Trump’s remarks weigh on minds of senior voters
ST.PETERSBURG,FLA.» President Donald Trump’s remarks at a campaign event in Ohio this week reverberated all the way to a sparkling waterfront in Florida, where senior citizens parsed his assessment of the coronavirus pandemic.
Trump said that COVID-19 was seriously affecting “virtually nobody” under the age of 18 and sought to frame the pandemic as largely impacting older Americans, as he argued for school districts to resume in-person learning.
“Now we know it affects elderly people with heart problems and other problems,” Trump said. “If they have other problems, that’s what it really affects. That’s it.”
Florida, where 34% of the population is over the age of 55, is one potential swing state for Trump’s reelection campaign. Democratic challenger Joe Biden has made some inroads among older voters here, according to recent polls, but the coronavirus could affect the race in profound ways.
Trump’s recent remarks made Liz Cillo, a 72-yearold retiree from St. Petersburg, laugh bitterly. “We’re dispensable. We’re old. I feel as though he’s never showed any empathy or compassion toward us.”
Unlike in previous years,
those who study voting patterns and elderly affairs issues say new trends appear to be unfolding this year. Jeff Johnson, the state director for the Florida AARP, says that among voters who are over 65, this year’s presidential race seems to be more “in play” than in years past.
“The best we can tell, it seems to be driven by coronavirus,” he said.
Which makes sense, he added.
States like Florida have been hit hard by the pandemic, and no other demographic has been affected more than older folks. About 93% of Florida’s 13,600 deaths from the virus have been people 55 and older.
On Friday, Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, lifted all restrictions on restaurants and other businesses in Florida in his move to reopen the state’s economy despite the virus’ spread.
Cillo, who did not vote for
Trump in 2016 andwon’t in November, believes that the president has thrown seniors under the bus. “We’re the most vulnerable,” she said.
She and her friend, 77-year-old Eva Johnson, walk every day along St. Petersburg’s pretty downtown, which is dotted with restaurants and shops on one side and Tampa Bay on the other. They keep 6 feet apart and wear masks. Both are worried about catching the virus, and feel lucky that they don’t know anyone who has gotten it.
“I follow the rules, and if everyone else would follow the rules too, we’d be much better,” Johnson said.
Nearby, 67-year-old Raymond Holmes was doing his daily five-mile power walk through downtown. Holmes is a Trump supporter who defends the president’s remarks about older people and the coronavirus.
“Trump could appear to have been insensitive but you have to understand that he didn’t want people to panic and he couldn’t necessarily say one group of people needs more than another group of people. He had to placate and he had to handle the entire population,” he said.
The president’s comments touched a nerve withthe family of CeliaYapBanago, a nurse in Kansas City, Mo., who died of the coronavirus at the age of 69. She was just a week short of her 40-year anniversary working at the Research Medical Center and was close to retirement when she died.
Her son, Jhulan Banago, said the virus’ toll clearly extends beyond older Americans like hismother, scarring his family and infecting people he knows.
“I don’t know if I fully agree with that,” he said of Trump’s comments. “I have some doctor friends
as well. Unfortunately one has tested positive for it. And I have a lot of nursing friends as well and they see the effects of it. ... I think it affects more than just the elderly.”
Jay Mangold, a 69-yearold retired business owner in St. Petersburg, said people need to take a “degree of personal responsibility,” when it comes to the virus.
“It’s unfair to expect everyone else to put their lives on hold,” he said, adding that he is taking precautions because of his age, like wearing masks indoors and staying out of crowds. He tries to exercise daily to boost his immune system.
He also wonders about the incessant news coverage of the virus, and whether discussion of it will vanish if Biden wins.
“It’s all the TV news people are talking about,” he said. “It’s like force-feeding a goose for foie gras.”