Julie Pace: Trump Faces Credibility Crisis Over Health Issues

COMMENTARY:

One month before Election Day in the United States, President Donald Trump is facing a credibility crisis as huge as his health crisis, at a time when he most needs the public’s trust.

The president’s coronavirus infection, as well as the illnesses of several aides and allies, has endangered the highest levels of the United States government. The White House’s efforts to project calm failed astonishingly, resulting in a storm of confusing and contradictory information about the health and well-being of the country’s commander-in-chief.

It is a moment that has been months in the making, the collision of Trump’s repeated defiance of his own administration’s guidelines for staying safe during the pandemic and his known disregard for the facts. The result: profound uncertainty for Americans about who and what to believe about the health of the nation’s leader at a dangerous time in American history.

“This is bigger than Donald Trump. This is about the institution of the presidency,” said Robert Gibbs, who served as President Barack Obama’s first White House press secretary.

For any president, credibility in a crisis is paramount – the ability to rally Americans of all political persuasions around a commonly accepted understanding of the situation. For a president on the brink of an election, particularly one held in such a tumultuous year as 2020, it could be the difference between serving a term or two.

Yet Trump has squandered widespread credibility since the beginning of his presidency, spending his first full day in office disputing official crowd-size counts at his inauguration and asking Americans to ignore the photographic evidence showing he drew. fewer people to the National Mall in Washington. than its predecessor.

The episode set the tone for the rest of his administration, with Trump creating alternate realities around issues large and small, amplified with the help of friendly media. He frequently promotes records and milestones that don’t exist. He spreads unsubstantiated rumors about his political opponents, including the evidence-free statement that Joe Biden, his Democratic rival in the 2020 presidential campaign, could be on drugs in his debate.

Yet Trump’s credibility has come under even greater scrutiny during the pandemic, the biggest test of his presidency. He has repeatedly downplayed the threat of the virus in public, despite telling journalist Bob Woodward privately in February that Covid-19 was more deadly than the flu. It has featured unverified and harmful treatments, even suggesting that Americans could inoculate themselves by injecting bleach.

In April, just weeks after the pandemic gripped the United States, only 23 percent of Americans said they had high levels of confidence in the information the president was providing to the public about the virus, according to a survey by The Associated Press-NORC. Public Affairs Research Center.

As Election Day approaches, Trump has increasingly disobeyed public health guidelines and many of the scientists advising his administration, eager to show voters that the worst of the pandemic that disrupted nearly all Aspects of American life have passed.

For weeks, Trump has been traveling across the country holding large rallies and hosting events at the White House without social distancing or requiring guests to wear masks. That includes a packed ceremony at the Rose Garden last weekend to announce the nomination of Justice Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court. Several aides, including two U.S. senators and first lady Melania Trump, have since announced that they have tested positive for coronavirus.

They, and the president himself, are now among the more than 7 million Americans who have been infected. More than 205,000 Americans have died.

It is unclear how Trump became infected. He announced on Twitter at 1 a.m. Friday that he and Mrs. Trump had tested positive for the virus; the following afternoon, he was airlifted by presidential helicopter to a military hospital outside of Washington. The only details the White House provided were that the hospitalization was a precaution and that Trump’s symptoms were mild.

On Saturday, the White House tried to fill in the details with a televised briefing from Trump’s doctor, who painted a sunny picture of the president’s situation, emphasizing that he was still working, walking alone and not straining to breathe. But Dr. Sean Conley notably declined to provide some specifics, including repeatedly sidestepping questions about whether the president had ever needed oxygen.

Soon after, and off camera, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows gave reporters a more haunting description. The president’s situation had been “very worrying,” and although his health was improving, Meadows said the next 48 hours would be critical. A person familiar with the president’s treatment also confirmed that he had required supplemental oxygen on Friday morning.

The conflicting information sparked outrage, even among some Trump allies who privately wondered how the president’s team was less prepared for the first major revelations about his condition. The White House tried to quell the frustrations Saturday night, posting a four-minute video of Trump saying his condition was improving and that he hoped to resume campaign activities soon.

But for those who have grown weary of Trump’s record on transparency and truth, there was little hope that the next few days would bring a higher level of clarity.

“These are the patterns of this presidency, and for Trump, the patterns of his life,” said Peter Wehner, a Republican who served in the administrations of President George W. Bush and a critic of Trump. “There is no reason to believe that he or his inner circle will change.”

• Julie Pace is the Washington Bureau Chief for The Associated Press, and directs the AP’s coverage of the US presidency, politics, and government.

– AP