“Fake News!” Words we’ve heard hundreds of times before from the lips of our President, Donald Trump. Not long ago, he was quick to declare the now world-altering pandemic just another case of fake-news. Only about one month later, Trump now finds himself watching hundreds of Americans drop dead, millions loose their job, the economy reaching an all time low and a seemingly unstoppable virus.
While no time seems preferable to another when it comes to a global pandemic, the coronavirus is causing for many disruptions in the 2020 presidential election. Covid-19 is calling for the cancellation of voting across theJust recently in mid-march, Arizona, Florida and Illinois held primaries, and Ohio postponed its election at the last minute, which caused great confusion throughout the state. Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana and Maryland announced they would be postponing their elections until a later date. Currently, these decisions are being made state-by-state, not federally. But, the presidential election is a federal one, making it a challenge to move or postpone. But, things are changing, for there is no other option. Just last Thursday it was announced that the Democratic National Convention had been pushed to August 17th, slightly over a month past the originally scheduled date. Many states are preparing for the possibility of having to do solely mail-in voting, but some experts worry that mail-in voting could create the potential for voter fraud. In addition to the fears of fraud, many republicans also fear how mail-in voting could impact their party. From the voters perspective, mail-in voting is far easier than having to physically go out to the polls, therefore a solely mail-in voting system would undoubtedly increase the number of voters. Most of them being lower-class, liberal leaning individuals. President Trump himself said “if you ever agreed to it, you’d never have a Republican elected in this country again,” when speaking of this expanded absentee ballot idea.
The virus puts every traditional way of campaigning on the line. No rallies, fundraising, or big events of any kind. Trump has seemingly cancelled all campaigning events, while Democratic candidates Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden move their rallies to online platforms. No more candidates holding babies, snuggling in close for a picture, or shaking hands with supporters. Millions recently watched the 11th Democratic debate between Sanders and Biden as they stood six feet apart, with no audience to cheer them on. It was an eerie and unfamiliar sight compared to the typical debates that we’ve grown accustomed to as Americans.
Presidential candidates now find themselves in a position where actions are speaking louder than words. The public now desires to see how the different candidates are acting in responce to Covid-19. Only hours after Trump first addressed the nation on the corona virus from his oval office, 2020 Presidential candidate, Joe Biden was quick to make a statement of his own. Biden even took things a step further than Trump in announcing a detailed plan to support the nation during this time. “Public fears are being compounded by pervasive lack of trust in this president, fueled by adversarial relationships with the truth that he continues to have.” Biden stated. Not even two hours after Biden’s address, fellow 2020 presidential candidate, Bernie Sanders warned the nation that the coronavirus could bring more deaths than the number of US soldiers lost during World War II. “We have an administration that is largely incompetent and whose incompetence and recklessness have threatened the lives of many, many people in this country,” Sanders stated.
Despite Trumps continuous failures to be a strong leader during this pandemic, a shocking ninety-four percent of Republicans, 60% of independents and 27% of Democrats approve of President Trump’s response to the coronavirus. Why is this? It seems to me that trump has done little to nothing to stop or slow the spread of Covid-19, but his approval ratings are higher than ever before. Just one month ago Trump spoke to the American people and declared the pandemic as “fake news.” He refuses to wear masks, and continues to shake hands with officials all the while warning the nation not to do just that. He struggles to decide wether or not to focus on the economy or the lives of his people during this time. He has continuously showed poor behavior and judgement, with a lack of information when it comes to Covid-19, yet millions of people still look to him for the truth.
While the government scrambles to keep the election process as normal as possible, the American people are left confused as to how they are expected to vote. The nation’s government system is built off of the people’s ability to vote, so what happens what they can’t? With every day that passes, more information on the happenings of the next few months come to light. For the time being, the fate of the 2020 elections remains up in the air. While the constitution calls for an extremely strict timeline, the nation stands in a position where it simply doesn’t seem possible.
Journalism 2.0 