Heather Cox Richardson - February 26, 2020 - Letters From An American

[applegrove]

https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com

"SNIP....

And, indeed, Trump is deeply worried about the stock market, which lost more ground today and whose futures are already set to drop more than 300 points tomorrow. This reflects the news tonight that the United States has its first case of the disease that is a possible result of “community spread,” that is, we don’t know exactly where it came from. This would indicate a wider spread of the disease than we are currently aware of. The coronavirus has hit the world economy as quarantines in Asia have weakened supply chains, and those losses are gradually moving their way into manufacturing and supply here in America (as well as other countries). As the disease runs its course, the slowdown in manufacturing and the movement of goods will slow down economic growth everywhere.

Trump is worried about the dropping stock market because his strongest hope for reelection is a good economy, which he insisted the booming stock market showed. While many observers worried that a high stock market alone does not a healthy economy make, as people are working three jobs to make ends meet and 40% of Americans cannot find $400 for an emergency, the stock market was his go-to proof that things were good. If that drops, his best argument for reelection disappears. If he is not reelected, he is no longer protected from criminal indictment by the power of the presidential office, and many people—I am one—think this looms huge in his mind.

So an expression of concern about the coronavirus, which is hurting international markets (as well as killing people), by his definition is an attack on him by hostile Democrats or the Deep State. Tonight, Trump came to the briefing room podium for the second time in his presidency to defend his handling of the coronavirus, insisting his administration had handled it extremely well. He took the opportunity to call House Speaker Nancy Pelosi incompetent and partisan and to complain about Minority Leader Chuck Schumer while also insisting that his own poll numbers were terrific.

I have had an extremely long day (it’s midterms week) but my read on all this is that Trump is frightened that the weakening of the economy on the news of spreading coronavirus will tank his reelection, and he is circling the wagons to try to look strong. But, unlike Trump’s former opponents, the coronavirus cannot be bullied, and Americans worried by it will not believe it is “fake news” no matter how often Rush Limbaugh tells them it is a hoax by the fictional Deep State.

.......SNIP"