First it was China. Then it was law and order. Then it was taxes. Then it was law and order again. Then the Supreme Court. But it was never, ever the coronavirus pandemic.

The last six months of President Donald Trump s political life have consisted mostly of attempts to make something protests over a racist criminal justice system in American cities, a Supreme Court nomination, false suggestions that Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden will raise taxes on middle-class families other than the coronavirus pandemic matter. Those efforts have failed, and they have cost him nearly every conceivable political advantage.

Now, the very event Republicans hoped would finally change the subject the nomination of conservative Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court appears to have resulted in the coronavirus spreading rapidly through the upper ranks of the Republican Party . The White House ignored public health guidelines at an event celebrating the nomination, placing attendees close together. Photos show a selection of the nations most prominent Republicans chatting freely while unmasked and indoors.

Trump has consistently tried to ignore his governing responsibilities during the pandemic, suggesting states with lockdowns should be liberated, mocking the wearing of masks, hawking supposed miracle cures, undercutting his own medical advisers, failing to create a national testing strategy, outsourcing major decisions to states and playing only a minor role in negotiations with Congress over relief legislation.

At the same time, his campaign has ignored the pandemic politically. Throughout July and August, Trumps campaign did not air a single television ad mentioning the virus. In September, they aired just a handful. Mostly, these spots discuss how strong the economy was before the pandemic hit in March. Another ad promises the finish line is approaching in the race for a vaccine. (Most medical experts disagree.) The ads amounted to just 14% of the Trump campaigns broadcast television spending last month.

Trumps decision to ignore the politics, governing and public health consequences of the pandemic harmed him politically well before his positive test result. But the events of the past week the collapse of a new round of economic talks, a debate in which he alienated voters with unscientific bluster, a spike in cases nationwide, and finally his own diagnosis crystalized how inextricable Trumps mishandling of the virus is with the deep political hole he finds himself in.

And that hole, to be clear, is deep. Biden has a clear and consistent lead in public surveys of crucial battleground states, with majorities saying they trust him more than Trump to deal with the pandemic. And time to persuade voters has nearly run out. Ballots are already in the hands of some voters in crucial states like North Carolina, Minnesota and Florida. The president will not be able to campaign in person for at least a week, and potentially longer.

Trump getting the virus is the latest data point in how profoundly serious this threat is, and how profoundly his response has failed on it, said Jesse Ferguson, a Democratic strategist. The White Houses personal handling of the response now matches their public policy handling of the response: dismissing experts and downplaying the threat even if it means more people get infected.