Fox News analyst Juan Williams speculated that President Trump could cancel the November election following his response to the coronavirus outbreak.
Williams, a registered Democrat, said in a Monday op-ed for the Hill that the administration has been “incompetent” in its response to the virus and that the president’s Oval Office address to the nation last week was “full of factual errors” and failed to reassure people or the financial market.
“What’s next? Cancel the November election? It could come to that — because despite the power of incumbency and a passionate political base, President Trump’s political prospects are looking shaky,” Williams said in the opening of his op-ed.
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The Fox News pundit said that “Trump regularly fires up his base by telling them he is looking out for them” and listed examples, such as building a border wall and bringing jobs back to the coal industry.
“Well, four years later there is no wall. Coal mines and manufacturing remain in decline. Household debt and the national deficit continue to balloon,” he wrote.
Williams said Trump relies on phrases like “fake news” and the various failings of Democrats to “spin” things in his favor and gain approval from voters.
“The reality is that Trump’s failure to protect Americans from the virus is very hard to spin,” he said.
Trump declared a national emergency last week, which freed up funds and resources to mitigate the spread of the virus that causes COVID-19. “To unleash the full power of the federal government, I’m officially declaring a national emergency — two very big words,” Trump said during a news conference in the White House Rose Garden.
As of Monday morning, there were more than 3,800 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the United States and 69 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker.
U.S. stocks plunged Monday morning, with the S&P 500 falling more than 7%, which triggered a halt in trading at the New York Stock Exchange, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped more than 2,200 points.
