The Trump campaign is scrambling to reshape its plans for the final month before Election Day following the president’s positive test for COVID-19, canceling this weekend’s appearances and discussing whether other key figures can take on bigger roles.
President Trump has put his own health, and the perception that Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is declining, at the center of his appeal to voters, holding his trademark rallies sometimes in breach of local coronavirus restrictions.
With their principal now confined to his White House quarters, campaign officials met on Friday morning to work out new plans for a critical period of the race.
A source familiar with campaign strategy said: “There are virtual events, his surrogates get huge numbers at events. … There’s all sorts of things we can do, but this could not have come at a worse time.”
Trump campaign aides must figure out which staff members need to quarantine and who can go out for public appearances. Similarly, White House officials are understood to be discussing whether the president can appear on camera in the White House and what precautions TV networks might demand to protect their staff.
Campaign manager Bill Stepien sent a memo to staff urging them to quarantine if they had been exposed to anyone with the virus.
“While some public events will be taken down, the campaign office remains open, and our nationwide team will continue with our efforts to reelect President Trump,” he said.
Trump had been scheduled to meet supporters at his Washington hotel on Friday afternoon before flying to Orlando, Florida, for an airport rally. On Saturday, he was scheduled to be in the key battleground state of Wisconsin before traveling to Philadelphia a day later to thank a firefighters union for its endorsement.
The crisis could propel figures such as Donald Trump Jr. and Kimberly Guilfoyle, who are huge draws with supporters, or Vice President Mike Pence to take on more central roles.
“Everyone is being tested right now, but I think the travel schedule will be maintained in terms of Don Jr, Kimberly, Eric, Lara, Ivanka,” said a second figure familiar with campaign thinking. “I think we need to wait a couple of days on the president’s health, but if he remains good, then I’d expect him to come out this weekend or Monday to talk to the nation. But what that looks like, I don’t know.”
Republican strategist Ron Bonjean said it was too early to gauge the impact on the campaign and that the president would find a way to connect with voters from quarantine by following the news and contributing via Twitter.
“The president likes to showcase strength, as we know, and we’ll have to see what that translates into. It’s very early, but I don’t think this is going to have an impact on the base with his numbers or the dynamic,” he said. “It just takes him out of campaigning in person.”
But beyond the canceled appearances, the diagnosis could spell a blow to two of the key themes of his reelection campaign.
Aides made much of the president’s vigor and visibility on the campaign trail, holding rallies in battleground states while his opponent stayed at home during the worst months of the pandemic.
And he has consistently put an optimistic tint on the crisis, pushing hard to reopen the country and return to normalcy.
During a virtual appearance at the Al Smith annual charity dinner on Thursday night, Trump said: “We’re on track to develop and distribute our vaccine before the end of the year, maybe substantially before. And I just want to say that the end of the pandemic is in sight.”
Costas Panagopoulos, professor of political science at Northeastern University, said the positive test will keep the national conversation on COVID-19, a topic in which the Trump administration polls badly, and that it will reduce his visibility in the campaign.
“He has tried to put as positive a spin on the pandemic as possible for months,” he said. “At a minimum, people will wonder how he can adopt policies that can protect them if the president cannot protect himself.”
