WASHINGTON – As the country is hit by a record number of coronavirus cases, some states are stopping its reopening, and hospitals at hot spots are becoming overwhelmed, President Donald Trump has stayed in a place he doesn’t usually find: the margin.
The lower profile of the president is by design, said a senior administration official.
The last hope among top aides is that by keeping Trump out of the day, the administration can depoliticize the virus response, the official said. Trump’s comments on everything from masks to taking an experimental drug have sparked controversy and led to battles with Democrats and public health experts. An outside adviser said he has warned for months that there is only one downside to having Trump as the public face of the response.
The president made only a few passing references to the growing number of cases this week, and said during a speech on the economy that there are “some areas where we are putting out the flames or the fires and that is working well.” In an interview with Fox Business Network on Wednesday, Trump said of the virus: “I think at some point that will just go away, I hope.”
Instead, the president focused most of his firepower on defending monuments and military bases in honor of Confederate leaders, promoting the economy, making unsubstantiated allegations about voting by mail, and attacking the media. During a speech at Mount Rushmore on Friday, he attacked people who want to remove Confederate, patriarchal, and colonial monuments as a threat to the country’s existence, only briefly mentioning the virus that has killed more than 129,000 Americans.
Behind the scenes, Trump has also taken a largely hands-free approach. You are informed at least once a day of the number of cases and the latest efforts in a vaccine and treatment, but you have not been attending the coronavirus task force meetings, traveling to the most affected states, or urging Americans to change their behavior.
Trump will probably give the country an update on the pandemic situation next week, but “he is not going to be the daily voice on this,” said the top administration official. Instead, the White House is sending Vice President Mike Pence to meet with the governors and answer questions from journalists, while Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus response coordinator and the Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar do more media interviews
It is in stark contrast to the approach taken by previous presidents, who used times of crisis to present themselves as commanders-in-chief who lead the country through the disaster, such as Presidents George W. Bush after the September 11 attacks and Barack Obama during the financial period. crisis.
Trump’s attempt to take center stage when cases increased in April failed and led to declining poll numbers, as his coronavirus press briefings strayed from the topic and turned into fair sessions. with journalists. After a briefing in which he reflected from the White House podium on whether lye could be injected into his body to kill the virus, aides said they were able to convince him to cut down on events.
Despite efforts by attendees to highlight his response, including Trump’s dispatch of protective equipment and fans to production plants, only 38 percent of Americans said they approved of his handling of the crisis, while 58 percent disapproved, according to a New York Times / Siena College survey released June 24. Joe Biden has begun to step up his attacks on the president’s handling of the pandemic.
As the administration resumed coronavirus press briefings this week amid increasing new infections, it pulled out the White House events to make them appear less political and prevent Trump from making a cameo, authorities said.
Now the administration has returned to where it was initially in March, with Pence taking the lead in public and behind the scenes.
As Pence traveled to Texas on Sunday to meet with the state governor about the staggering number of cases there, Trump stayed in Washington, taking a trip to his Virginia golf course. Pence traveled to Arizona on Wednesday, where the state reported a record number of infections and deaths, while Trump had no public events that day. On Thursday, Pence was in Florida urging younger residents to take precautions when Trump delivered a speech to business leaders in Washington, touching the coronavirus to blame China for the pandemic and promotion treatments.
“The president is in a ‘damn if he does, damned if he doesn’t’ position. No matter what he says, he will be politicized,” said Seth Denson, president of GDP Advisors, who has been working with health care. companies that responded to the pandemic. “He is in a situation of not winning. It is better to put those who seem to be more specific to the subject at hand.”
