Will coronavirus put paid to Donald Trump’s designs on a second term as president?

The president has show a remarkable ability to move past his troubles in office, but this is unlike anything he has faced before, writes Chris Stevenson

Donald Trump and Joe Biden are expected – at least for now – to face off for the presidency in November (Getty/EPA)

Donald Trump is facing the biggest challenge of his political career, one that cannot be fought by tweets, quips and a general sense of bravado.

The president knows who he has to get to the polls in November’s election to secure another term in the White House. That has been clear since 2016 – get the same demographics out in the same numbers as his first campaign and he will give himself a decent shot at staying in the Oval Office for another four years.

That is why pronouncements about the coronavirus being a “hoax” and early ban on travel from China – with whom America have been involved in a trade spat for months – would have gone down well with the faithful. The problem is that a virus cares little about what the usual political playbook says, its relentless march across the globe does not stop at borders or slow down for diplomacy.

So Trump finds himself in a tough spot. His tendency to try and talk himself out of every situation is backfiring as a administration that has been beset by staffing issues for much of the president’s tenure – including numerous changes and positions not being filled – struggles to deal with a fast-moving epidemic.

Slow movement on testing has been one of the more obvious missteps, as has the mixed messages from the president about what will happen and when. There has been a move in recent days to offer more concrete reassures, with pledges of money and resources.

Trump may be able to move past such issues, he has proven he can in the past. One recent poll on his handling of the coronavirus issue – by Quinnipiac University – showed similar numbers to the president’s overall approval figure, with opinion split along party lines: 87 per cent of Republicans approve, 83 per cent of Democrats disapprove, and 50 per cent of independents disapprove.

But the coronavirus is tied so intrinsically to his best asset, the economy, that it is difficult to see it not having some effect on those numbers. Independent voters will prove crucial to the Democratic Party efforts to take the White House. How will they feel when the stock market fluctuations over coronavirus start to hit them in the pocket? Trump has been clear that his presidency will keep the economy in shape: voters may make him pay at the ballot box for any sustained drop.

Former vice president Joe Biden, the current frontrunner for the Democrat presidential nomination, has been quick to hit Trump over his response to the pandemic. In an op-ed published by CNN on Sunday he chastised the president for cutting health-based offices in the administration and for a lack of testing and poor messaging.

Biden has released his own coronavirus plan and is trying to make the distinction between himself and Trump. He hopes that it will be a vote winner later in the year.