Carl_R Feb 27

Trump had the high ground. All he had to do was to act Presidential, and say something like "Coronavirus is a global threat. We take coronavirus very seriously, and we are devoting as much effort to fighting it as possible. So far it it contained in the US, but it is an ongoing risk. I am very concerned for all the people who could be at risk if this begins spreading in the US. I have asked Congress for additional funds to fight this threat. It it time for an end to partisanship, and we need to all work together, and then our country will emerge stronger, regardless of what happens."

With a statement like that, he wins either way. If corona doesn't cause large number of deaths in the US, it was because of his strong response. If it does, it was despite his efforts, and the resulting recession was not something he could have prevented or be blamed for. Either way, his re-election would have been almost certain.

Instead he downplayed it. Now instead of a win-win scenario he is in a lose-lose situation. In the more likely case, corona does create problems for the US economy, not only can he not win, Republicans will be wiped out in Congress as well. Expect Sanders to be elected, and to have a better than 2/3 majority in both houses. In the less likely scenario, it is contained and never becomes an issue in the US. In that case, coronavirus is forgotten, and ceases to be a factor. Even though he was right, he gets no credit because the supply disruption in China causes a recession anyway, which he gets blamed for, and he loses the election that way, too, though the Republicans end up perhaps holding the Senate.

Without question, this was the worst political move I have ever seen at any level. He had a winning hand, and he folded and accepted defeat.

I think there is no way to keep Coronavirus from spreading in the US. There is just too much travel. I talked to four customers today. I'm in a relatively small town in the middle of nowhere. One had just returned from Africa. Another was headed to Mexico for a cruise. Another was on his way to Germany. Still another was headed to Israel on Friday. This is going on in every city in America. Coronavirus will be here sooner, rather than later, and Trump, and the Republicans will pay a heavy, heavy price for his incredibly ill-advised speech tonight. The stock market will probably rally for a couple days, though. I hope it was worth it to him.