There seems to be a lot of articles out there with headlines claiming that the Coronavirus is the biggest threat to President Donald Trump’s reelection this year. I beg to differ, but I do think this is Joe Biden’s saving grace, if he plays his cards right going forward, and if Trump doesn’t beat him to it.
I’ll start by making this point: No one on this planet is fit to lead someone through a health crisis such as this current outbreak. Of course Trump could have done a better job in recognizing this very point. To admit something is beyond him is hard for him to do, I know, because he sees himself as a leader with America’s best interest at heart.
But we’d be kidding ourselves to place blame on someone for this pandemic. In other words, no one is dying because of Trump, the virus is not here because of Trump and it’s fair to say the two don’t even relate. This virus does not care who is in the White House.
Could Trump have acknowledged things sooner? Sure, but would that time slot have mattered? I don’t believe so. I think he could have declared a national emergency the second there was a death on our soil, but the virus was already here. To use these deaths to pinpoint Trump at the center of the pandemic, as it relates to the United States, is something we need to re-evaluate.
The Coronavirus is a threat to everyone, everywhere. So to say this will negatively impact Trump’s presidency is something I disagree with because he’s been doing the best that he can given what’s available to him, and I do not believe Biden would be doing anything different, other than maybe trying to give free healthcare only to realize it won’t work. As shown in Trump winning the 2016 election, there are still millions of Americans who don’t want that.
A lot of people don’t understand that it takes time to implement things, and this virus continues to be something that we can’t keep up with. That doesn’t mean it is the man behind the resources, rather the resources themselves. We weren’t ready for this, and I don’t see how any country or leader could have been. Maybe now, moving forward.
The other half of this argument, to disagree that Trump will “lose” after this, given the way he responded, is simply the alternative: Biden as a candidate, perhaps whose main objective is on healthcare, could benefit from this pandemic as a means of showing people this crisis is more up his alley than Trump’s, but I don’t think it will be enough because Trump is still the president, and if he’s smart, he’ll notice the efforts of Biden will change, and he’ll begin to show up in those areas.
To say the virus itself is a threat to anyone’s presidency ignores the reality that this pandemic is certainly beyond political agenda. Though it is smart for candidates to use this to their advantage and make good in a bad situation, they must all put their pride aside and put the American people first if they wish to get their vote. Our safety should remain a priority.