A presidency is a terrible thing to waste in these trying times

President Donald Trump is in the midst of a polling swoon largely of his own making.

It’s true that events have taken a hand — a pandemic with a death toll of more than 100,000, a sharp recession, double-digit unemployment and civil unrest would be the horsemen of the apocalypse for any incumbent president.

Experiencing all of these in one term would make for treacherous political weather; experiencing them in the space of about three months is a perfect storm.

And yet the president has worsened his position with his profligate tweeting, unpresidential conduct and refusal or inability to step up to the magisterial aspect of his office.

None of this is new, but it acquires a different significance playing out against a backdrop of crisis, when the stakes and emotions are elevated.

The president’s poor ratings on coronavirus have much to do with his overexposure, squabbling with reporters and meandering performances at his news briefings — all of which was avoidable, and indeed was eventually avoided by stopping the briefings.

Quite often, Trump has blown the easy stuff while his team has performed admirably dealing with the more nettlesome issues of governance.

Sounding sober from the presidential podium at a time of crisis should be easy — any halfway accomplished conventional politician could do a pretty good job at it.

Allocating ventilators, acquiring personal protective equipment and ramping up testing on a rapid basis in the middle of a pandemic when the traditional apparatus of government isn’t up to it is hard — and the Trump team has managed over the past few months.

The press doesn’t tell that story, and regardless, it gets overwhelmed by the constant drama emanating from the

Oval Office. In the case of George Floyd, there’s nothing Trump could have done to stop his killing. He’s not the Minnesota governor or the Minneapolis mayor. But he’s been hurt by his reflexively combative posture.