> So, I'm asking whether, in this specific instance, people believe it to be the actual intent of the U.S. government to willfully and maliciously use COVID as a pretext for turning the U.S. into an authoritarian regime?
Yes, millions of Americans believe that.
It is also true that the Democratic Party is an authoritarian and corrupt government that is spreading corona throughout the US by opening the southern border to over 2 million illegal aliens in 2021, and allowing Afghanis to enter the US without corona testing or even a reason for admission. (The only quarantine restriction on Afghanis is if there's a measles case on the plane.)
Here's 10,500 illegals on Sept. 16 waiting under a Texas border bridge who likely have corona (the White House ordered the FAA to stop drone s from recording this because it's so horrific):