President Trump has probably been advised to tread lightly when discussing the 2020 race. But it would be a big mistake to believe in any way that the campaign has stopped or that the president should behave as though he has to shy away from confronting Joe Biden, his likely rival.
Neither Trump nor Biden can host public events, which works to Biden’s benefit. The less he’s seen in public, the fewer chances he has to stutter, stumble, and slight this or that identity group.
But though the president’s trademark megarallies are one of his strongest assets, his other strength is accessibility. He talks to more reporters on and off the record than any president before him, and it helps him drive his message. He would help himself by agreeing to more sit-down interviews, especially on TV and outside of Fox News, though speaking with the national papers, as much as I hate them all, would also stand to benefit his campaign.
Biden doesn’t like be in public at all because then he says things like, “I’ve got hairy legs that turn blonde in the sun, and the kids used to come up and reach into the pool and rub my leg down so it was straight and then watch the hair come back up again.”
As Trump knows, it’s very easy and very effective to use a crisis as a way to contrast leadership style. But where he has another disadvantage is that his administration has to manage the current health scare over the coronavirus, and Biden does not. Trump has not done a stellar job to stop the spread of the virus and save more lives — there continue to be shortages of test kits two months later — and maybe Biden couldn’t have done any better in his place. But it’s up to Trump to produce results and convince the country that he did everything possible under the circumstances.
Democrats and Republicans alike, including Trump, are disingenuously pleading that the response to the virus spread not be made political. That’s impossible. It’s an election year, and voters are going to have to decide whether they think Trump is competent enough for another term or if he needs to be replaced.
The president will have to stay focused on managing the health scare, but he’ll simultaneously have to continue campaigning for reelection. That’s entirely appropriate, but if he doesn’t, he’s going to give the stage over to Biden, and that may hurt his presidency more than getting political.
