Democrats try to hit Trump delicately on virus, economy
WASHINGTON — Democrats are wrestling over how best to assail President Donald Trump for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic and the economy’s shutdown, even as the country lurches into an unpredictable campaign season during its most devastating crisis in decades.
Trump has provided Democrats with plenty of political fodder, including leading a slow-footed federal response to an outbreak that has caused profound economic, health and social disruption. Democrats are already using reams of video of Trump denying and playing down a crisis now killing hundreds of Americans daily, erasing millions of jobs and closing countless businesses.
Underscoring a Democratic consensus that Trump’s own words will be a potent weapon, Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Wis., said, “Donald Trump does have the biggest bully pulpit. But fortunately for Democrats, Donald Trump has the biggest bully pulpit.”
Yet seven months from Election Day, Democrats have not matched the attention Trump can command with daily, nationally televised briefings that can exceed two hours.
And they’re juggling conflicting instincts: attack Trump aggressively now and risk accusations of using a catastrophe for political reasons, or wait until society starts returning to normal.
That might give him time to define himself as a wartime president battling a virus that’s enveloped the globe.
“There has been gross incompetence” by Trump, and that’s “a huge vulnerability,” said Jim Margolis, a leading Democratic communications consultant. “But Democrats must take care not to gratuitously attack the administration or look like they are playing politics with a crisis.”
“A purely partisan attack is inappropriate for the times we’re in,” said former Rep. Steve Israel, D-N.Y., whoonce headed the House Democrats’ campaign organization.
Both approaches — strike vigorously now or later — are being tested in real time.
Former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, has faulted Trump’s response. But he’s avoided the sharpest attacks while trying to project an image as a steady, experienced crisis manager.
“Trump keeps saying he’s a wartime president. Well, start to act like one,” Biden has said.
His path to the nomination cleared Wednesday when his only viable rival, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., dropped out.
Congressional leaders including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Democratic governors like New York’s Andrew Cuomo and Michigan’s Gretchen Whitmer have tangled with Trump. But they’ve mostly stressed legislation and other steps they’re taking to bolster the economy and the overwhelmed health care system.
They’ve also presented themselves as calming alternatives to Trump, whose briefings have been marred by false and confusing assertions that often contradict public health professionals’ views and angry outbursts at reporters whose questions he dislikes.
“This moment is exactly wrong for President Trump because he can’t distract people from a pandemic with a provocative tweet,” said Sen. Brian Schatz, DHawaii.
Yet at the same time, Democratic political groups are spending millions on television and online ads around the country that pull few punches.
Democrats’ efforts to enter the spotlight have been complicated by the nation’s lockdown, which has prevented public rallies and interactions with voters that are normally the lifeblood of politics.
“Trump’s press conferences blot out the sun,” said Adam Jentleson, a Democratic strategist.
Trump has noticed. He tweeted Wednesday that “Radical Left Democrats have gone absolutely crazy” over his daily briefings and boasted of “‘Monday Night Football, Bachelor Finale’ type” ratings.