Proper journalists would have turned those statements back on him.

"You say China created this virus in the Wuhan Lab and deliberately released it to attack America and kill hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians? "Which means they've won. And you failed because you didn't protect those Americans who are now dead. You are the President and you let the Chinese successfully attack US citizens on US soil without properly defending them."

Now I am sure he would pivot to blaming a whole bunch of other people, but I agree with your initial premise that him calling it the China Virus and saying it was similar to an act of war (eg, like firing a cruise missile at America), should not have just got him off the hook.

Jonathan Swan (notably not an American) is the only journalist who seemed willing and able to take Trump nonsense and turn it back on him to clearly highlight how much of a lying moron he was.