Navigating Coronavirus — September 24

In today’s email, we have new polling on the pandemic election, including Americans concerns about the vote count. We also look at how Trump continues attacking experts and drawing rebuke from scientists, as he tries to use the Supreme Court nomination to distract from the growing toll of coronavirus.

Read on for today’s Navigating Coronavirus…

It’s been 210 days since President Trump said we’d soon have zero cases in the U.S. We now have more than 7.1 million cases and 206,000 deaths.

KEY POINT

• NEW NAVIGATOR POLL >> Amidst the pandemic, Americans don’t want campaigns knocking on their door. Just 16% say the Biden and Trump campaigns should be canvassing door-to-door this year, including only 7% of independents.
• BE SMART >> There’s been a narrative on this issue so far about whether Biden is “falling behind” by not door-knocking because of coronavirus, since the Trump campaign is. But the reality is that Trump is doing something that very few Americans actually want him to do. It’s yet another example of how he and his team are embracing extreme minority views during the pandemic.

THE LATEST…

AS CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAKS GROW AND MORE AMERICANS DIE, TRUMP IS USING THE SUPREME COURT FIGHT TO COVER UP HIS FAILED PANDEMIC RESPONSE.

Instead of trying to get control of the coronavirus outbreak and save American lives, Trump and his allies are eagerly shifting focus onto a Supreme Court nomination to help distract from his failed pandemic response and their total inaction on coronavirus relief.

• Politico: “With a Supreme Court nomination fight that will generate attention for much of the next six weeks, Trump — at least for now — has latched onto a topic his boosters believe will shift focus from the coronavirus, even as the pandemic on Tuesday claimed its 200,000th death.”

TRUMP’S TOP HEALTH ADVISORS ARE REBUKING HIS ANTI-SCIENCE APPROACH.

Trump’s top health advisors are distancing themselves from the President as his war with science rages on. Last night, Trump again said he may overrule the FDA on a vaccine.

But earlier in the day, four of his top health advisors — Dr. Fauci, CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield, testing czar Adm. Brett Giroir, and FDA Director Stephen Hahn — all consistently broke with him at congressional hearings and coronavirus task force leader Dr. Deborah Birx described the White House’s pandemic response as “nightmarish.”

• TRUMP IS ELEVATING PSEUDO-SCIENTISTS AND PUSHING OUT EXPERTS >> “Birx has told people around her that she is ‘distressed’ with the direction of the task force, describing the situation inside the nation’s response to the coronavirus as nightmarish. According to people familiar with her thinking, Birx views Dr. Scott Atlas, a recent addition to the task force, as an unhealthy influence on President Donald Trump’s thinking when it comes to the virus.” (CNN)
• MORE: “Birx believes Atlas is feeding the President misleading information about the efficacy of face masks for controlling the spread of the virus, the source said.”
• TRUMP’S ATTACKS ON SCIENCE DEBUNKED >> Amid growing evidence that Trump is forcing public health agencies to bend to his political will — including rushing a vaccine before it’s proven safe — four of his top science advisors testified in Congress Wednesday where they refuted the president’s lies and tried to regain public trust.
• DR. HAHN: “FDA chief: ‘I will fight for science’ Hahn’s remarks come amid plummeting public confidence in vaccines and the Trump administration’s coronavirus response.”
• DR. REDFIELD: “A majority of our nation, more than 90% of the population, remains susceptible.”
• DR. FAUCI: “You’re not going to completely eradicate it or eliminate it.”

**NEW** NAVIGATOR POLLING

TODAY’S FULL POLLING DECK >> HERE

TODAY’S TOPLINES >> HERE

• Even amidst the pandemic, more Americans plan to vote in person than by mail. However, more than half (53%) of seniors 65+ plan to vote by mail, and most mail voters have already requested their absentee ballot and plan to return it right away.

• Americans increasingly believe it’ll take a while to know the result of the presidential election. The number who believe it’ll take longer than a day has gone up 10 points in 3 weeks, but most Americans are confident that votes will be counted accurately.
• HOWEVER >> Concerns remain high about the shift in vote count from Election Night due to mail-in votes coming in, as well as voter suppression and foreign interference.

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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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