Here's something we all know is true:

When things go well, whoever is president benefits -- whether he deserves it or not.

When things go badly, the president gets blamed -- whether he deserves it or not.

Let's go from there:

1/11

We all know what Occam's Razor is: The principle that the simplest of competing theories is most likely true.

Folks, we're standing in Occam's Sawmill staring right at Occam's Buzzsaw here.

Covid cost Donald Trump re-election. 2/11

Perhaps he would have lost anyway. Perhaps not. But covid slammed the lid.

If you believe Trump didn't deserve blame for the pandemic, I won't argue.

No one whose house got flattened by a tornado deserved that either.

3/11

Truth be told, the fact Trump's clear and decisive loss wasn't worse than it was is an impressive testament to the underlying political strength of the Republican Party.

4/11

The idea Trump's defeat is attributable to fraud would have been a hard sell before he and his allies racked up a 1-59 win/loss record in court. And the one win, in Penn., was trivial. 5/11