Coronavirus Threatens To Define Final Days Of Election As U.S. Cases Skyrocket

Topline

Coronavirus cases are skyrocketing in the U.S. as the country heads into the final days of the 2020 election, with the pandemic threatening to once again dominate the race even as President Trump pushes frantically to redefine it by focusing on issues he sees as more beneficial.

Key Facts

Chief Critic

“Donald Trump isn’t suddenly going to protect all of us. He can’t even take the basic steps to protect himself,” former President Barack Obama said during a campaign event in Pennsylvania on Wednesday. “This pandemic would have been challenging for any president. But this idea that somehow this White House has done anything but completely screw this up is just not true.”

Crucial Quote

“No one cares,” conservative pollster Frank Luntz said of the Hunter Biden story, which Trump has chosen to focus on in the final days of the campaign, in an interview with Mediaite published Thursday. “I promise you that if that is the focus of their response over the next 48 hours, then Donald Trump will not win this election.”

Big Number

55%. That’s the share of likely voters in a Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday who said they favor Biden on his approach to dealing with the coronavirus, compared to just 38% who said Trump. Trump has a 57% disapproval rating on the virus in the poll as Biden leads him by 10 points, 52% to 42%.

What To Watch For

While Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and Sen. Kamala Harris are all scheduled to travel to swing states on Friday, Biden will hang back in his home state of Delaware, a safely Democratic state. While that may seem perplexing just 11 days out from the election, the topic of his scheduled remarks offers a clue into the thinking behind the move: Biden will discuss “his plans to beat COVID-19 and get our economy back on track.”

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