President Trump sought to turn his greatest vulnerability — the novel coronavirus issue — into a strength during his final weekend campaign blitz, repeatedly raising the specter of economic ruin under a “Biden lockdown” despite the protests from the Democrat’s camp.
Mr. Trump’s mind-boggling 72-hour marathon of 14 rallies in seven states, including Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, featured a surge in predictions of societal devastation from a virus-driven shutdown under former Vice President Joseph R. Biden.
“You know, Biden’s all about lockdowns. He loves a lockdown,” Mr. Trump told a crowd at a freezing, wind-whipped rally in Washington, Michigan.
Not so, insists Mr. Biden, who has struggled for months to walk back his Aug. 21 comment about how he would “shut it down” to fight the spread of COVID-19 if scientists advised him to do so.
The Democrat tweeted Saturday that “I’m not going to shut down the economy. I’m going to shut down the virus,” which had zero impact on Mr. Trump’s message.
“The Biden lockdown will mean no school, no graduations, no weddings, no Thanksgivings, no Easters, no Christmases, no Fourth of Julys, and no future,” said Mr. Trump. “Under Biden’s lockdown, you will be living in a prison state. That’s what it is. They want to lock it down. Let’s lock our country down for a couple of years and let it go away.”
The president’s lockdown focus comes as polls show Mr. Biden ahead with voters on the COVID-19 issue, but also with lockdowns back in the forefront amid a rising rate of new cases in the U.S. and worldwide, triggering a new round of restrictions in Western Europe.
French President Emmanuel Macron enacted a nationwide shutdown Friday, declaring that the nation had been “overpowered by a second wave,” while Germany implemented a four-week closure of bars, restaurants and theaters.
“Europe proposed draconian lockdowns and cases were surging and deaths were surging. Think of it — draconian, and now they have to do it all over again,” said Mr. Trump on Sunday. “What the hell are they doing? I think I’m going to go over and explain it to them.”
Meanwhile, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced last week new “resurgence mitigations,” including a ban on indoor restaurant and bar service as well as social-gathering limits, raising questions about the possibility of a new stay-at-home order.
Other states, including Idaho and Michigan, have recently tightened restrictions as total U.S. cases hit 9.2 million Sunday, and deaths reached 230,522, as universities and schools reopen and colder weather keeps people indoors.
Mr. Biden has continued to hammer the president on the coronavirus, blaming him for the spread of COVID-19 and vowing that under a Biden administration, “we’re going to act to get COVID under control” without mentioning shutdowns.
“On day one of my presidency, we’ll put into action a plan I’ve been talking about for months,” Mr. Biden said at a Saturday drive-in rally in Detroit. “Masking, social distancing, testing, tracing. A plan for full and fair and free distribution of therapeutics and vaccines when we get one. Imagine where we’d be if we had a president who had worn a mask instead of mocked it.”
Lockdowns aside, the issue remains his strong suit.
A Fox News survey of registered voters released Sunday showed that 56% trusted Mr. Biden to do a better job on the novel coronavirus versus 40% for Mr. Trump, while 51% said that the virus was “not at all” under control.
“We have a president that’s given up,” Mr. Biden said. “I’ll never raise the white flag of surrender. We’re going to beat this virus, we’re going to get it under control. And the first step to beating this virus is defeating Donald Trump.”
At the same time, the poll showed Mr. Trump with a 49-48% advantage on the economy, which he has argued would take a direct hit under Mr. Biden’s plan to combat the disease.
“Biden supports lockdowns,” said free-market economist Stephen Moore, a member of the White House economic revival panel, in an email. “It may not be a one-year lockdown. Might be three months, six months. But lockdowns are MUCH more likely with Biden than Trump. Remember he said that if the scientists tell him to, he will lock down.”
Mr. Biden has said that he would favor a national mask mandate on federal properties, while Mr. Trump has left those decisions to governors and mayors. But the Democrat has also been criticized for failing to offer more details on his coronavirus plan.
After Mr. Biden tweeted Saturday that the president has “no plan to address COVID-19,” he drew a rebuke from investigative reporter Alex Berenson, author of “Unreported Truths About Covid-19 and Lockdowns.”
“What’s your plan? More lockdowns? Please, be specific,” tweeted Mr. Berenson.
Polling in recent months on the popularity of stay-at-home orders and business closures has been scant, but it appears they may be losing their luster with voters, judging from the Democratic reluctance to embrace the shutdown strategy.
Mr. Trump has taken some flak for holding large rallies, albeit outdoors, amid the pandemic. But Trump campaign surrogate Richard Grenell, the former U.S. ambassador to Germany, said that the crowds are fueled in part by frustration over the shutdowns.
“I don’t think the president is taking a lot of hits for these rallies,” said Mr. Grenell on Fox News. “I see massive numbers of people that are really angry that America is trying to shut down.”
At the same time, scientists have increasingly raised doubts about the effectiveness of shutdowns in combating the virus.
World Health Organization envoy Dr. David Nabarro warned last month that nations should “stop using lockdowns as your primary control method,” while more than 44,000 self-identified medical practitioners and scientists have signed the anti-lockdown Great Barrington Declaration.
The seemingly indefatigable Mr. Trump has maintained an exhausting campaign schedule in the last few weeks even after contracting COVID-19 on Oct. 2, which represents in some respects his best card.
Having defeated the disease in spite of at least two comorbidities — his age and his weight — Mr. Trump comes as living, breathing proof that a return to normal is possible after COVID-19, even for a “perfect physical specimen” like himself, as he jokes.
“Here I am,” he told the crowd Sunday. “I took something that was pretty good, because I woke up and I said, I feel great. Boom, Superman, folks.”
⦁ Alex Swoyer contributed to this report.
