Is Donald Trump a hard-liner on securing the border? Is he more likely than the typical American politician to restrict travel and immigration into the United States? Most anyone you ask would say “yes,” regardless of whether they personally favor or oppose such policies. Trump’s brand identification with that view is strong. In political terms, that means that people who care about border restrictions probably already went into 2020 either liking Trump for that stance, or disliking him for it.
One of the longstanding rules of politics: If you are going to take the heat for wanting a particular policy, do it. The worst place to be is to get pilloried for having specific policies without getting the benefit of actually enacting those policies. That’s a recipe for keeping your adversaries more motivated than your supporters. If Trump had taken a harder line between January and mid-March on restricting entry into the United States, in order to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, he would have lost the support of a bunch of people already opposed to him. But he would have a stronger political argument for having done something proactive to contain the virus that his political opponents would have been loath to do. And — more important — he might have made a real difference in where we are now.
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