Trump seeks to flip pandemic script with convention

Republicans at their convention this week have cast the country as moving past the COVID-19 pandemic, seeking to offset one of President Trump’s most significant hurdles to reelection.

A produced video segment that aired Monday portrayed Trump as a leader who “took decisive action to save lives” while Democrats and the media downplayed the virus. The video featured clips of cable news contributors and some lawmakers saying before there was known widespread transmission that Americans did not need to worry about the virus.

The video did not note the administration’s struggles to ramp up testing or distribute personal protective equipment, nor did it mention Trump’s own dismissal of the virus earlier this year. Trump told reporters in March that he expected cases would soon be “close to zero.” He said as recently as this month that he believes the virus is “going away.”

Larry Kudlow, the president’s top economic adviser, attracted attention Tuesday for referring to the pandemic in the past tense repeatedly during his pre-recorded remarks.

“Then came a once in 100-year pandemic,” Kudlow said after championing the economic achievements of Trump’s first three years. “It was awful. Health and economic impacts were tragic. Hardship and heartbreak were everywhere. But, presidential leadership came swiftly and effectively.”

While cases have recently dropped in the United States, the nation has by far the most reported infections and deaths from COVID-19 of any country in the world, with 5.7 million infections and roughly 178,000 deaths.

The Trump strategy at the convention banks on persuadable voters being convinced that the worst of the pandemic has passed, even as thousands of new cases are reported each day and deaths climb.

The president has been featured in multiple pre-recorded segments. In one, he stood with front-line workers who complimented his actions during the pandemic.

In four convention events attended by Trump at the White House, there was minimal social distancing and neither the president nor any of the guests wore masks, flouting recommendations from his administration’s top health officials.

First lady Melania Trump on Tuesday night offered the most extensive show of sympathy thus far for the lives lost to the pandemic, something the president has largely avoided doing.

“My deepest sympathy goes out to everyone who has lost a loved one and my prayers are with those who are ill or suffering,” she said. “I know many people are anxious and some feel helpless. I want you to know you are not alone.”

When it comes to the coronavirus, the convention largely has focused on legislation Trump has signed to aid small businesses, the eventual ramped-up distribution of personal protective equipment and the ongoing development of a vaccine and therapeutics to treat the virus.

“This convention has taken the issue of the coronavirus head on,” communications director Tim Murtaugh said in a statement, citing the first lady’s speech and the president’s segments with front-line workers.

The first lady’s speech was delivered in front of dozens of White House officials, lawmakers and other guests who were seated closely together without masks. CNN reported that guests were not tested for COVID-19 prior to the event, adding to the risk.

The president’s speech on Thursday is expected to feature an even larger crowd, with guests arriving from around the country to look on from the south lawn.

The campaign has consulted with a coronavirus adviser and instituted “necessary precautions,” according to an official, but it’s unclear if guests will be tested prior to Trump’s address.

Polls are providing some encouraging news for Trump. A new CNBC-Change Research poll released Wednesday found the number of likely voters in six battleground states expressing serious concern about the coronavirus dropping 4 points since earlier this month, from 69 percent to 65 percent.

The share of respondents who said they have “very serious concerns” about the pandemic fell from 49 percent to 45 percent in recent weeks, according to the poll of voters in Arizona, Florida, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Meanwhile, the number of battleground state respondents who approve of Trump’s handling of the pandemic is on the upswing, rising to 47 percent from 44 percent earlier this month.

Nationally, the number of likely voters who are seriously concerned about the coronavirus pandemic held steady at 71 percent. And approval of Trump’s handling of the situation also remained the same at 42 percent, according to the CNBC-Change Research poll. 

Democratic nominee Joe Biden made Trump’s handling of the coronavirus a central message of his party’s convention last week. Trump’s handling of the pandemic was the main line of attack among speakers, and the presentation of the Democratic event was drastically altered.

Where the president and first lady will speak to a crowd of supporters, Biden and vice presidential nominee Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) spoke to a mostly empty auditorium, save for their spouses and journalists. Republican National Convention speakers traveled to Washington, D.C., to speak from the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium, while most Democratic speakers spoke from their home states.

“President Trump’s [convention] is an alternate reality,” Kate Bedingfield, deputy campaign director for the Biden campaign, said in a statement. “In this delusion, thousands of Americans didn’t die in the last week from COVID-19, nor have millions of Americans been infected or put out of work.”

Vice President Pence, the leader of the White House coronavirus task force, is set to deliver the keynote address on Wednesday night. He is likely to discuss the pandemic response, and campaign officials believe he may be the most effective messenger to frame it as a success.

“If the Democrats choose to continue this line of attack, he’s happy to shove it right back in their face,” a senior campaign official said.