It seems inevitable that President Donald Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic would have an effect on his likelihood to be re-elected, and judging by the 2020 US election odds – it’s done just that! With Trump’s grip on the Covid-19 situation fluctuating, along with his views, it’s hard to say that he’s dealt with the pandemic in the best way. 

Let’s look at the timeline of Trump’s reactions to the emergence of the coronavirus, this year.

January 22^nd 

One day prior, the first confirmed case of Covid-19 in the US was reported, in the state of Washington. Perhaps in reaction to the news, Trump made his first public comment on the coronavirus pandemic, reassuring the public that:

“We have it totally under control. It’s one person coming in from China, and we have it under control. It’s – going to be just fine.”

January 29^th 

On this day, Trump received an official briefing on the coronavirus, and its progression in China. Afterwards, he took to Twitter to let his fans know that the US is “on top of it 24/7”.

January 31^st

Trump finally suspends entry into the US for certain categories of people who are travelling in from China. At the time, many epidemiologists hailed the decision as an emotional or political reaction, rather than an actual with the public’s health in mind. 

February 4^th 

Trump came under fire following his annual State of the Union speech, as he only briefly touched on the US response to the virus. In fact, throughout February, Trump and the government are criticized for downplaying the pandemic.

February 25^th

Trump requests $2.5 billion from Congress, to put towards developing a vaccine, corona testing and PPE equipment.

February 27^th 

Trump’s public statements begin to take a slightly concerning approach, as he now theorises that the virus is:

“going to disappear one day. It’s like a miracle, it will [just] disappear.”

February 28^th

At a rally in South Carolina, Trump refers to Covid-19 as the Democrats’ “new hoax” – suggesting that the phenomenon had been politicalised and perhaps exaggerated just to “beat him”.

March 5^th 

In general, the virus began to heavily dominate people’s day-to-day lives throughout March. On the day in question, President Trump gave himself a pat on the back, suggesting that because the US closed their borders to travellers coming from China, they helped to keep their case levels low.

March 9^th

Back to his habitual Twitter rants, Trump compares the coronavirus to the common flu, once again downplaying the severity of the pandemic. Not only that, but the comparison had already been debunked by scientific experts previously.

March 16^th

Trump announces a “15 Days to Stop the Spread” CDC guideline initiative, also encouraging social distancing. A couple of days later the US-Canada border is closed, a more positive and pro-active response to the virus.

March 19^th

Trump goes viral online, not for the first time, after he dubs the coronavirus as the “Chinese Virus” during a press conference. Keen-eyed journalists noticed that Trump had actually made handwritten amendments to his notes, just to add in the xenophobic remark.

—

October 2^nd 

Fast forward to October, and things had hit rock bottom for the President. After travelling and attending various meetings throughout September, Trump took to Twitter to break the news that both himself and the FLOTUS (Melania Trump) had tested positive for Covid-19.  Whilst the couple received well wishes and sympathy from their supporters, others were quick to point out that the diagnosis was most likely a result of not taking the virus as seriously as they should have done.

—Trump’s jumping from one extreme opinion to another will undoubtedly have a negative effect on the way he’ll be received in the election. However, his own personal dabble with the disease could bag him a sympathy vote or two. How do you think Trump has handled the global coronavirus pandemic?