COVID Backfiring on Media, New Polling Shows Trump Thrashing Biden, Likely Thanks to Virus Fallout
It wasn’t hard to predict what the media would do with COVID-19. In no time at all, it was transformed from a foreign virus into a bludgeon against President Donald Trump.
It’s what the media has done with every event since Trump came down the escalator in 2015. True to form, the media has simply continued doing what comes naturally: blaming Trump.
At this point, people who are wise to the media’s dishonest games know to expect this type of politicized spin — the question now is whether or not the spin is working.
In the span of one month, the landscape of the 2020 presidential election has drastically changed. Trump’s campaign position went from one of a thriving economy and packed rallies to one of financial devastation and oppressive social distancing.
Despite the blatantly biased media coverage, can his re-election campaign survive this?
According to a March Washington Post-ABC News poll, it can.
“Trump has moved from what was a seven-point deficit in February to a near tie with Biden today,” the Washington Post reported. Among registered voters, Trump is favored by 47 percent, just two points behind Biden’s 49 percent.
With the massive scale of the COVID-19 response and the unprecedented disruption of American lives, it would not be implausible to think this pandemic might be the issue that finally gave the media some headway against Trump. However, that does not seem to be happening.
While Trump and Biden were neck-in-neck in overall favorability, Trump took the lead on issue-specific questions, including his response to the pandemic.
Fifty-two percent of those polled trust Trump more when it comes to handling the economy, while 42 percent trust Biden more. On the specific question of trust when it comes to handling the coronavirus outbreak, 47 percent trusted Trump more compared to 43 percent trusting Biden more.
The poll also had hopeful news for the Trump campaign when it comes to voter enthusiasm.
Fifty-five percent of registered voters who support Trump were very enthusiastic about backing him in November, and 31 percent were somewhat enthusiastic. For registered voters supporting Biden, just 28 percent were very enthusiastic, while 46 percent were somewhat enthusiastic.
The Washington Post-ABC News poll was conducted via telephone between March 22-25 among a random sample of 1,003 adults with a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points.
The mainstream media have never understood Trump or the connection he has with his supporters. As Rush Limbaugh has said throughout Trump’s presidency, the media did not create the connection between Trump and his voters and it cannot break it.
COVID-19 may be the most demonstrative issue yet of the media’s inability to sway Trump’s supporters. During times of crisis, people want stability and strength.
Even those who oppose him begrudgingly acknowledge that Trump cannot be beaten when it comes to his level of energy, least of all by Joe Biden.
Even if massive strides are made in medical treatments and the economy gains momentum, we will certainly still be dealing with the fallout from this virus in November.
Is it realistic to think a majority of American voters will want to jump ship from Trump and switch to Biden?
Nothing about Joe Biden projects an image of competence. It seems that Democratic Party leaders realize this and are trying to limit his public exposure as much as possible. As Trump has pointed out, Biden’s responses to the coronavirus pandemic have seemed extremely out of touch.
Biden’s best quality as a Democratic candidate, and possibly his only advantage, is that he is not as overtly crazy as the others. He is not as threatening as the outright socialists.
But when people are looking for recovery, Biden’s tone of neutrality is not going to be enough. Americans are going to want to revitalize our economy and are going to want the most energetic person for the job.
The media will never acknowledge it, but voters know one thing when it comes to Trump and the economy: He built it up once, and he can do it again.
Perhaps the most important strength for President Trump is that he understands what we are fighting for in a way that the media never will.
As progressives across the country exploit coronavirus to push their agendas, they create another important contrast for voters to consider in November:
They want to use the crisis to fundamentally change America. President Trump wants to keep America great and rebuild stronger than ever.
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