Trump’s campaign has an epically bad day — and it’s not just the virus
Trump’s broad effort to suggest that the pandemic was all but over meant that a number of states and tens of thousands of Americans treated it as if it was. Over the summer, that approach contributed to a big surge in new cases in the South. Trump’s own infection seems like a microcosm of his “ignore-it-and-it-will-go-away” national strategy.
Trump’s diagnosis occurred in parallel with a number of other newly confirmed infections, including that of Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah). Lee was one of several people who tested positive for the virus after being at the White House on Saturday for the nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to serve on the Supreme Court, raising questions about the event. (Photographs showed that most attendees were sitting in close quarters while unmasked; video shows lots of handshaking and hugs.)
Lee’s infection, though, elevates a broader question: Will the Barrett nomination move forward as planned? Lee sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which will vote on whether to advance her nomination to the full Senate. That committee is chaired by Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), who has pledged to move forward on the stated schedule — but that may no longer be entirely under his control. And a delay on Barrett’s confirmation is itself a slight blow to Trump’s plans for how the end of the campaign would unfold.
Somewhat buried under the massive coronavirus news, though, was another bit of bad news for Trump’s campaign. The economy added 661,000 jobs in September, fewer than were expected. More worrisome was that the number of people who lost their jobs permanently increased by 345,000. Trump and his campaign have liked celebrating the drop in the number of unemployed people since the pandemic began several months ago, but many of those job losses were only temporary. Over the past seven months, the number of people who have lost their jobs for good has increased each month.
There are now 2.5 million more people who have lost their jobs permanently than there were in February. The number of people who lost their jobs permanently was higher in September than at any point since May 2013. The seven-month increase in permanent job losses was the highest increase since May 2009, the height of the recession. [Continue reading…]