won't respond again.

Why?

I don't enjoy or gain any emotional validation from political debates because political debates happen for only four reasons:

1. To understand each other and communicate. This reason is non-aggressive and kind and usually occurs between people who already feel affection for each other.

2. To convince the other person they are wrong. (This pretty much never works unless you are kind towards the other person AND already have a trusting relationship with them AND are listening to them to such a degree that you are willing to be convinced that you are wrong.)

3. To convince bystanders that the other person is wrong and "win" and then feel good about how right you were and how bad you wrecked the other person.

4. To ruin family parties since what's the point of gathering together and eating a turkey if you aren't all screaming by the end?

I typically only enjoy and find value in Point 1, so generally I don't debate unless Point 1 is an option.

Anyway:

• When it comes to the nuclear codes, I do not trust his temperament. I think he is a mentally and psychologically unstable human being. It's not actually a Republican vs. Democrat thing for me. I hate Pence's politics and beliefs, but I would trust him with the nuclear codes because I believe he is a stable human being with consistent values (even if I disagree with those values). Whereas I believe Trump is a volatile, amoral, value-less creature.

• When it comes to the death toll of two-hundred-thousand U.S. citizens, I admit that it did not start out as his fault. It's very much the fault of the WHO and the CDC and the "smart, science-loving" liberal-leaning media, which insisted early on that masks are silly and useless and "BUT THE FLU." I lost friendships early on in the because my "smart" "liberal" friends thought I was an insane right-wing conspiracy theorist for saying, "Hey, how about masks? It seems like the countries where people wear masks are doing well." They thought I was a right-wing-fucking-racist who hated East Asians and didn't understand "SCIENCE" for insisting that everyone should cover their mouths and noses. It was absolutely infuriating and I will never forget what it was like to be Cassandra among supposedly intelligent people who I thought cared about me.

• But. Trump. The dude dismantled so much infrastructure related to potential pandemics and now the guy can't just cover his fucking face and so we've got all these dipshits who think masks are liberal Democrat attempts to keep them from breathing, or something, and the pandemic is a hoax. For some reason only God knows, his fundraising team got my email address and I got an email saying how Obama is the one who took apart the pandemic team and how Sleepy Joe and Phony Kamala are anti-vaxxers. I. Just. Can't. Even. We have recordings of this ass saying to Woodward, who took down Nixon, that the pandemic is a big deal, way worse than the flu, and that he likes to downplay it.

It's not right. Pandemics shouldn't be political. The left made it political back when they said he was a racist for blocking flights from China. The right has made it political by saying it's a hoax from "the Libs." It's not political. it's a little viral particle that, if it were sentient, would have loved the left back when the left said it was racist to block flights from China and dumb to wear masks, and would now love the right for suggesting that masks are an infringement on Freedom(tm).

Hmm. This turned into a rant about the coronavirus. Anyway, I respect your point of view - good people can disagree for honorable reasons - and will not respond further for reasons I already explained above.