Aides to President Trump reportedly believe he'll "face a harsh judgment from voters" after contracting COVID-19.
After Trump announced that he and first lady Melania Trump had both tested positive for COVID-19, The New York Times reported that "strategists in both parties and even senior aides to Mr. Trump said the president would face a harsh judgment from voters for throwing the country into greater uncertainty after one of the most trying years in American history."
The Times goes on to report that advisers to Trump acknowledge that his positive diagnosis will "remind voters of how dismissive" he has been about the coronavirus. "Mr. Trump's recklessness, one adviser admitted, amounted to a political 'disaster,'" the Times writes. Trump has continued to hold large rallies amid the pandemic and rarely worn a mask, and he told journalist Bob Woodward that he wanted to downplay the risks of COVID-19.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Democratic pollster Geoff Garin told the Times that Trump "is now in the position of becoming exhibit No. 1 for the failure of his leadership on coronavirus, and he runs the risk that his supporters will feel misled by his dismissiveness of the virus and the need for precautions," while Republican consultant Rob Stutzman told the Times that "it's hard to imagine this doesn't end his hopes of re-election."
Ultimately, the Times writes that Trump's "personal indifference toward the virus could threaten his own health, the stability of the country and his already dimming hopes for re-election."
-
The 5 best singers turned actors of all timethe week recommends It's not often that someone is born with both of these rare skill sets
-
'This is exactly what technology should be doing'Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Black women are being pushed out of the workforce en masseIN THE SPOTLIGHT Employment data shows hundreds of thousands of Black women have left the labor market over the past few months. What's behind this mass exodus?
-
RFK Jr. shuts down mRNA vaccine funding at agencySpeed Read The decision canceled or modified 22 projects, primarily for work on vaccines and therapeutics for respiratory viruses
-
Measles cases surge to 33-year highSpeed Read The infection was declared eliminated from the US in 2000 but has seen a resurgence amid vaccine hesitancy
-
Kennedy's vaccine panel signals skepticism, changeSpeed Read RFK Jr.'s new vaccine advisory board intends to make changes to the decades-old US immunization system
-
Kennedy ousts entire CDC vaccine advisory panelspeed read Health Secretary RFK Jr. is a longtime anti-vaccine activist who has criticized the panel of experts
-
RFK Jr. scraps Covid shots for pregnant women, kidsSpeed Read The Health Secretary announced a policy change without informing CDC officials
-
New FDA chiefs limit Covid-19 shots to elderly, sickspeed read The FDA set stricter approval standards for booster shots
-
US overdose deaths plunged 27% last yearspeed read Drug overdose still 'remains the leading cause of death for Americans aged 18-44,' said the CDC
-
Trump seeks to cut drug prices via executive orderspeed read The president's order tells pharmaceutical companies to lower prescription drug prices, but it will likely be thrown out by the courts
