If the president had an interest in anything other than starting political fires (for example, being liked or gaining votes), he would extend more than cursory, once-a-month sympathies for people suffering from the virus. And he wouldn’t suggest moving the November election, which millions of voters, including his own, are surely anticipating as an element of certainty and pride amid the chaos.
Trump’s message seems mostly reliant on making and keeping enemies. The virus has at times been a useful enemy for him but usually only insofar as China is implicated in the matter. For weeks, Portland rioters and Democratic mayors have been his enemy, a foil to his law and order leadership. The violence has either been waning or simply hasn’t gotten as much coverage in the last 48 hours, and now that federal officers are reportedly leaving, the mob looks less like a viable target.
Now, Trump wants to make mail-in voting his enemy. Whatever mail-in’s merits, the dreadful irony is that his suggestion to move the election reflects miserably on him. He has been in charge all along. The virus wasn’t his fault, but the lack of public confidence has ballooned on his watch. The efforts of Vice President Pence and his task force aren’t merely overshadowed by Trump — they’re virtually forgotten. The need that voters and officials see for widespread mail-in voting implicates him as much as anyone or anything else.
Aside from Trump, the GOP has decided not to add to its 2016 platform in a year of health and economic fallout. Who knows how many voters actually read party platforms. But the king of issues right now is the coronavirus. How is it not considered pressing enough to add to a policy booklet? The party obviously thinks Trump can ride in on 2016’s coattails.
Anarchists in Portland and elsewhere want to burn parts of their cities down. Trump often seems like their ideological and political equivalent.
