An invisible bug is killing the Trump presidency.
With stock markets plunging and coronavirus anxiety spreading, President Trump is following his usual game plan: Blame others. Attack enemies. Deny trouble. Change the subject.
It’s failing miserably. The 11-year bull market in stocks ended this week, with a nauseating 9% plunge in the S&P 500 stock index on March 12 alone. Stocks are now about 26% below their February peak. The plummet from peak to 20% down, which defines a bear market, is the most rapid on record, by far.
Trump tried to address the problem on March 11 with one of the worst presidential addresses in memory, a 10-minute televised speech that was more like a high school drama club trying to act out a presidential address. Trump stoked panic among Americans traveling in Europe, announcing a two-day deadline before all new bans on inbound travel from Europe would go into effect.
Then Trump committed at least four crucial lies or mistakes. Trump said the ban on travel from Europe included cargo, when it didn’t. He falsely claimed insurance companies would cover all costs of treating coronavirus, which isn’t true. He botched the details of who returning to the United States from overseas travel is subject to testing. And he made it sound like new treatment for the coronavirus is available when it’s months or even years away. Stocks started to tank while Trump was still speaking.
An even bigger failure is Trump’s repeated insistence that the virus is contained, when plainly it is not. And he told Americans anybody could get tested, even though tests remain scarce and hundreds or thousands of people who think they might have the bug can’t find out for sure.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/this-week-in-trumponomics-how-to-fail-193338364.html