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