Navigating Coronavirus — June 4

Yesterday, we shared some resources that could be helpful for those who, like us, want to show solidarity with those protesting against racism and police brutality. You can check out that list here. Today I’d urge you to read and share the recommendations at 8cantwait.org, a Campaign Zero project laying out eight local policy changes that could decrease police violence by as much as 72%.

In today’s email, we take a look at new data revealing perceptions of Trump as “compassionate” tanking among African Americans, how the pandemic continues to kill more and more Americans even as Trump tries to divide the country and distract us, and message testing on which pandemic facts most directly reveal Trump’s failures to the public.

Read on for today’s Navigating Coronavirus…

It’s been 97 days since President Trump said we’d soon have zero cases in the U.S. We now have 1.9 million cases and more than 109,000 deaths.

THE LATEST

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

CORONAVIRUS CONTINUES TO KILL AMERICANS AS TRUMP TRIES DISTRACT AND DIVIDE AMERICANS.

Trump has thrust America into utter chaos and crisis on every front.

• He is trampling our Constitution to inflate his own ego, while threatening violence against Americans.
• He is trying to further divide us along racial and cultural lines, instead of seeking healing and progress that unifies America.
• And as he tries to distract and divide us, 1,000 Americans are still dying every day from coronavirus, and Trump has given up on fighting it.

He is failing to get hospitals what they need, he isn’t getting aid to the unemployed, he hasn’t gotten businesses the assistance they need, and he is refusing to prepare us at all for a second wave outbreak.

• POLITICO: “The Trump administration has yet to pay out billions in emergency health aid” >>> “The delay has left the nation’s safety net hospitals and clinics with relatively little federal support during a pandemic”
• BLOOMBERG: “One-Third of America’s Record Unemployment Payout Hasn’t Arrived”
• POLITICO: “Fed’s massive ‘Main Street’ business rescue in danger of fizzling”

And be clear: the country is seeing a rise in cases that started long before any peaceful protests began.

• MILITARY TIMES: “VA sees rise in active coronavirus cases among patients in recent days”
• PALM BEACH POST: “Health Director Concerned By Rise In Coronavirus Cases, But Says Hospitals Are Ready”
• CBS AUSTIN: “Austin Sees Dramatic Rise In Covid-19 Cases Since Economy Started Reopening”

NAVIGATOR TRACKING NUMBERS . . .

TODAY’S POLLING DECK >> HERE

TODAY’S TOPLINES >> HERE

• Perceptions of Trump as “compassionate” are tanking, especially among African Americans. In the latest poll, which was fielded Thursday to Monday just as the protests began to dominate attention, the number of Americans deeming Trump “uncompassionate” has gone up — and over the last month, Trump has seen a massive drop among African Americans on compassion: 82% now say he is uncompassionate.

• Disapproval of Trump’s handling of coronavirus has hit an all-time high in Navigator tracking. 57% of Americans now disapprove of Trump’s handling of coronavirus, the highest we have seen yet. Additionally, 47% strongly disapprove of Trump’s handling — also a new high.

• Key metrics are effective in shaping Americans’ perception of Trump’s response as a failure. One of the most effective is citing a Columbia University study that found 36,000 fewer Americans would have died if Trump would have taken action on social distancing earlier. Relatively few have heard of this study, but when they do, most see it as evidence Trump made things worse.

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 this morning’s unemployment numbers and the impact of Trump’s economy on Black workers.

With the latest unemployment numbers and unemployment rate coming out today and tomorrow, look out for continued economic devastation that will disproportionately impact Black Americans.

• While Wall Street continues to roar back and benefit from Trump’s bailouts, we’re going to get the most recent information this morning on the devastating impact of Trump’s policies on jobs and workers.
• This latest round of unemployment filings comes as millions of Americans have been unable to access their unemployment benefits for months.
• Once again we expect Black workers to be disproportionately impacted by Trump’s economic turmoil.
• Reminder: Black workers are also more likely to be in frontline jobs where the health risk is highest and are much less likely to be in jobs that allow for telework.
• NYT: Black Workers, Already Lagging, Face Big Economic Risks
• While the economic devastation continues — and is expected to get a whole lot worse for workers and families unless the government steps up — Trump and his allies continue dragging their feet and refusing to extend critically-needed benefits.

Periodic reminder: The stock market is NOT the economy.

— -

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

Know someone else who should be on our list? Have them SUBSCRIBE HERE