FROM 15 DAYS TO TWO YEARS:

Trump’s catastrophic decision to acquiesce to the demands of Drs. Anthony Fauci and Deborah Birx—the former a charlatan, the latter a dunce—and shut down the country two years ago this week was by far the worst moment in his presidency and rivals the worst moment in any presidency. As usual, however, Trump’s first instinct (the one he suppressed to appease those demanding we honor The Science™) was the right one. The cure should not be worse than the disease, he fretted. He knew it, but he listened to the quacks anyway.

The cure, of course, got worse. Emboldened by their success in forcing Trump to authorize the first 15-day shutdown, the then-adored Fauci and Birx took it a step further. With two dubious projection models in hand, the pair went to the White House at the end of March 2020 and convinced Trump to extend the lockdowns another month.

The decision sealed his electoral fate; the booming economy he helped build entered a death spiral.

Indeed: Two Years After Lockdowns, The West’s Troubles Aren’t Ending — They’re Just Beginning.

Flashbacks:

Johns Hopkins Analysis: ‘Lockdowns Should be Rejected Out of Hand.’

How Fauci and Collins Shut Down Covid Debate: They worked with the media to trash the Great Barrington Declaration.