Are lockdowns justified?

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

His constant lying about the seriousness and the extent of the pandemic

He had no way of knowing. Based on the previous experience, when "experts" warn about a dangerous pandemic, they turn out to overestimate it beyond any proportions. It is only this time that they got the order of magnitude right.

He had the ability to call on the best scientific advice available. He ignored it. He was given early estimates that as many as 250 000 Americans could die. He ignored it, sloughed it off, and repeated the base canard that it's no worse than common strains of influenza. Moreover, he admitted downplaying the seriousness of the pandemic.

his refusal to wear a mask

Based on the information he had, such as Fauci saying "Masks provide some protection, but they do not provide the protection people think they provide. And given that when wearing masks people tend to be reckless with them and touch their faces more, masks may even be counter-productive.", that would have probably been the right thing to do.
In fact, from the research I have done, I would say it probably still is the right thing to do. The recommendation to wear a mask does not seem to be based on rigorous science. The most rigorous study about that done to this day, the Danish study, found no effect. It seems to be based on unjustified assumptions about both hard sciences and soft sciences. Cotton masks work only if COVID-19 cannot survive outside of a droplet, which has not been proven (although it is probably true). And they also work only if people who are forced to wear masks care to keep them clean, which is a huge assumption.

That assessment of Fauci's was based on the situation in the very early stages of the pandemic. As time went on and the situation got worse, virtually every virologist who commented on it advised wearing a mask. Even when the CDC and the WHO were fully onboard with mask wearing, Trump refused. Had he gone along, there's at least a reasonable chance that his sycophants would have followed suit.

his disdain for science and scientists

Well, you must admit that "experts" cited by the mainstream media have a horrible track record when talking about pandemics. And I do not think untested scientific theories should have more weight than the principles of good governance. I also think most people know about computers just enough to realize their potential, but not enough to realize what the limitations of computer modelling are, and are putting way too much confidence in it.

Pandemics are, by their very nature, somewhat unpredictable. This is all the more reason to err on the side of caution. Trump failed to do so, and his 'hope for the best strategy cost hundreds of thousands of lives.

his repeated assurance that the disease would miraculously disappear

When did he claim that? As far as I know, it is the people who advocated lockdowns who claimed that, that the disease will soon disappear once we have a vaccine.

27 Feb 2020: 'It's going to disappear. One day, it's like a miracle, it will disappear.'

6 March 2020: ''Calm. You have to be calm - it'll go away.'

10 March 2020:  'It will go away. Just stay calm. It will go away.'

31 March 2020: 'It's going to go away, hopefully at the end of the month.'

3 April 2020: 'It's going to go away. It is going away.'

7 April 2020: 'It did go - it will go away.'

28 April 2020: 'But I think what happens is it's going to go away. This is going away.'

29 April 2020: 'It's going to go, it's going to leave. It's going to be gone.'

5 May 2020: 'With or without a vaccine, it's going to pass.'

6 May 2020: 'Because, you know, the virus is going to disappear.'

8 May 2020: 'This is going to go away without a vaccine.'

15 May 2020: 'At some point, it'll go away.'

1 July 2020:  'I think that at some point, it's just going to sort of disappear.'

19 July 2020: 'It's going to disappear and I'll be right.'

15 September 2020: 'It's gonna disappear. It's gonna disappear. I still say it.'

10 October 2020: 'But it's going to disappear. It is disappearing.'

A simple web search will find you dozens more like the quotes above. I apologize if it seems repetitive - Mr. Trump doesn't know many words.

and his stated desire to underreport cases and deaths for political reasons

As far as I know, it was Andrew Cuomo doing that, not Donald Trump.

During a tour at the CDC on Friday, President Donald Trump said that the experts he consults, including Vice President Mike Pence, want to take people off the ship. However, Trump said that he didn't want the passengers raising the total case count in the US.

"I like the numbers being where they are. I don't need to have the numbers double because of one ship that wasn't our fault," Trump said in a Fox News interview.

Boru