3 takeaways from Trump visit to AZ
Campaign refocuses on border, conservative judges, voter IDs
The issues of the day are not exactly the issues President Donald Trump — or any sitting president, really — would want to spend their time discussing.
But for months, the new coronavirus, sky-high unemployment and nationwide protests against police brutality have dominated the American conversation.
For the president, a visit to Arizona on Tuesday offered a chance to refocus his campaign on the issues he would rather talk about, or at least get back to familiar surroundings, like auditoriums full of
supporters.
This time, the president was speaking directly to the party faithful, a conservative group for young people, Students for Trump.
Before his afternoon rally in Phoenix, he visited the U.S.-Mexico border near Yuma to discuss border security and the border wall, a major plank of his 2016 campaign and his reelection.
Familiar surroundings, for sure.
But this trip was also very different.
He arrived during a pandemic, as Arizona cases of COVID-19 are increasing quickly and frustration over a lack of testing and response from officials rises.
Here are some key takeaways from the president’s visit to Arizona:
1. This was a visit for those who have already made up their minds
Arizona is not a lock for either presidential candidate. There are votes to be won.
In fact, Biden has led in eight of the nine Arizona polls taken since early March, according to information tracked by Real Clear Politics.
But which voters should candidates try to win over? Republicans and Democrats alike this year are pinning some hopes to voters who are ideologically in their camp but don’t vote often.
That can present its own problems for Democrats, but for Trump, it may be a perilous approach if it does not compensate for the losses Republicans have seen in the suburbs, where many highly educated and affluent voters who once got behind the GOP have been turned off by the president.
Trump did not offer much of an olive branch to those voters on Tuesday.
Instead, he aimed his message pretty squarely at conservatives, highlighting a range of campaign themes, from his appointment of conservative judges to his support for voter identification laws and his efforts to curb immigration.
2. Campaigning during a pandemic is hard
Campaigning during a pandemic looks different, and it’s much harder than normal. Typical political glad-handing is now seen as risky by many, as physical distancing and face masks become more common in daily life.
Many politicians have greatly modified their campaign plans and eschewed large events.
Trump avoided his signature rallies for a few months, but he’s returning to the campaign trail.
Arizona was his second rally stop after a lackluster turnout in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Saturday. About 3,000 people attended the Phoenix rally, which included speeches from young people who discussed issues like campus free speech and “cancel culture.” The venue was smaller than in Tulsa, but it was crowded.
While there were some face masks in the audience, most of Tuesday’s attendees were maskless.
Trump isn’t avoiding Arizona despite huge increases in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations. On Tuesday, Arizona reported 3,591 new cases of COVID-19, another record high number in the state’s daily report, and daily hospitalizations exceeded 2,000 for the first time ahead of Trump’s visit to the state.
Inpatient beds, ICU beds and ventilators in use for suspected and confirmed COVID-19 patients all hit their highest-ever numbers Monday, according to Tuesday’s report. Emergency department visits tied the previous high from Sunday, with more than 1,200.
Trump’s visit to Phoenix, hosted by Students for Trump, was for students and younger voters, possibly because these younger people are less at risk for serious complications or death from COVID-19.
But cases are growing in younger demographics, and, while younger people aren’t as likely to experience dire outcomes from the disease, they are still getting very ill in some cases and dying.
Two Arizona doctors told The Arizona Republic they were concerned about the large, indoor event and what it could mean for the disease here.
“We’re already seeing a tremendous surge in infections here in Arizona. This is not the time to be taking chances on spreading the disease further,” Dr. Christine Severance, a family physician in Phoenix, said.
Dr. Sheetal Chhaya, a rheumatologist in Phoenix, said she appreciates rallies as part of the democratic process, but said an event at this time in Phoenix is not the most “socially responsible.”
“We are, with one event, virtually knocking out, almost nullifying, some of the efforts that we’ve made as a group of physicians, but also as a community, to be able to help mitigate this virus,” Chhaya said.
3. No consoling on the coronavirus
The president didn’t dwell on the coronavirus or offer condolences or messages about precautionary steps the public can take. Instead, he often referred to it as the “plague” and insisted it would be gone soon.
Trump took shots at the media for what he views as overblowing the pandemic and detailed how he believed his administration had taken all the right steps to mitigate the spread of the disease, test people at high numbers and make sure equipment like ventilators were available.
Trump blamed the increase in cases on more testing, though health officials in Arizona have said the growing number of hospitalizations and cases are due to more than just an increase in testing.
“When you have all those tests, you have more cases,” the president said. He added: “Then they’ll say, ‘We have more cases. We want to do testing. We want to do everything.’ But they use it to make us look bad.”
Trump also called the coronavirus the “Kung Flu,” embracing for at least a second time a racist phrase that has proven an applause line at his speeches, but which has prompted condemnation from Asian American members of Congress.
The Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus condemned the president after he used the term at a rally in Tulsa on Saturday.
The White House has defended the president’s use of that term, arguing that the president is merely pointing out that the virus was first detected in China.