I look at it starting with the Dems, for the reasons you cite -- gotta keep DJT on the defensive (which never really works, but they keep trying...).
But as the entire pile of Covid crap wasn't understood, the so-called experts kept bleating conflicting information, Fauci and Birx clearly wanted the spotlight (and got it), the Repubs just basically followed the Dems' lead.
Another case of too little leadership too late. When the "15 days to flatten the curve" became a month, and then two months, the narrative started shifting and then it got political.
I knew it was game over when the BS masks became a fashion statement.