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By David Morgan
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump’s response to his COVID-19 diagnosis, including his surprising decision to reverse talks with Congress to prop up an economy hit by a pandemic, has fellow Republicans fearful of losing their majority in the United States Senate in next month’s elections.
Republicans have a 53-47 majority in the Senate and with competitive races for 10 seats, including eight held by Republicans, the party hoped to focus on confirming Trump’s third nominee to the Supreme Court and cementing a court majority. conservative 6-3 that could last for decades.
Instead, Trump’s diagnosis and his continued rejection of the risks of the disease have once again highlighted a health crisis that has killed more than 210,000 people in the United States, more than in any other country.
Trump’s revelation on Friday that he had the coronavirus was “the nail in the coffin; it’s over” for the party’s hopes of defending its majority, said a top Republican Senate aide, particularly as Trump persisted in his misrepresentation of the risks.
“The prospect of a huge job loss is there,” said the assistant. In a reference to Joe Biden, Trump’s Democratic rival in the Nov. 3 vote, the aide added: “I think it could be as many as nine or 10 if Biden wins big, which I think it can be.”
Reuters / Ipsos opinion polls this week showed Democratic rivals leading in Arizona, North Carolina, all the battle states that decide who wins. Three top nonpartisan election analysts added Trump ally Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina to the list of vulnerable Republicans.
‘FACING COVID FRONT’
Trump campaign spokesman Tim Murtaugh defended Trump’s response to the coronavirus.
“The president has been clear. People must be careful and take precautions, but we cannot allow the virus to impose a complete shutdown of our society,” Murtaugh said. “He is facing COVID head-on, just as he has been fighting for the country for the past four years.”
Trump appeared in a video on Twitter late Wednesday in which he bragged that getting COVID-19 was a “gift from God” because it gave him insight into the treatments. But the White House has offered little detailed information about his condition or the toll the disease has caused on his lungs.
“If the president goes back to the hospital, if there are complications, it could be a very volatile time,” said Republican strategist Ron Bonjean, close to the White House and Senate Republicans.
Trump spooked Wall Street by torpedoing talks for a new round of coronavirus stimulus, tarnishing a metric he and his fellow Republicans had intended to hold as a sign of success.
“Republicans are the loudest talking about the pandemic in economic terms … that’s a winner,” said a Republican strategist who is working on several key Senate elections.
“Nothing about the events of the last week has steered the conversation in that direction. We are talking again about the health aspects of the pandemic and it is not seen as a useful conversation for Republicans,” the strategist said.
VULNERABLE REPUBLICANS
The coronavirus, which has infected more than 7.5 million people in the United States, is on the rise in 25 states in the United States, including several in which Republicans face competitive careers: Alaska, Iowa, Montana, Carolina del North and South Carolina.
The spotlight on COVID-19 could be most dangerous for vulnerable Republican rulers known for their loyalty to Trump, including Graham, Martha McSally of Arizona, Joni Ernst of Iowa and Thom Tillis of North Carolina. Tillis also tested positive for COVID-19.
“This is very useless for the candidates. There really is no way around that,” said an official with a Republican Senate campaign.
Your best chance to deflect the coronavirus debate will come Monday, when the Senate Judiciary Committee begins confirmation hearings for Trump’s election to the Supreme Court, Conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett.
That was the response of Senate Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who on Tuesday said he supported Trump’s decision to break up the stimulus talks on the coronavirus.
“We need to focus on what can be achieved,” McConnell said, alluding to next week’s confirmation hearings.
The importance of the Supreme Court on key Republican issues, from abortion to the right to bear arms and taxes, could help scoring candidates shore up support among their own base and even win over independent voters, strategists said.
A Morning Consult / Politico poll released Wednesday showed 46 percent of voters in favor of Barrett’s confirmation, an increase of 9 points since his nomination was announced.
(Information from David Morgan, additional information from Richard Cowan; edited by Scott Malone and Howard Goller)
