Trump’s response to coronavirus, race has put him in a hole for reelection

• By Domenico Montanaro/NPR

Hundreds of thousands of people descended on the nation’s capital and cities across the country this weekend in continued demonstrations protesting George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police.

The protests were largely peaceful, and their meaning has extended beyond Floyd’s fate to the larger issue of policing in America and police treatment of black Americans.

“Don’t let the life of George Floyd be in vain,” a county sheriff said at a memorial service for Floyd Saturday in North Carolina.

Floyd will be remembered Monday in Houston at a public memorial service followed by an invitation-only funeral service Tuesday. Former Vice President Joe Biden will fly to Houston and meet with Floyd’s family Monday and deliver a videotaped message at the funeral service (though he won’t attend it because of complications his Secret Service detail would create).

President Trump, on the other hand, won’t be attending. He will be in Washington instead, and, on Monday, hosting a roundtable with law enforcement at the White House.

The two actions couldn’t better sum up where the two men on the ballot this November to lead the country are coming from — and the bets they’re making to win.

Trump has taken a hard “law and order” line, thinking that will appeal to suburban whites. CBS reported over the weekend that after demonstrations turned violent last weekend, the president wanted 10,000 active-duty military personnel on the streets.

And while he’s praised Floyd and been critical of police action in Minneapolis that killed the 46-year-old black man, Trump has also sounded off key.

“Hopefully George is looking down right now and saying this is a great thing that’s happening for our country,” Trump said Friday of Floyd while touting the latest jobs report that sent stocks soaring. “This is a great day for him. It’s a great day for everybody.”

Two other actions prompted pushback: Trump’s walk last Monday to a church, part of which was burned, across from the White House came after law enforcement forcibly removed peaceful protesters; and the president threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act and use the military if governors didn’t deploy National Guard troops to quell the protests. Both moves caused controversy — and breaks with multiple, high-profile current and former military officials.

What’s more, survey data show his view of the country may be outdated. A new NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll found two-thirds of Americans feel Trump has increased racial tensions since Floyd’s death, and they largely disagree with his view of the demonstrators. More than 6-in-10 see the demonstrations as mostly legitimate protests rather than unlawful acts. Those are big shifts from the 1960s when majorities sided with police and had an unfavorable view of civil rights protests.

Polls have also shown more people disapproving of the president’s handling of the coronavirus, and an NBC/WSJ poll out Sunday showed people say they think Biden would be better to handle the pandemic by an 11-point margin.

Trump is suffering politically, losing ground with key groups and losing to Biden in head-to-head matchups. He’s down 7 in both the NPR poll, 50% to 43%, and the NBC/WSJ poll, 49% to 42%. (In 2016, Clinton led in the NBC/WSJ poll at this time by just 2 points.)

There are still five months to go until the presidential election. This could be the nadir for Trump politically and most political strategists are girding for and expect a close election, but the president has a hole to climb out of right now if he hopes to be reelected.