President Donald Trump, who previously told the
country that the coronavirus would disappear “like a miracle,” stands next to a
map of his miracle on July 23.
Donald Trump Had A Very Bad Week
The president had to cancel his nominating party in
Florida, he trails badly behind Joe Biden, and Republican lawmakers are
ignoring his demands on Capitol Hill.
By Igor
Bobic
It was a
week of big reversals and disappointing defeats for President Donald Trump,
whose bungled handling of the coronavirus pandemic has contributed to his
trailing badly in the polls behind presumptive Democratic presidential nominee
Joe Biden.
Trump made
a surprise announcement on Thursday that he was pulling the plug on the GOP
nominating convention in Jacksonville, Florida, after insisting for months that
the major gathering would take place in person against the advice of public
health experts. Democrats had announced months ago that they would be holding a
nearly all-virtual convention next month in Milwaukee due to the spread of
COVID-19.
“It’s not
the right time. It’s really something that for me, I have to protect the
American people,” Trump said at a White House press conference, standing next
to a large map of the U.S. showing the surge in new coronavirus infections
across Sun Belt states like Florida.
“The
country is in very good shape other than if you look south or west. Some
problems. That’ll all work out,” Trump added of a nation with over 4 million
confirmed coronavirus cases and nearly 150,000 deaths.
It’s the
second time Trump has had to cancel the public portion of the Republican
convention, which was supposed to feature thousands of delegates and guests.
The president moved it from its original site ― Charlotte, North Carolina ― in
June because that state’s Democratic governor, Roy Cooper, refused to waive
social distancing and mask-wearing rules.
The latest
announcement came just days after officials in Jacksonville, including the
local sheriff’s department, expressed “significant concerns with the viability
of the event,” and some senior GOP lawmakers said they would not attend.
Trump also
suffered several defeats on Capitol Hill this week, where lawmakers are
struggling to hammer out a deal on another economic relief package to help
Americans suffering amid the ongoing pandemic, including those who are
unemployed or can’t afford to pay their rent and other bills on time.
Enhanced
unemployment benefits of $600 that Congress created in March are due to expire
by the end of July. The main factor holding up negotiations with Democrats to
extend those payments are disagreements among Senate Republicans and the White
House about how and whether to do so. Democrats want a full extension of the
$600 weekly payments. Republicans prefer extending them at a lower level of
$100 to $300 per week.
“The
administration has requested additional time to review the fine details,”
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Thursday of the forthcoming
GOP proposal, which is expected to be unveiled next week.
What will
not be included in the GOP package is a payroll tax cut ― one of Trump’s
biggest priorities, which he has repeatedly urged Congress to enact. The idea
has little support within the Senate Republican conference despite the
president’s monthslong insistence, largely due to its projected cost and the
optics associated with cutting one of the main drivers of revenue for Social
Security and Medicare.
But Trump
sought to pin the blame for his embarrassing defeat on that issue on the
Democrats, saying Republicans “didn’t want to ask for it” because Democrats in
the House and Senate were opposed.
If that’s
the standard actually controlling congressional negotiations (it’s not),
Republicans might as well drop every other demand they have that Democrats
aren’t enthused about ― like, say, pandemic liability protections for
businesses, hospitals and schools. Democrats are worried that an added shield
from lawsuits would give corporations legal immunity even when people are
forced to work in unsafe conditions.
In another
loss for the president, the House and Senate both passed a provision in their
versions of the annual defense spending bill that calls for renaming 10
military bases that honor Confederate officers ― a provision over which Trump
has threatened to veto the must-pass legislation. The provision cleared both
legislative chambers with veto-proof majorities, however, meaning there’s
little the president can do about it except stoke another culture war in hopes
of bolstering his reelection chances, which might be his ultimate goal anyway.
Trump
sought to soften the blow on Friday by suggesting that Senate Appropriations
Committee Chairman Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), who also opposes the provision, will
somehow strip it out in conference negotiations between the House and Senate.
But with overwhelming support for the legislation in both chambers and the
House under Democratic control, there’s likely little Inhofe can do.
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