How the Coronavirus Could Help Trump
A U.S. pandemic that originates in China could make the president’s nationalism seem justified.
A scene that could become very familiar.
Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images
There has been plenty of talk about how the coronavirus might affect politics in China, for example by eroding trust between the Chinese public and its leadership. In the U.S., however, the coronavirus is likely to have the opposite effect: Namely, to make the incumbent more popular and to increase the re-election chances of President Donald Trump.
How the coronavirus will develop is not yet apparent, but the public-health and economic risks are significant, and thus it stands a good chance of being a front-page story for several months. Even if the coronavirus does not lead to many deaths in the U.S., that risk will continue for some time, and various quarantines and travel bans will continue to be in the news and on social media.