President Donald Trump and his aides aren’t just weighing coronavirus infection rates as they push for a quick economic restart. They think it’s good politics, too.
Trump aides and allies say they are growing confident that an earlier restart amid the coronavirus pandemic could help the president in his reelection campaign, according to six people close to the White House or Trump campaign.
They point to emerging signs around the country. Trump-supported activists are protesting strict stay-at-home orders. Conservative groups’ internal polling in red-leaning and swing states show a significant uptick in Americans who favor reopening the country. A growing chorus of Republican lawmakers across the nation are on board.
“If you don’t see something start to happen … you’re going to see a conservative revolt by our base,” said Adam Brandon, president of FreedomWorks, a conservative group which recently polled on reopening the economy. “The worst strategy for him is to keep things shut until August. Trump is basically going to win or lose his election right now, in the next month.”
A swift economic restart, however, could backfire politically for Trump if it causes a flare up. Public health experts caution that the country currently lacks the robust testing capacity needed to relax social-distancing guidelines, and cases in many states have yet to peak.
But Trump allies are seizing on positive signs in numerous coronavirus hot spots, including a decrease in death rates in New York and indications that early social distancing flattened the spike of cases in California. And they’re telling the president to kickstart the economy — now.
“The facts on the ground increasingly suggest a marked turn toward lower health risks, even in New York,” according to a Republican who talks to Trump. “I strongly urged the president personally to expedite the badly needed reopening of our country.”
Hanging over the health data, however, is the politics of the situation. And many of Trump’s political allies and outside advisers believe they have the public increasingly on their side.
Conservative groups have noticed a change in polling in recent weeks when they ask respondents if they want to go back to work, even if they know the outbreak could continue to cause infections or deaths, and if they would be willing to wear protective gear, such as masks and gloves, in order to reopen the country. Some polls saw upticks as large as 20 percentage points of people willing to return to work, even with the caveats, according to said Brandon and others familiar with the polls. The FreedomWorks polling was conducted in suburban House districts in battleground states, including Florida, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan.
The issue also has become partisan. Those identifying as conservative largely side with Trump’s economic advisers worried about the ongoing harm to the country’s finances and favor a quicker economic restart, while those identifying as liberal largely side with public health officials and urge longer timelines.
“Trump, himself, feels pretty good about the polling in his direction,” said a Republican familiar with the White House’s deliberations. “It’s a winner for Trump if it becomes a partisan issue.”
The hot spots for coronavirus so far have largely been blue states on the East and West Coasts, but public health officials say it is now spreading to swing states, including Florida and Michigan, and red states, including Indiana, Georgia and Louisiana. The virus is also predicted to hit blue-leaning states like Illinois, Colorado, Rhode Island and Massachusetts, as well as Washington, D.C.
After talking for weeks about reopening the country, first by mid-April and then by May 1, Trump released guidelines Thursday designed to gradually ease social distancing in three phases after regions meet certain criteria, including a downward trajectory of cases and an aggressive testing program.
“We’re opening up our country,” Trump announced Thursday at a news conference. “And we have to do that. America wants to be open, and Americans want to be open.”
The next day, Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, whose approach Trump has praised, announced new deadlines to relax some restrictions on parks and retailers.
It’s a high-wire act for the president. If the economy begins to recover with minimal additional infections, the president will take credit. But if infections spread or a second shut down is needed, he could be blamed. As a result, at least one person who speaks to Trump has urged him to not consider politics when it comes to lifting economic restrictions.
The Trump campaign declined to comment. The White House didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Less than seven months before the November election, Trump’s campaign has been completely transformed by the pandemic.
In a matter of weeks, Trump lost his central pitch for reelection — a strong economy and record stock market. And Democrats began hammering his handling of the coronavirus, including a failure to publicly acknowledge the seriousness of the outbreak and quickly distribute tests and medical supplies to states.
“We’re going to hold him accountable,” said former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, who is advising likely Democratic nominee Joe Biden’s campaign. “He failed in the time of need for our country.”
Thus far, the coronavirus has taken more than than 30,000 lives in the U.S., with more than 675,000 reported infections. While initial hot spots appear to have peaked, other locations are still weeks away from their own infection high points.
The Trump campaign, the Republican National Committee and conservative groups are defending the president’s handling of the pandemic through rapid-response emails to reporters, text messages to supporters and social media messages.
“President Trump continues to lead our nation through these trying times and voters know that it is his leadership that will once again restore our country and economy to greatness once this crisis passes,” said RNC national press secretary Mandi Merritt.
Trump received a small bump in his approval ratings after the coronavirus first hit but more recently multiple polls have shown more Americans say he isn’t doing enough to combat the outbreak.
But Republicans are counting on Trump’s handling of the coronavirus to be less important in November than how he restored the economy and helped the record 22 million Americans who have filed for unemployment in recent weeks.
