> it was the COVID that killed, not the preexisting conditions.
That's the argument that needs rebuttal attention.
What they are attempting to push is that 180,000 more people died in 2020 than in an average year. Those people would not have died if there were no covid is their argument.
I've looked around a little for total 2020 deaths to compare to avg annual deaths from past years, but I keep seeing disclaimers that any 2020 data doesn't include covid, whatever that's supposed to mean.
Key then, IMO, would be mortality numbers YOY. That should include H1N1 years to compare POTUS repomse to Obama/Biden response.