Coronavirus in the United States: The Daily Trump Show

The American President in the Media Spotlight: Information on Coronavirus in the White House Rose Garden.

Leah Millis / Reuters

Donald Trump prefers to do what he knows best: electoral campaign. He had his first massive campaign-like event just less than a month after he was elected US President. According to a Wikipedia list, this exactly 100 major protests followed during his tenure, although the fight for reelection really only started this year. Trump is completely self-sufficient in these appearances: he is overflowing with praise and attacking all opponents, while generally not focusing on content. The president keeps his base happy and allows himself to celebrate.

A replacement for the “rally”

The corona virus currently makes such events impossible, the last “manifestation” taking place in early March. But Trump has found a replacement in daily press conferences for his coronavirus workforce. Until a month ago, the president himself only attended these briefings from time to time, often leaving them to the task force leader, Vice President Mike Pence and health experts. However, for several weeks, Trump has appeared in front of the media practically every day, becoming the face of the crisis.

It’s extraordinary. In most other severely affected countries, heads of state and government also regularly comment on the crisis situation. However, experts often talk about daily developments, such as Jérôme Salomon, an epidemiologist who advises the government in France, the head of the Robert Koch Institute in Germany, Lothar Wieler, in Italy, the head of the civil protection authority, Angelo Borrelli , or in the Swiss Daniel Koch of the Federal Office of Public Health.

Experts are also involved in the United States, mostly the highest epidemic Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health and immunologist Deborah Birx, who coordinates crisis management for the White House. But they have less and less voice. Monday’s briefing was the longest so far, at nearly two and a half hours. According to the portal “Factbase”, Trump said around 14,000 words, Birx only 2,000 and Fauci 1,800. The next day, neither of them spoke very briefly on Wednesday.

The mood changes in minutes

On the other hand, the President made the briefings completely his own show. In the second half of March, when the number of infected people increased rapidly and images from hospitals in Trump’s hometown of New York shook the nation, he was often concerned and asked the population to stay away. However, his mood temporarily collapsed in a matter of minutes. NBC journalist Peter Alexander’s innocent question about what to say to Americans concerned about the virus would have given the president a chance to spread comfort and confidence. Instead, he insulted Alexander. “I say you are a terrible journalist,” Trump replied.

Attacks on journalists or the “fake news” media have now become an integral part of pandemic reports, as have comments on political opponents or countless claims that have subsequently been refuted by fact-checkers from various media. In this regard, appearances are increasingly like campaign rallies, even if they take place in a very serious context. On Monday, Trump even played a propaganda film that should have invalidated a New York Times article published the previous weekend that the administration had been inactive for too long despite warnings from the virus.

Liberal left-wing television stations, such as CNN or MSNBC, regularly end the broadcast of press conferences at those times or only come on when health experts voice their opinion. They argue that the President is abusing party politics and disinformation. In fact, many statements are problematic, such as when Trump pretends to be a medical expert and, hoping for an early end to the crisis, overly advertises an antimalarial drug that has not been scientifically proven to treat Covid-19.

However, the briefings are government communications in a national emergency. The new Trump spokeswoman also described it as a poor service to the population that needs information not to transmit it.

For Trump’s critical broadcaster, the broadcast issue is at least a dilemma. The question is often asked in the United States whether the free broadcast of Trump’s scandalous campaign appearances contributed to his 2016 victory. At the same time, programs about the president promise good grades. You are also very aware of this effect. He has boasted several times that the ratings for the working group briefings are as high as those for the final of “The Bachelor” or soccer broadcasts.

More benefits or more damage?

Appearances and the associated signal that Trump had recognized the gravity of the situation also caused the president’s approval ratings to rise briefly, a common pattern in an emergency. Meanwhile, however, the survey values ​​have declined again.

Even in conservative circles it is controversial whether daily appearances benefit the president or harm them. The Wall Street Journal recently published a devastating comment, writing that the briefings had become a dull program in Trump’s fight with the media. The president even referred to this sheet, which was weighed primarily, as “fake news.”