Trump’s Coronavirus Crisis in Arizona It’s About Him, Not You

Every day, reporting sheds new light on President Trump’s disastrous mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic, the consequent economic crisis, and the impact on the everyday lives of Arizonans. These failures, born of Trump’s incompetence and bottomless narcissism, are no longer surprising to anyone. What is less obvious for many voters, however, is the direct harm that his selfish mismanagement has caused to them.

If you follow politics closely, this inability by voters to connect the dots may strike you as surprising. But Third Way’s research shows that while Trump’s selfishness is obvious to everyone, the impact on voters’ lives is not.

Arizonans know that Trump cares only about himself. What many don’t know is why they should care. Democrats must tell them, with clear and simple examples like these:

The Pandemic

HIM: Trump is selling the fantasy that COVID-19 will ‘magically disappear’ because he thinks it will boost his poll numbers and the stock market.

Since the start of the pandemic in January, 55 percent of the total number of cases in Arizona (95,343) up until that point — came in July. Despite these alarming trends, Trump continues to insist that the virus is a “Democratic hoax” that will just go away on its own. He thinks that by disregarding safety measures, he has a better story to tell voters and that it will reassure investors.

YOU: The virus is out of control everywhere, including in Arizona. Because of Trump’s self-serving fiction about it going away on its own, his Administration has no plan to stop it, putting every American in physical danger.

Trump’s response has been the worst in the world, with the US seeing the most cases and most deaths overall of any nation on earth. As of August 10th, Arizona has experienced nearly 200,000 cases of COVID-19 and 4,899 deaths. The disease has become the third-leading cause of death in the state this year. As of early August, COVID-19 had killed more than 179,000 Americans across the country and sickened more than 5.8 million.

Testing

HIM: Trump wants to slow down testing to make it seem as if case numbers are lower.

President Trump has ordered coronavirus testing be slowed down because he thinks this will result in lower case numbers. He has gone as far as pushing to block billions of dollars in the new relief bill that would go to testing and tracing. He is doing this even while many states struggle with testing, like in Arizona, where there are three-mile-long car lines at testing sites. He believes (bizarrely) that more testing means more cases, and more cases are bad for him politically.

YOU: Instead of providing desperately needed leadership and assistance, Trump praises Gov. Ducey’s delayed response and withholds vital federal aid from Arizonans.

In July, there was no country in the world where coronavirus cases were growing as rapidly as they were in Arizona. But chronic testing and processing delays of up to two weeks in the state continue to make it harder to slow the spread. Despite all of this, Trump has praised Arizona as a “national model” in battling the pandemic even though Governor Ducey’s response was largely delayed until after caseloads worsened in June to levels so dangerous that it became the first state to enact ‘crisis care’ standards.

Masks

HIM: Until he realized it was politically damaging for him, Trump supported those who refused to wear masks, and refused to wear one himself in public.

Trump has politicized mask-wearing. He even refused to wear a mask while visiting a mask factory in Arizona. He and his team also hosted a rally in Phoenix in June during a coronavirus spike, in an indoor auditorium, to a crowd of 3,000 mostly unmasked audience members.

YOU: The politicization of masks is making the pandemic more dangerous and putting Arizonans at risk.

For roughly five months, the President rejected science and ignored pleas from the CDC Director, who said that the virus would be under control in 4-8 weeks if everyone wore a mask. In a scathing obituary, the daughter of a Mexican-American Phoenix resident, who died from the coronavirus, put the blame squarely on Governor Ducey and Trump for opening the state too early and minimizing the risks of the disease. She urged, as many public health officials have, for Trump to adopt a federal mask requirement, instead of allowing localities to issue mask orders in a patchwork of safety measures that the state is struggling to enforce.

Public Events

HIM: Trump has urged states to rush their reopenings, including in Arizona, where he’s hosted numerous ego-stroking events.

President Trump encouraged states to open too early, including in Arizona. He has visited Arizona numerous times during the pandemic, to visit the border, tour a face mask factory, and host an indoor rally.

YOU: Holding rallies in COVID hotspots like Arizona puts everyone at risk and promotes the dangerous idea that the virus can be ignored.

Before mostly unmasked audiences, Trump’s events have endangered not only the attendees but everyone in their communities. His prioritization of hosting in-person campaign events is clearly more important to him than testing and controlling the virus.

Schools

HIM: Trump is demanding that Arizona schools reopen with few safety protocols because he believes that will help him politically.

Trump has threatened to withhold federal aid from schools that do not reopen and has pressured the CDC to loosen guidelines for school reopening. Now, following suit, Gov. Ducey and congressional Republicans are conditioning aid to desperate state and local governments on their agreement to open schools, regardless of the risk to children, staff, and their communities.

YOU: While Trump plays political games, Arizona’s educators and doctors are worried about the health of their children, parents and caregivers, school employees, and entire communities.

Even though most parents are uncomfortable with their children returning to school, Trump continues to push to reopen schools, attacking the CDC and ignoring public health professionals’ objections to give himself a political boost. With no national leadership, local education officials are struggling to manage school reopening in a safe and measured way.

Voting

HIM: Trump thinks that discrediting mail-in-voting will help his election prospects, so he’s trying to turn public opinion against it.

The President is so desperate to ensure his reelection that he has attacked vote-by-mail for months and sued multiple states to try and stop their efforts to make voting safer. Recently, Trump met with Governor Ducey at the White House, and when discussing absentee voting in Arizona, he called the process a “nightmare.” Trump has also threatened to withhold federal funds from states if they moved forward with their mail-in voting plans. In reality, the rate of fraud is extraordinarily low (0.0025 percent) and the President and many of his staffers vote-by-mail.

YOU: The reality is that creating distrust for mail-in-voting will harm the demographic that is simultaneously the most at-risk for COVID-19 and the most present at polls: seniors.

Trump’s claims of fraud will discourage many from voting absentee, causing more in-person voting, where 60% of poll workers are seniors, including in Arizona. There is absolutely no evidence of systemic bias toward one party in mail-in voting, and the rate of fraud is incredibly low.

Conclusion

It is incumbent upon everyone working to defeat Trump, especially in the battleground state of Arizona, that we make clear the connection between Trump’s selfishness and their own lives. As we discovered in 2016, voters can conclude that his conduct (like on the “Access Hollywood” tape) might be abhorrent, but it remains irrelevant to their everyday lives. This time, they must understand that his selfishness in the face of a pandemic matters enormously: it is dangerous to them, their families, and their communities.