This is an excerpt of the October 6 edition of CNN’s Meanwhile in America, the daily email about US politics for global readers. Click here to read past editions and subscribe.
There’s nothing to fear.
That was President Donald Trump’s message to Americans as he pulled off his mask on the White House balcony, in the denouement of a bizarre and propagandistic comeback amid his bout with Covid-19.
“Don’t let (the coronavirus) dominate you. Don’t be afraid of it. You’re gonna beat it,” Trump said in a video he filmed on his return from hospital, posing as a conquering warrior who sacrificed himself for the American people.
Never mind that 210,000 Americans are already dead. Forget that mere mortals don’t have access to the kinds of experimental drugs and state-of-the-art care still being administered to Trump — and that his administration is trying to take away health insurance from millions. And ignore the fact that the pandemic is getting worse in the US; in the days since Trump’s diagnosis, thousands of Americans have died of the virus.
Trump’s illness has not caused him to reflect on his mismanagement of the crisis or the gravity of this winter’s expected spike in cases. Instead, the President fired off perhaps his most irresponsible comments about the virus yet and made a show of defying the mask guidelines that could save thousands of lives this winter.
There is no doubt that the President’s release from the hospital is based on political indicators — his doctors have warned he is “not out of the woods yet.” The President is setting a returning hero narrative in his effort to turn around his polling deficit to Democrat Joe Biden.
A new CNN/SSRS poll, however, finds that Trump’s erratic performance in recent days and relentless White House misinformation about his condition have taken a further toll on his political prospects. Some 69% of Americans said they trusted little of what they heard from the White House about the President’s health, with only 12% saying they trusted almost all of it. In a new high, 60% said they disapprove of Trump’s handling of the pandemic.
The President might not be afraid of the virus, but these numbers show he’s got plenty to fear 28 days before Election Day. On the basis of his behavior on Monday night — so does everyone else.
Meanwhile in the Biden campaign
Asked whether he would debate Trump on October 15, Biden began to answer — but paused as his wife pulled him to acceptable social distancing ranges. “If the scientists say that it’s safe and the distance are safe, then that’s fine. I’ll do whatever the experts say is appropriate to do,” he said.
‘Trump would not be in this situation if he’d been vaccinated with Sputnik V’
Russian researchers have a suggestion for Trump. Vladimir Gushchin, head of the state-run Gamaleya Institute, where the fast-tracked Sputnik V vaccine was developed, told CNN that the outbreak of coronavirus in the White House was proof the US should swallow its pride and try Russia’s vaccine. “Now would be a good time for the US to seriously consider the Russian vaccine to defend themselves against Covid-19,” he said. “Trump would not be in this situation if he’d been vaccinated with Sputnik V.”
Who has it?
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is now ground zero of a coronavirus outbreak that has engulfed more than a dozen members of Trump’s inner circle. His expedited return raises questions over whether the White House is taking its responsibility to protect staffers’ health any more seriously now. If anything, recent stunts suggest the opposite: Multiple active Secret Service agents told CNN that they viewed a weekend decision to drive the Covid-positive President past supporters as “reckless” and that it “never should have happened.”
Who else has tested positive so far? CNN is tracking them here.
- First lady Melania Trump
- Presidential adviser Hope Hicks
- White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany
- Assistant to the President Nicholas Luna
- Republican Senator Mike Lee of Utah
- Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina
- Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin
- Former counselor Kellyanne Conway
- Assistant press secretary Chad Gilmartin
- Assistant press secretary Karoline Leavitt
- Campaign Manager Bill Stepien
- RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel
- Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie
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