In a crisis, it is inevitable that the president will command the airwaves. That is undoubtedly the reason Trump’s ratings have gone up slightly in spite of his inept and chaotic response to the virus. In a matter of days, however, we are about to be inundated with images of overwhelmed hospitals and dying virus patients in America, not China or Italy. Will that change the situation?
In the short run, I’m guessing not. Most of the images will be from New York City. People from red states who despise “New York values” are going to view the pandemic as a sort of holy revenge for the innumerable sins of blue people. That won’t move the needle much, if at all.
But what if the images change to dying white Christians and overflowing hospitals in red states? Will that have any impact? Again, I would say no. The narrative will change from divine vengeance to making painful but necessary trade-offs to protect real Americans by re-electing Trump. That’s the story that Fox News is already putting out, and it will probably stick.