Navigating Coronavirus — July 2

6 min readJul 2, 2020

In today’s email, we have numbers from a new Navigator poll on how Americans overwhelmingly want to see expanded UI extended at the end of the month, as the number who say Trump isn’t doing enough to respond to the pandemic hits a record high. We also take a deep dive into the current unemployment debate, as a million more unemployment claims are expected this morning.

Read on for today’s Navigating Coronavirus…

It’s been 126 days since President Trump said we’d soon have zero cases in the U.S. We now have 2.7 million cases and more than 130,000 deaths.

TOP TREND …

NEW NAVIGATOR POLL >> 67% support extending expanded unemployment benefits at end of July — including majorities of Republicans (53%) and Independents (54%). With over a million more unemployment claims expected to be announced later this morning, Trump and his economic advisers are wildly out of touch on this issue.

ECONOMIC CRISIS IN CONTEXT

The latest on how the economic crisis sparked by coronavirus is actually fueled by years of President Trump’s conservative economic policies, focusing today on Trump’s attempts to cut worker paychecks ahead of this morning’s jobs report.

Trump and his allies face a major decision in the coming weeks: work with Democrats to extend a critical economic lifeline before it expires at the end of the month, or cut paychecks for millions of Americans and allow the economy to collapse.

Trump and his allies continue pushing the false idea that unemployment benefits are preventing workers from getting back on the job, but no worker should be forced to choose between their health and their ability to put food on the table — especially in a pandemic.
Senate Democrats introduced the American Workforce Rescue Act, which would extend expanded unemployment benefits and ensure that Trump can’t cut them off until this crisis is over.
READ MORE >> “Taking politics out of unemployment insurance”
Trump may think cutting people’s paychecks during a pandemic is good politics, but the reality is that people across the country strongly support extending emergency benefits for as long as this crisis continues.

This morning we’ll get more information about the state of Trump’s economy. No matter how Trump tries to spin it, the reality is that we are in a devastating economic crisis and it could get a whole lot worse.

When the jobs report came out last month showing that unemployment was hovering at Great Depression-era levels and actually increased for Black workers, Trump chose to do a victory lap in the Rose Garden.

If Trump tries to do it again, it’s important for people to remember that millions of workers are losing their jobs each week, and critically, the economy can’t recover unless people are healthy, safe, and can feel confident going back to work, school, restaurants, and their everyday lives.

THE LATEST

Message guidance on the latest developments with President Trump’s handling of the crisis.

1. TRUMP HAS CLEARLY LEARNED NOTHING IN 5 MONTHS.

Trump is acting today like the threat of coronavirus is just as hypothetical as he thought it was five months ago. He has no grasp on reality, as the crisis hits record levels across the country.

TRUMP: “We’re heading back in a very strong fashion, with a V. And I think we’re going to be very good with the coronavirus. I think at some point that’s going to sort of just disappear, I hope.”
CNN: “That has led to concerns, even among some of his own aides, that Trump appears disengaged from a deadly crisis that continues to grip the nation.”
NYT: “U.S. Cases Reach New Record”
Daily Beast: “Coronavirus Cases Have More Than Doubled Among Active-Duty Service Members Since June 10”

And the crisis is likely worse than we will ever know.

2. TRUMP MADE THE ECONOMIC CRISIS WORSE.

Experts warned that the only thing worse for the economy than shutting down once because of Trump’s chaotic response would be shutting down twice because of Trump’s chaotic response.

Trump gave Americans a false sense of security and bad information when he rushed to reopen, and now the economy is suffering because of it.

CNN: “Reopening the economy doesn’t mean Covid-19 is getting better.”
“States are shutting down businesses again. Popular beaches will be closed. And the rate of new Covid-19 infections keeps growing in most states, threatening to reverse the progress made during stay-at-home orders.”

And Trump’s allies are joining him to wallow in ignorance — undercutting trusted experts and refusing to reimplement aggressive social distancing that could save lives and help stop the pandemic.

Texas Tribune: “Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick says Dr. Anthony Fauci ‘doesn’t know what he’s talking about’”
“Despite Texas’ surge of new COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said Tuesday evening that he doesn’t need the advice of the nation’s top infectious disease doctor, Anthony Fauci.”

NEW NAVIGATOR TRACKING NUMBERS . . .

TODAY’S POLLING DECK >> HERE

TODAY’S TOPLINES >> HERE

NEW HIGH >> The number of Americans saying Trump isn’t doing enough to fight coronavirus has hit 58%, a record high in our tracking. Even 1 in 5 Trump 2016 voters say he isn’t doing enough.
MORE >> Top examples of Trump making things worse include planning to end federal funding for testing sites, delaying social distancing while tens of thousands died unnecessarily, and invoking other countries’ progress as a contrast.

Trump is facing backlash for admitting he wanted to slow down testing. When shown the clip from his Tulsa rally, 70% of Americans have an unfavorable view of it — including even 41% of Republicans. And nearly two-thirds of Americans believe he was serious about it, not making a joke.

Six in ten Americans believe Trump should stop holding rallies — including two-thirds of Independents and even a quarter of Republicans.

Americans’ economic outlook remains sour, as they agree Trump’s approach to coronavirus has hurt the economy. The number of Independents who believe the economy is getting worse has gone up 11 points in two weeks.