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| Eric Trump |
Donald Trump is the captain of a rapidly sinking ship. The only lifeline: He must move beyond viewing the COVID-19 virus as a golden platform to achieve political and personal gains. It won't be easy.
The latest greatest hit in the Trump-First hit parade: Eric Trump begging for a federal bailout of the Trump International Hotel, which usually feasts on room tabs and dinner/bar charges from influence-peddlers and Republican toadies. The Trumps were reportedly trying to unload the property before the COVID-19 crisis hit. They've now shifted into bailout mode. These grifters have no shame.
It seems the now-empty Trump hotel can't afford the $250K monthly rent due to the General Services Administration. Am I missing something here? Isn't Eric's pitch for cash from the same federal government run by dad a conflict of interest? On second thought: It's back to the future and the battle over the emoluments clause.
For what it's worth, young Trump whined to the New York Times that the Trump Organization just wants to be treated fairly. Since dad is forever complaining about being treated unfairly, the kid is a chip off the old block. Watch out, Don Jr. and Ivanka! Eric has potential.
The public is on to the president's botched handling of the coronavirus outbreak. Nearly two-thirds (65 percent) of Americans say Trump was too slow to take major steps to address the virus after the disease was reported in China and elsewhere, according to Pew Research.
That's why he's blaming China, WHO, Bill Clinton and Yosemite Sam for COVID-19.
Though he may fight it tooth and nail, Trump needs to take a page from the book of the last great presidential communicator, Bill Clinton.
He needs to stop talking about reopening the economy (66 percent of Pew respondents fear the country will reopen prematurely) and focus on people. Trump should talk about the suffering of millions of Americans who have lost loved ones, jobs and hope of a better future. He must repeat over and over Clinton's trademark, "I feel your pain" and appear to mean it.
Governor Clinton debuted the "I feel your pain" mantra after an AIDS activist heckled him during a 1992 campaign stop in New York.
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| Michael McKean as Bill Clinton on SNL |
The Clinton/pain remark became somewhat of a cliché over the years and was a juicy and frequent target for "Saturday Night Live."
But the fact of the matter: it worked. Clinton was the empathizer-in-chief with an uncanny ability to connect one-on-one with people and assure them that he understood and cared about their plights.
Trump should give it a whirl. As he has said about his quack COVID-19 treatments, it couldn't hurt to try.
Vote as if you life depends on it because it does. Fear the second wave of COVID-19 is what Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Robert Redfield told the Washington Post on April 21.
"There's a possibility that the assault of the virus on our nation next winter will actually be even more difficult than the one we just went through," said Redfield.
He warned of a simultaneous flu epidemic and COVID-19 pandemic.
Trump doesn't do science. He would rather listen to his gut than the counsel of scientists like Redfield.
The Trump game book has always called for denying inconvenient science such as the data that supported the threat posed by global warming.
The former gambling casino owner would rather spin the wheel on public health and reopen the country because that is the linchpin of his re-election hopes.
That's why science-supporter Joe Biden is the only hope for the nation to fend off or combat COVID-19 II.
After all, Trump's gambling casinos all went belly-up.
And no need to thank me, Joe. You can use, "Vote as if you life depends on it because it does" as a campaign slogan.
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