Trump’s Coronavirus Crisis in Michigan: 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 Michiganders. 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 failure 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.

Michiganders 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.
Michigan had a 16 percent rise in cases in June and new daily case records in July. Despite these alarming trends, Trump has insisted since early February 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 Michigan. 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. Michigan saw its largest single-day case count (891) since May on July 15. As of early August, COVID-19 had killed more than 158,000 Americans across the country and sickened 4.8 million.

Testing

HIM: Trump wants his staff 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, even going as far as threatening to revoke coronavirus relief money from Michigan to ensure his own political success. 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, he publicly bullies Gov. Whitmer and withholds vital federal aid from Michiganders.
While Trump attacked Whitmer’s handling of the virus on Twitter, Michigan was in desperate need of testing kits and PPE. His callous response and lack of compassion for the many who were suffering are a major indication that Trump was prioritizing his own ego over the lives of millions of Americans.

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, even when he came to Michigan.

Trump has politicized mask-wearing. Even when he admitted in an interview to wearing a mask at a Michigan plant, he refused to do so on camera, saying that the press would take “pleasure” in seeing the act.

YOU: The politicization of masks is making the pandemic more dangerous and putting Michiganders 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. This has forced governors like Gretchen Whitmer to issue state-wide mask mandates where there needs to be coordinated federal strategy.

Public Events

HIM: Trump still wanted to carry on with his ego-stroking rallies in Michigan and across the country but bowed to reality when local authorities began to balk.

Trump has already held a series of large public events, ordered up a rally and fireworks display at Mt. Rushmore, removed public safety measures at his Tulsa rally, and insisted on a large crowd for his convention until he received public pushback from Florida authorities. Yet the president believed that Gov. Whitmer’s refusal to allow him to host Michigan rallies is to hurt him politically, rather than a safety precaution.

YOU: Holding these rallies in once and future hotspots like Michigan puts everyone at risk and promotes the dangerous idea that the virus can be ignored.

These events, before mostly un-masked audiences, have endangered not only the attendees but everyone in their communities.

Schools

HIM: Trump is demanding that Michigan 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 he pressured the CDC to loosen guidelines for school reopening. Now, Trump and congressional Republicans are conditioning aid to desperate state and local governments – including in Michigan, where 1 in 3 parents do not wish for their kids to physically attend school this fall – on their agreement to open schools, regardless of the risk to children, staff, and their communities.

YOU: While Trump plays political games with your health, Michiganders are concerned about the health of their children, parents and caregivers, school employees and entire communities.

As Trump argues with the CDC and ignores the objections of public health professionals to give himself a political boost, Gov. Whitmer has developed her own comprehensive school reopening plan to keep Michiganders safe.

Voting

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

In May, the president was so desperate to ensure his reelection that he threatened to withhold federal funds from Michigan if they moved forward with their mail-in voting plans, even though the rate of fraud in the 2016 and 2018 elections was just 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 will discourage many from voting absentee, causing more in-person voting, where 60% of poll workers are seniors, including in Michigan. 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 must-win state of Michigan, 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.