Depending on how devastating the Wuhan coronavirus turns out to be in this country, President Trump’s response, and the way it’s perceived, might determine the outcome of this year’s presidential election. So far, aspects of Trump’s response do not bode well for him and for those of us who want to see him reelected.
A week ago, during a press conference at the CDC, Trump insisted that anyone who wants to be tested for the virus can get a test. Trump appeared with the Secretary of HHS, Alex Azar, and CDC officials, who also spoke. More than once, Trump interrupted the speaker to make a claim about the availability of testing.
The precise claim varied. Once, Trump said that “anybody that wants a test can get a test, that’s what the bottom line is.” Later, he said that “anybody that needs a test” can get one. He added that the tests are “perfect,” just like his conversation with the Ukrainian president about investigating the 2016 election and the Bidens.
The claim that anyone who wants a test for the virus can get one was false when Trump made it. It may be false even now, a week later. Indeed, Vice President Pence, who I think has acquitted himself well in this matter so far, had acknowledged the day before that the U.S. could not meet the demand for testing. (The truth of the claim that anyone who needs a test can get one hinges on how one defines “needs.”)
The administration promptly walked back Trump’s false claim about how easy it is to get tested. Secretary Azar explained “you may not get a test unless a doctor or public health official prescribes a test.”
Azar defended Trump’s statement as “shorthand” for the fact that the federal government is “not restricting who can get tested.” Rather, “we are leaving that to the professional judgment of doctors and public health officials.”
But that’s very different from the absence of any restrictions on who can get tested, which is what Trump claimed. At best, Trump confused the absence of a federal restriction on testing with testing for anyone who wants to be tested. That’s not good enough in times like these.
Trump also fluffed his lines during his speech from the oval office. He said, erroneously, that the travel ban with Europe would include cargo and trade. Realizing his error, Trump promptly told his aides to make sure our European trading partners understand that the restriction does not apply to goods. He even tweeted to that “the restriction stops people not goods.”
The mainstream media seized on Trump’s error, asserting that it triggered a stock market meltdown. I don’t know about that. There are plenty of other reasons why stocks might have plunged the next day.
But Trump can’t afford to keep committing errors when he talks about the Wuhan coronavirus, especially errors about something as pressing in the minds of Americans as the availability of testing. If Trump can’t do better than he has so far, he would be well advised to let Mike Pence do nearly all of the administration’s talking about this matter.
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