We are now at over 80,000 COVID-19 deaths. As states continue to head towards lifting restrictions on closures and social distancing some numbers from Trump’s own team has deaths accelerating to 3,000 a day in June. This is like a 9/11 a day, and these deaths seem to affect seniors (a group that usually vote Republican) for than any other age group. At the same time President Trump has encouraged his followers to go out and protest policies put in place. These protesters often photographed marching close to each other with no face masks or other precautions against the virus in place. So, the question is: Why is Trump so eager to kill people who would vote for him in November?
Here are a couple of theories:
The number of voters that care about the economy outnumber those who care about deaths
Trump might think the economy is the most important thing when it comes to the election. There is no question that the economy is taking a hit from the COVID-19 pandemic. We are at an unemployment rate that has not been reached since the great depression and as Bill Clinton strategist James Cromwell said during the 1992 election, “It’s the economy, stupid.” Clinton defeated George H.W. Bush, the only president to lose a reelection in almost 40 years.
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The virus is also killing off people of color at a higher rate
If there is one thing Trump’s 2016 election campaign will be remembered for is his crusade against immigration. Anyone who does not like minorities certainly would have voted for Trump and will do so again in 2020. The virus is currently killing/hospitalizing minorities at a disproportionate rate, not because these groups are weaker to it but probably because they tend to be employed in “essential” positions like fast food restaurants or grocery stores where they have continued to be exposed to the virus on a daily basis. Racists, part of Trump’s base, would probably be fine with this. And maybe Trump is too.
Just get it over with
No one is certain if herd immunity is even really a thing when it comes to this virus. But hopefully once you get the virus you will not be able to get it gain. The idea is that a bunch of us will get it and become immune (or die) that it will no longer be able to spread. If we could all just hurry up and get it and make this happen maybe voters would no longer care about the hundred’s of thousands (millions?) deaths and permanent lung damage caused by COVID-19.
It’s a War
Trump has been trying to spin this entire thing to make it sound like the entire thing is China’s fault and they need to be punished. If Trump can succeed in making it sound like we’re in the middle of a war, he might have a winning strategy. George W. Bush used the excuse of being a wartime president as a reason for him to be reelected in 2004 despite that being considered a disaster too.