“Trump’s electoral future is on the line, so he’s obviously focused on that challenge,” said Dan Eberhart, a major Republican donor and CEO of the drilling services company Canary, LLC who is in touch with the White House.
The Trump campaign and the RNC, which have shifted all campaign events online, held their first series of calls with donors since the outbreak to provide campaign updates from people, including Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr. and RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, according to two people familiar with the calls.
And in a recent call with surrogates, campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh explained that the president is on two tracks — protecting the health of Americans and safeguarding the economy, according to a person on the call. Trump campaign officials also referenced internal polling on Trump’s job approval on coronavirus on the call.
“The president knows America is not meant to be shut down for months at a time and go dormant for three, four, six, nine months,” Murtaugh said on call. “That’s why he wants to get this country moving again and moving quickly as possible but only when and where it is safe.”
Across the nation, demonstrators have held protests in at least six states — Ohio, North Carolina, Kentucky, Utah, Virginia and Michigan — to object to state stay-at-home orders and school and business closures. More are expected.
“Virginia can’t go on like this,” Senate Republican leaders wrote to Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, a Democrat, on Wednesday. “For the sake of our state’s economy and the quality of life of all Virginians, we need to prepare for a safely ‘Reopened Virginia’ as soon as possible.”
Trump said Thursday that the protesters share an affinity for him. “I think they listen to me,” he said. “They seem to be protesters that like me.” The next day in a series of tweets, he issued an online call to “LIBERATE” Minnesota, Michigan and Virginia — all states with Democratic governors.
“I don’t think anyone should play games with that and we can’t afford to play politics here,” Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat who instituted strictest stay-at-home policies in the nation, said in an interview earlier this week. “We have to remember that the enemy is not one another, the enemy is the virus.”
But conservative groups say polling shows Trump has public support for such moves.
“Numbers that I’m seeing show there’s a steady movement toward the idea that the pandemic is slowly coming under control and it’s time to begin accelerating efforts to reopen the economy in a responsible way,” said Tim Phillips, president of Americans for Prosperity, the flagship nonprofit of Charles Koch’s political network.
David McIntosh, president of Club for Growth, a national network of 250,000 pro-growth, limited government Americans, found that likely voters, by a 2-to-1 margin, want Trump to slash regulations for businesses to boost the economy after it is restarted.
The president, McIntosh said, should show voters that he will “lift the burden on employers so they can hire people and they can quickly get back to work.”
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, a Trump ally, said the president’s reelection is now solely about continuing to combat the virus and opening the county successfully.
“If those things happen, he’ll win reelection,” Gingrich said. “The only candidate he has to run against is Donald Trump.”
HALIFAX – Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston says it’s “disgraceful and demeaning” that a Halifax-area school would request that service members not wear military uniforms to its Remembrance Day ceremony.
Houston’s comments were part of a chorus of criticism levelled at the school — Sackville Heights Elementary — whose administration decided to back away from the plan after the outcry.
A November newsletter from the school in Middle Sackville, N.S., invited Armed Forces members to attend its ceremony but asked that all attendees arrive in civilian attire to “maintain a welcoming environment for all.”
Houston, who is currently running for re-election, accused the school’s leaders of “disgracing themselves while demeaning the people who protect our country” in a post on the social media platform X Thursday night.
“If the people behind this decision had a shred of the courage that our veterans have, this cowardly and insulting idea would have been rejected immediately,” Houston’s post read. There were also several calls for resignations within the school’s administration attached to Houston’s post.
In an email to families Thursday night, the school’s principal, Rachael Webster, apologized and welcomed military family members to attend “in the attire that makes them most comfortable.”
“I recognize this request has caused harm and I am deeply sorry,” Webster’s email read, adding later that the school has the “utmost respect for what the uniform represents.”
Webster said the initial request was out of concern for some students who come from countries experiencing conflict and who she said expressed discomfort with images of war, including military uniforms.
Her email said any students who have concerns about seeing Armed Forces members in uniform can be accommodated in a way that makes them feel safe, but she provided no further details in the message.
Webster did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
At a news conference Friday, Houston said he’s glad the initial request was reversed but said he is still concerned.
“I can’t actually fathom how a decision like that was made,” Houston told reporters Friday, adding that he grew up moving between military bases around the country while his father was in the Armed Forces.
“My story of growing up in a military family is not unique in our province. The tradition of service is something so many of us share,” he said.
“Saying ‘lest we forget’ is a solemn promise to the fallen. It’s our commitment to those that continue to serve and our commitment that we will pass on our respects to the next generation.”
Liberal Leader Zach Churchill also said he’s happy with the school’s decision to allow uniformed Armed Forces members to attend the ceremony, but he said he didn’t think it was fair to question the intentions of those behind the original decision.
“We need to have them (uniforms) on display at Remembrance Day,” he said. “Not only are we celebrating (veterans) … we’re also commemorating our dead who gave the greatest sacrifice for our country and for the freedoms we have.”
