Podcast Center
Video Center
Webcasts
Resource Center
Events
By 
February 28, 2020 at 10:02 AM
As the economic and public-health impact of the coronavirus worsens, political analyst Andy Friedman examines three ways the virus could derail President Donald Trump’s chances of re-election.
In a televised address Wednesday, “Trump assured the public that his administration has had ‘tremendous success’ battling the coronavirus, that the risk to America is ‘very low,’ and that only ‘one or two people will be infected over the next short period of time,’” said Friedman, founder and principal of The Washington Update.
These assurances, however, “are at odds with the CDC’s more dire pronouncements,” Friedman said.
As of Wednesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that 14 cases have been confirmed in the U.S., plus 45 cases in travelers from Asia who have been repatriated by the State Department, largely from the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan.
According to Friedman: “If the virus in fact turns into a national crisis, it might reduce Trump’s chances of reelection” in the following three ways:
Capability: “Trump’s ability to respond to a national crisis might be called into question.”
