City after city Sunday imposed curfews after days of protests and looting, even as the country tentatively tries to open up after weeks of coronavirus stay-at-home orders.

Fast moving events leave Trump's presidency -- and his bid for a second term in November -- consumed by a backdrop of smoldering cities, 104,000 dead and counting in a public health disaster he failed to take seriously until it was too late and unemployment approaching Great Depression-levels.

His pullout from the World Health Organization amid the worst global public health challenge in 100 years is meanwhile leaving notions of US leadership in ruins.

As Trump fumes, the country is getting a glimpse of how a President with authoritarian reflexes handles a public order crisis and a potential preview of the no-holds-barred politics with which he plans to win reelection in November.

As a sixth night of violence heated up on Sunday, Trump, for instance, lashed out at Democrats and their party's presumptive nominee Joe Biden as he sought to revive his 2016 claim to be the "law and order" candidate -- a characterization that could help him distract from his mishandling of the pandemic.

"Get tough Democrat Mayors and Governors.

Even if he possessed such empathy and intent, Trump's history of racist positions on controversies like the Central Park Five, former President Barack Obama's birthplace and Charlottesville protests disqualifies him as a force for unity at a time of political tension.

As he often does, for instance in aggressively touting economic reopening against scientific advice, the President appears to be making a counter-intuitive political calculation that confounds many Americans worried about public health or looking for a consoler-in-chief.

They are also more likely to have low-wage jobs that require them to be at their posts during a pandemic -- for instance those who work in grocery stores.

Depending on their political leanings, and according to already entrenched views of Trump, Americans will decide for themselves his level of responsibility for the country's current plight.

But earlier this year -- even amid the partisan estrangement of impeachment -- no one could have foreseen how his reelection race will now be shaped by a nation that is battling deep health, economic and social crises at the same time.

Trump's past comments would make any unifying effort a challenge

The President is being urged by some advisers to formally address the nation and call for calm, while others have said he should condemn rioting and looting more forcefully or risk losing middle-of-the-road voters in November, according to several sources familiar with the deliberations.

Trump's lashing out at Antifa may indicate he has chosen to follow his instincts and has chosen the latter course.

Healing, not hatred; justice, not chaos are the mission at hand," the President said.

A day later, the President was blaming Democrats and the media for inciting "hatred and anarchy" even as a number of journalists appeared to be targeted by police.

Sunday talk shows were dominated by Democratic office holders, often in affected cities.

Keisha Lance Bottoms, the Democratic mayor of Atlanta, which saw serious looting and violence, said that Trump should stay silent.

"He should just stop talking.

Tim Scott of South Carolina said that some of Trump's tweets were "not constructive." The only black Republican in the Senate, Scott said he talked with the President on Saturday and told him that it's beneficial for him to "focus" on the death of Floyd and to "recognize the benefit of nonviolent protests."

The death of Floyd was only the latest event in which the death of an African-American man has become a national issue.

It's possible it could appeal to some suburban voters who fear insecurity and unrest and turned against Republican candidates in the 2018 midterm elections.

Several Democrats also accused extremists of exploiting the wave of fury after the death of Floyd to instigate violence.

"There's some people in our community, there's some people in our streets who are driven there by a passion for our community, by a love for our community," said Melvin Carter, the mayor of Saint Paul, Minnesota, on "State of the Union."

"And then there's folks in our streets who are there to burn down our black-owned barbershops, to burn down our family-owned businesses, our immigrant-owned restaurants."

The Democratic mayor of Los Angeles, Eric Garcetti, called for the continuation of peaceful protests and an end to the vandalism and violence that took over the city Saturday night.

"We saw a small group that has not just caused chaos and damage," Garcetti said.