Donald Trump’s 2020 campaign theme
Since the beginning of this year, as has been well-documented, Donald Trump has downplayed, ignored, and lied about the Coronavirus pandemic. He and fellow Republicans then flaunted the basic precautions that virtually every health expert agrees are necessary in order to curtail the spread of the virus, especially mask wearing and social distancing. Trump and the Republicans even mocked Joe Biden for strictly following these COVID precautions. Instead, Trump and his partisans continued to gather maskless in crowds at political events, such as Trump’s Tulsa, Oklahoma rally, the Republican National Convention, and, most recently, the reception for Trump’s U.S. Supreme Court nominee, Amy Coney Barrett.
Now, these chickens have come home to roost. According to the latest polls, Trump’s failed COVID response is killing his brand, and his presidential campaign. After attending Trump’s Tulsa rally, former Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain died of Coronavirus. Then the Barrett reception, held at the White House and featuring Republicans hugging, backslapping and close-talking, turned out to be the “super spreader” event that got many Republicans sick with COVID. The list of prominent Republicans who have now come down with the virus, many of whom attended the Barrett event, includes Donald and Melania Trump, former New Jersey Governor (and Trump presidential debate coach) Chris Christie, Republican U.S. Senators Mike Lee, Thom Tillis and Ron Johnson, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnerny, Trump advisors Kellyanne Conway, Hope Hicks and Stephen Miller, Notre Dame University President Rev. John Jenkins, Pastor Greg Laurie, and more. This is in addition to numerous Secret Service agents, White House staffers, and even housekeepers, all of whom are being put at great risk by Trump and his fellow Republicans. Indeed, as if to symbolize the political train wreck that Trump’s campaign has become, his campaign manager Bill Stepien (of Chris Christie/Bridgegate infamy), as well as Republican National Committee Chair Ronna Romney McDaniel, also have contracted COVID and are not fully able to do their jobs. Stepien is the replacement for Brad Parscale, who was recently arrested and placed on suicide watch after threatening his wife, apparently connected with criminal campaign fraud and theft allegations. Now, Attorney General William Barr, and even military leaders at the Pentagon, are quarantining after being exposed to COVID. At this moment, no one seems to be in charge of either the Trump reelection campaign or the country.
Last Friday evening, Trump was given oxygen at the White House and then airlifted on Marine One to nearby Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. At Walter Reed, Americans were treated to a bizarre series of photo ops by Trump pretending to look like he was working by signing a blank piece of paper with a Sharpie, appearances where doctors and politicians contradicted each other about Trump’s health, and a chief doctor acting like a political shill for Trump. In the middle of Trump’s hospital stay, he took a joyride in the presidential limousine, further putting his accompanying U.S. Secret Service agents in the car at risk, in order to wave at supporters on the street. When Trump returned home from Walter Reed, he appeared on the White House balcony for a photo op in which he could be heard gasping for air.
Many people even theorized that Trump’s COVID diagnosis was fake, and he was pulling a stunt in order to get sympathy from voters, or to distract from his other woes, such as his failure to pay taxes, or the astronomical numbers of U.S. COVID cases and deaths. If so, Trump’s stunt didn’t work, as his poll numbers since then have been plummeting. The problem is that the people most likely to feel such sympathy are the ones who already support Trump. Instead, Trump is losing support among the group that votes in the greatest numbers: seniors. More than three months ago, we called seniors “the secret weapon that will make Trump lose the election.” Seniors (most of whom have preexisting health conditions) are the most vulnerable to catching and dying from COVID, and they are unhappy with Trump’s incompetence in addressing the pandemic. These seniors and others are flocking to Joe Biden and his running mate Kamala Harris, who, in contrast to Trump, have run a near-flawless campaign.
All of this could not be more off-brand for Donald Trump. His own reckless behavior has gotten him and many others around him sick. The voters who respond to polls, many of whom no doubt are directly affected by COVID, are punishing Trump accordingly. As we have stated before, successful handling of the Coronavirus, and the associated economic rebound, could have been Donald Trump’s ticket to reelection. Now, it increasingly appears that Trump’s COVID incompetence — indeed, recklessness — will be his, and other Republicans’, political downfall.
Photo by Peter Stevens, used under Creative Commons license. https://is.gd/jmXKBD
