How's this? An Alternative History of 2020-2021 (full disclaimer: yeah I know it's stupid....but most alt history is just silly and at times stupid)
Many Americans, regardless of political parties, mourned when Joe Biden passed away after contracting COVID from Donald Trump at the first 2020 debate. There was a question of whether Kamala Harris could assume the top of the ticket in most states, but where disputed the courts ruled that though the ballots could not be changed, electoral votes cast for Joe Biden would be awarded to Kamala Harris. The campaigns became very polarized, when the media and democratic activists blaming Donald Trump for what happened to Joe Biden. But a series of missteps and gaffs by Kamala Harris began to leave the impression she was perhaps not ready for prime time, and her increasingly partisan rhetoric made much of middle America nervous about whether she was the calm, unifying figure Joe Biden would have been. A last minute stroke of luck for Donald Trump was that a few days before the final ballots were to be cast, Pfizer announced the first COVID vaccine was ready to be submitted for approval. Another stroke of luck was when a narrowly divided US Supreme Court struck down the Pennsylvania mail in ballot laws, leaving Pennsylvania scrambling to have the elections ready in time, with Democrats crying foul and there was no way that every person who wanted a ballot could receive one in the scramble.
The election was close, with Trump narrowly carrying by a few thousand votes Arizona, Georgia and Wisconsin. Pennsylvania remained undecided on election night, and in the following weeks there were protests and riots in the streets. The Supreme Court, by a vote cast by ACB, awarded Pennsylvania to Donald Trump. Democrats retained control of the House by a 3 vote margin, and in the special election, Republicans lost the 2 Georgia Senate seats, controlling the Senate only by the vote of the vice president. On inauguration day, there was violence in Washington as protestors tried to break up the inauguration (which Trump called "yuugge" and thumbed his nose at COVID restrictions)....protestors managed to even break into the Supreme Court and storm and occupy the building.
One of Trump's first actions was to fire Fauci. Democrats in the House responded by launching another impeachment. Trump kept the focus on the vaccination campaign, which most of the media described as clumsy in light of rising numbers, and despite Trump's deployment of the military to assist, which more often than not wound up being more of a hindrance than an assistance to vaccination efforts. Nevertheless, by spring Trump promised that by the fourth of July things would all be over. Scott Atlas, who came back to replace Fauci, told the nation to burn its masks by July 4.
It was a great surprise to everyone, though, when the Delta arose and it was apparent that breakthrough infections were possible. Trump's poll numbers, already low, took another yuge hit, sinking into the low 30s. Despite his attempts to change the narrative by withdrawing from Afghanistan (a withdrawal which led to the rapid collapse of the Kabul regime and Trump having to send in more troops to protect Kabul while western civilians and Afghan allies were evacuated), Trump couldn't seem to catch a break, being also plagued by rising inflation being caused by supply and labor shortages. The media labelled Trump the most unpopular president since Jimmy Carter.
A desperate Trump engaged in widespread firings of military officers and staffers. Even Scott Atlas was fired. It was even being thought that some Republicans might sign onto the renewed Democratic impeachment effort (other than Romney and Murkowski who had already signaled they were ready to join). Fauci from retirement and his allies called for the United States to be locked down again, especially in light of vaccine targets only reaching about 45% of the population fully vaxxed due to the large number of refusals. But Trump, enamored by data coming out of the UK about natural immunity, and pressured by his base which was eager to move on from the pandemic, and eyeing figures showing the US economy was dangerously close to stagflation, refused. When California and New York attempted to promulgate limited lockdowns, vaccine mandates and mask mandates, Trump directed OSHA to promulgate regulations to prohibit employers from doing so on the grounds that it would prolong the pandemic and be a danger to those experiencing the peak of their vaccine immunity. Even when the UK (not wishing to be associated with the Trump plan, dubbed Sweden 2.0) reversed course, Trump stayed on course despite rising case numbers in August. When the Supreme Court told him he had overstepped his authority in a narrow 5-4 vote, Trump declared "That traitor Roberts has made his decision, now let's see if he has the guts to enforce it". In the early days of September, with Proud Boys roaming the streets tearing off masks of people who defied the bans (despite the President's lukewarm repudiation of such tactics), a weary nation wondered what would happen next and what the Democratic House and courts would do to check Donald Trump. The only perhaps silver lining is vaccination numbers took a sharp rise, particularly in blue states, with people worried about the rising Delta case number and rising hospitalizations. Then the teachers in Los Angeles Unified School district walked out on strike, once again effectively shutting down the schools.....
TBC......
