Long defensively in the face of the federal reaction to coronaviruses, President Trump began to devote himself to the offensive against his Democratic rivals.
“Today we saw Joe Biden continue to politicize a pandemic and show his terrible disrespect for the American people,” Trump said at a press conference at the White House. “That’s what it is. In each and every change, Biden focused on the virus, ignoring clinical evidence and putting left-wing politics ahead of facts and evidence.”
Trump argues that the so-called Democratic presidential candidate has opposed bans and supports uniform national policies that would keep the economy’s crippling blockades in its position beyond the recommendations of clinical advisers.
“Sleepy Joe opposed bans in China and Europe. You know,” Trump said Thursday. “He opposed the ban in China that I soon instituted the ban in Europe that I instituted quite soon.” Trump then invoked Dr. Anthony Fauci: “He said President Trump took a big resolution by banning China.”
Trump criticized the concept of a national mask mandate while urged that he be dressed voluntarily in a protective mask when social distance is not possible. “If the president has the unilateral force to order each and every citizen to cover his face in almost every case, what other forces do he have?” Asked. “That’s why he refused, Biden, to answer questions. You may not respond to any of them.”
“It’s the best time,” said a Republican member. “While Democrats are innocent, Trump continues with his ridiculous narrative that there’s nothing to see here. And that kills him in the polls.”
After a brief demonstration in March, the public gave Trump low ratings on his handling of the pandemic. That’s a main explanation for why Biden overcame it in the polls. The former vice president accused Trump of refusing to seek to involve the virus. His new running mate, Kamala Harris, went even further.
“This virus has affected almost every single country,” the Democratic senator for California said. “But there is an explanation for why it has hit America worse than any other complex country. It’s because Trump didn’t take it seriously.”
Democrats point to an increase in the number of instances and nearly 170,000 deaths in the United States, adding just under 1,500 Wednesday alone, as evidence of Trump’s failure. They also point out that Biden is calling for a federal policy that imposes masks, only urging state governors to do so at the national level. Trump argues that the Democrats’ solution is to “lock all Americans in their basements for months.”
“The president has done precisely what the federal government deserves to do: the efforts of states and local communities,” Republican strateman Bradley Blakeman said. “It is up to states to take care of their own populations. President Trump has never once rejected state and local governments, whether personal, apparatus, or monetary aid.”
“My administration has exercised authority under the Defense Production Act at a number (and similar authorities) 78 times, dispersing more than $3.5 billion to drive progression and material manufacturing,” Trump said Friday, adding, “I’ve used DPA more fully than any president in history.”
“By invoking DPA, we mobilized General Motors’ ordinary productive force to make fans,” Trump continued. “GM reused the Kokomo, Indiana plant in just 17 days (an absolute record) and has now produced more than 21,000 fans.” He also cited really significant increases in the production of N95 masks.
“Overall, we have a higher production of N95 mask across 400 million mask consistent with the year,” Trump said. Now the media says, “Why not 500? Why not 600? “No one has ever noticed numbers like this.”
The return comes at a precarious time for Trump. A PBS Newshour/NPR/Marist ballot released Friday found that 53% of American adults relied on Biden to deal with coronavirus, and only 37% for the president. This leads to Trump’s fall to a 39% overall approval score. In the same vote, Biden led Trump among the recorded electorate from 53% to 42%.
This suggests that Trump has many things to do to convince the electorate that he is up to the task, even if his allies’ perceptions are unfair.
“A one-time length for everyone: what’s smart for California is rarely very necessarily smart for South Carolina,” Blakeman said. “Most of the complaints of the president’s movements are made through failed Democratic regimes and left-wing media supporters. Humans cannot avoid hurricanes, tornadoes, volcanoes, solar flares, tsunamis or pandemics. We can only seek to mitigate and succeed in the herbal crisis with as few people as possible. It’s too easy to blame and deflect responsibility.”
“For Joe,” Trump said at the White House, “I would say avoid gambling policies with the virus.”