Trump set to take pandemic victory lap in TV ‘town hall’
WASHINGTON: Donald Trump was set to wrap himself in the mantle of America’s arguably greatest president with a television extravaganza yesterday at the Lincoln Memorial meant to leave the coronavirus crisis behind and relaunch his election campaign.
The businessman Republican is doing poorly in most polls ahead of the November presidential contest with his Democratic challenger Joe Biden, who remains shuttered in his Delaware home.
Mr Trump faces criticism for his bruising, divisive style during a time of national calamity, and is accused by some of having botched the early response to the Covid-19 virus.
Worse, the previously booming US economy, which was seen as a golden ticket to his second term, is now in dire straits due to the nationwide lockdown.
But with officials saying the viral spread has begun to taper, Mr Trump is itching to declare victory and get back on the campaign trail.
That audacious shift was to begin yesterday at possibly the most hallowed monument in the country — the statue of Abraham Lincoln, who led the country through civil war, urged reconciliation and was assassinated in his moment of triumph.
Mr Trump, who calls himself a “wartime president” and the coronavirus an “invisible enemy”, will appear there for a two-hour Fox News “town hall”, taking questions from the usually friendly network’s hosts and from voters appearing by video.
The memorial is only just beyond the White House fences, but in the next few days, Mr Trump will break months of self-quarantine with long-distance trips to the key electoral states of Arizona and Ohio.
It’s a play that will emphasise Mr Trump’s massive visibility advantage over Mr Biden and, the White House hopes, rewrite the public relations script after gaffes including the president’s suggestion that coronavirus patients ingest disinfectant.
Lincoln took the gamble in 1861 that only war could preserve the US by ending slavery and restoring ideals of freedom — and he won.
Mr Trump compares himself favourably to the 19th-century national hero.
Retweeting a fan’s gushing endorsement yesterday of Mr Trump as a great friend of African Americans, the president replied: “So true, although Honest Abe wasn’t bad. Thank you!”
Now Mr Trump wants to extend that claim to great leadership by asking voters to put behind them the events of the last months and to focus on his promise of “spectacular” recovery.
The virus — which has killed more than 66,000 Americans — continues to inflict havoc against a background of mass unemployment, trillions of dollars in emergency government aid, and worries about a second viral wave after the summer.