Politico reports:

President Donald Trump’s political fate now hinges on a simple premise: Everybody who needs a coronavirus test must be able to get a test.

More than five weeks into a devastating shutdown of the U.S. economy, Trump’s aides and advisers inside and outside his administration now view disapproval of his preparedness for the coronavirus pandemic as his biggest political liability heading into the 2020 election.

The president and his team in the White House are rushing to counter perceptions and develop a coherent message about the nation’s ability to test Americans for the coronavirus quickly and broadly, a prerequisite governors and business leaders have outlined to successfully get the economy back on track.

The message coming out of the White House on testing varies day to day. Trump has contradicted himself repeatedly over the past month about the federal government’s role in fighting the crisis and his own control over states. And more than three months after China reported its first death from the virus, the administration has been plagued by complaints about testing shortages and delays along with comparisons to other advanced nations such as Germany and South Korea that ramped up testing quickly to control the virus.

“If the testing does not get sorted out as soon as possible, it will be another nail in an almost closed coffin,” said one Republican close to the White House who argued messaging alone cannot solve the political challenge the pandemic presents for Trump. [Continue reading…]