Brooks: Coronavirus ‘Could Take Over the Election’

On Friday’s “PBS NewsHour,” New York Times columnist David Brooks stated that coronavirus could “take over the election” and in political terms, “I don’t see any upside for Trump. I do see a significant downside, and a lot of upside for the Democrats.”

Brooks said, “[I]t could take over the election. I mean, I really have no idea. I’m not qualified to know how big this will spread. But I saw an article that most Americans will get some form of it, and not a bad form, but some form. And if that — if we start canceling events, if the economy goes down, if we can’t gather in crowds, that’s suddenly a gigantic event. And so many people who were Trump’s critics, or who even sympathize with him, but didn’t think he was a great manager, a great leader, suddenly, they all say — we’ve been saying this for years — well, at least we haven’t had a real crisis. And then, suddenly, we get a real crisis.”

He added, “And so, to look at it in the crass political terms, I don’t see any upside for Trump. I do see a significant downside, and a lot of upside for the Democrats. Since they are the party of health care, and since they are the party of government.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett