Navigating Coronavirus — June 25

In today’s email, we have new polling on coronavirus: Americans disapprove of Trump’s rallies and call them superspreader events, as Trump’s argument on reopening falters. We also look at Trump’s decision to cut off funding for testing sites across the country, fulfilling his desire to “slow down the testing,” and how the country is facing a massive and devastating eviction crisis.

Read on for today’s Navigating Coronavirus…

It’s been 117 days since President Trump said we’d soon have zero cases in the U.S. We now have 2.4 million cases and more than 124,000 deaths.

TOP TREND

• NEW NAVIGATOR POLL >> Americans overwhelmingly disapprove of Trump’s decision to restart campaign rallies, which they fear will further spread coronavirus. Even one in five Republicans disapprove of him restarting rallies and 30% of Republicans think the Tulsa rally was a “superspreader” event.

THE LATEST

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

1. WHEN TRUMP SAID “SLOW DOWN THE TESTING,” HE MEANT IT.

As half of U.S. states see a coronavirus surge, Trump has not only given up on fighting the pandemic, he is actively making it worse by cutting off federal funding for coronavirus testing sites — including in hard-hit places like Texas, where the Governor is now issuing a new round of stay-at-home guidance after being one of the first states to “re-open.”

• Business Insider: “The federal government is ending funding for coronavirus test sites in 5 states as Trump claims the US is testing too much”
• The Hill: “Trump administration ending support for 7 Texas testing sites as coronavirus cases spike”
• “Several Texas officials are calling on the administration to extend the support for the sites, with the Houston Health Department’s public health authority writing that the lack of support could cause ‘catastrophic cascading consequences.’”
• ABC: “Dr. Anthony Fauci said the next two weeks are critical in containing the surge.”

Trump’s failure to implement a national testing strategy is now pitting states against each other, as individual states ban travel from other states where the outbreaks are more severe.

• REMINDER >> Trump has refused to spend $14 billion Congress appropriated for testing in the states.

2. TRUMP PUSHED THE COUNTRY TO PREMATURELY REOPEN AND CAUSED THIS CRISIS.

Trump squandered the months Americans spent staying home and vigilantly social distancing — then he lied to the public to prematurely reopen things all because he thought it would help his poll numbers. Now the pandemic is spiraling out of control.

• NBC: “U.S. hits highest single day of coronavirus cases at 36,358”
• AP: “A coronavirus resurgence is wiping out two months of progress in the U.S. and sending infections to dire new levels across the South and West, with administrators and health experts warning on Wednesday that politicians and a tired-of-being-cooped-up public are letting a disaster unfold.”
• “The U.S. recorded a one-day total of 34,700 new COVID-19 cases, the highest level since late April.”
• Houston, TX >> “The mayor says ICU capacity is now at 97%, with more than a quarter of those being COVID-19 patients.”
• Tallahassee, FL >> “Florida reports 5,511 new cases of COVID-19, smashing record again”

Trump’s entire push to re-open has failed miserably and is widely out of step with the American people, who always have been and still are concerned first about their health.

• NEW NAVIGATOR DATA >> 60% of Americans think if their state experiences a new surge of coronavirus cases, that they should put back in place social distancing measures.

NAVIGATOR TRACKING NUMBERS . . .

TODAY’S POLLING DECK >> HERE

TODAY’S TOPLINES >> HERE

• Americans are blaming Trump for the surging coronavirus outbreak, as his argument on reopening flops. The number of Americans who agree with Trump’s stance on reopening has dropped 5 points in two weeks, and it’s even eroding among Republicans.

• A majority says Trump is not doing enough to combat coronavirus, as Americans express very serious concerns about his behavior. Majorities of Independents express very serious concerns with Trump stoking division and inflaming chaos.

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 the looming eviction crisis brought on by Trump’s policies.

Trump is pushing the country toward an eviction and housing crisis unless Congress moves quickly to help struggling workers and families.

• Millions of workers and families are just barely keeping their heads above water in Trump’s recession, but an eviction wave is about to come crashing down if Trump continues to block additional support.
• As many as 23 million Americans could be evicted by September if Congress fails to act, with undocumented people, people of color, and low-income families at highest risk.
• According to one study, 30% of Americans missed their housing payments in June — and that is before federal support cuts off.
• The moratorium on evictions in federal housing ends on July 25, and then renters will have to pay back months of rent or face eviction.
• States across the country are also ending their eviction moratoriums, which will have a devastating impact unless the federal government steps in to help.
• This eviction cliff will have a disproportionate impact on Black and Latinx families, who are twice as likely to rent and who are already falling behind faster than white Americans.
• We are also seeing more reports of families being harassed for being behind on rent — even while they have no way of paying it during this pandemic and the economic crisis it triggered.
• The eviction crisis could be compounded by a $600 per week cut in income that will kick in at the end of July unless Trump and his allies cave and allow expanded unemployment insurance benefits to continue until this crisis is over.

The House-passed HEROES Act includes support for rental assistance and an extension of the nationwide moratorium on evictions and foreclosures…

…but Trump and his allies in the Senate are dragging their feet and focused on jamming through more tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans and biggest corporations.

ONE LAST THING . . .

NEW REPORT >> Trump’s Health Care Repeal Lawsuit Could Strip Coverage from 23 Million Americans in the middle of a Pandemic — a number that has gone up by 3 million since Trump’s failed coronavirus response resulted in millions losing their health care. Check out the report for a state-by-state breakdown of the number of people who would lose health coverage.

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Navigating Coronavirus is a joint project of Governing for Impact, Groundwork Collaborative, The Hub Project, and Navigator Research.

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