NDP Leader Claudia Chender said that while Remembrance Day is an important occasion to honour veterans and current service members’ sacrifices, she said she hopes Houston wasn’t taking advantage of the decision to “play politics with this solemn occasion for his own political gain.”
“I hope Tim Houston reached out to the principal of the school before making a public statement,” she said in a statement.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
REGINA – Saskatchewan Opposition NDP Leader Carla Beck says she wants to prove to residents her party is the government in waiting as she heads into the incoming legislative session.
Beck held her first caucus meeting with 27 members, nearly double than what she had before the Oct. 28 election but short of the 31 required to form a majority in the 61-seat legislature.
She says her priorities will be health care and cost-of-living issues.
Beck says people need affordability help right now and will press Premier Scott Moe’s Saskatchewan Party government to cut the gas tax and the provincial sales tax on children’s clothing and some grocery items.
Beck’s NDP is Saskatchewan’s largest Opposition in nearly two decades after sweeping Regina and winning all but one seat in Saskatoon.
The Saskatchewan Party won 34 seats, retaining its hold on all of the rural ridings and smaller cities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
HALIFAX – Nova Scotia‘s growing population was the subject of debate on Day 12 of the provincial election campaign, with Liberal Leader Zach Churchill arguing immigration levels must be reduced until the province can provide enough housing and health-care services.
Churchill said Thursday a plan by the incumbent Progressive Conservatives to double the province’s population to two million people by the year 2060 is unrealistic and unsustainable.
“That’s a big leap and it’s making life harder for people who live here, (including ) young people looking for a place to live and seniors looking to downsize,” he told a news conference at his campaign headquarters in Halifax.
Anticipating that his call for less immigration might provoke protests from the immigrant community, Churchill was careful to note that he is among the third generation of a family that moved to Nova Scotia from Lebanon.
“I know the value of immigration, the importance of it to our province. We have been built on the backs of an immigrant population. But we just need to do it in a responsible way.”
The Liberal leader said Tim Houston’s Tories, who are seeking a second term in office, have made a mistake by exceeding immigration targets set by the province’s Department of Labour and Immigration. Churchill said a Liberal government would abide by the department’s targets.
In the most recent fiscal year, the government welcomed almost 12,000 immigrants through its nominee program, exceeding the department’s limit by more than 4,000, he said. The numbers aren’t huge, but the increase won’t help ease the province’s shortages in housing and doctors, and the increased strain on its infrastructure, including roads, schools and cellphone networks, Churchill said.
“(The Immigration Department) has done the hard work on this,” he said. “They know where the labour gaps are, and they know what growth is sustainable.”
In response, Houston said his commitment to double the population was a “stretch goal.” And he said the province had long struggled with a declining population before that trend was recently reversed.
“The only immigration that can come into this province at this time is if they are a skilled trade worker or a health-care worker,” Houston said. “The population has grown by two per cent a year, actually quite similar growth to what we experienced under the Liberal government before us.”
Still, Houston said he’s heard Nova Scotians’ concerns about population growth, and he then pivoted to criticize Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for trying to send 6,000 asylum seekers to Nova Scotia, an assertion the federal government has denied.
Churchill said Houston’s claim about asylum seekers was shameful.
“It’s smoke and mirrors,” the Liberal leader said. “He is overshooting his own department’s numbers for sustainable population growth and yet he is trying to blame this on asylum seekers … who aren’t even here.”
In September, federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller said there is no plan to send any asylum seekers to the province without compensation or the consent of the premier. He said the 6,000 number was an “aspirational” figure based on models that reflect each province’s population.
In Halifax, NDP Leader Claudia Chender said it’s clear Nova Scotia needs more doctors, nurses and skilled trades people.
“Immigration has been and always will be a part of the Nova Scotia story, but we need to build as we grow,” Chender said. “This is why we have been pushing the Houston government to build more affordable housing.”
Chender was in a Halifax cafe on Thursday when she promised her party would remove the province’s portion of the harmonized sales tax from all grocery, cellphone and internet bills if elected to govern on Nov. 26. The tax would also be removed from the sale and installation of heat pumps.
“Our focus is on helping people to afford their lives,” Chender told reporters. “We know there are certain things that you can’t live without: food, internet and a phone …. So we know this will have the single biggest impact.”
The party estimates the measure would save the average Nova Scotia family about $1,300 a year.
“That’s a lot more than a one or two per cent HST cut,” Chender said, referring to the Progressive Conservative pledge to reduce the tax by one percentage point and the Liberal promise to trim it by two percentage points.
Elsewhere on the campaign trail, Houston announced that a Progressive Conservative government would make parking free at all Nova Scotia hospitals and health-care centres. The promise was also made by the Liberals in their election platform released Monday.
“Free parking may not seem like a big deal to some, but … the parking, especially for people working at the facilities, can add up to hundreds of dollars,” the premier told a news conference at his campaign headquarters in Halifax.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
