Trump has a problem with a vital part of his base:
The coronavirus crisis and the administration’s halting response to it have cost President Trump support from one of his most crucial constituencies: America’s seniors.
For years, Republicans and Mr. Trump have relied on older Americans, the country’s largest voting bloc, to offset a huge advantage Democrats enjoy with younger voters. In critical states like Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Florida, all of which have large older populations, Mr. Trump’s advantage with older voters has been essential to his political success; in 2016, he won voters over the age of 65 by seven percentage points, according to national exit poll data.
But seniors are also the most vulnerable to the global pandemic, and the campaign’s internal polls, people familiar with the numbers said, show Mr. Trump’s support among voters over the age of 65 softening to a concerning degree, as he pushes to reopen the country’s economy at the expense of stopping a virus that puts them at the greatest risk.
A recent Morning Consult poll found that Mr. Trump’s approval rating on the handling of the coronavirus was lower with seniors than with any other group other than young voters. And Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., the presumptive Democratic nominee, in recent polls held a 10-point advantage over Mr. Trump among voters who are 65 and older. A poll commissioned by the campaign showed a similar double-digit gap.
The falloff in support comes as Mr. Trump has grown increasingly anxious about his re-election prospects, with a series of national surveys, as well as internal polling, showing him trailing in key states. The president has all but moved on from a focus on controlling the pandemic and is now pushing his agenda to restore the country, and the economy, to a place that will lift his campaign.
“Trump has suffered a double whammy with seniors from the coronavirus crisis, both in terms of a dislike for his personal demeanor and disapproval of his policy priorities,” said Geoff Garin, a Democratic strategist. “If there’s a durable change with older voters, it could well cost Trump the election.”
The demographic shift is fairly new, and officials said they attributed it at least in part to Mr. Trump’s coronavirus briefings, at which he often dispensed conflicting, misleading and sometimes dangerous information that caused alarm among a vulnerable population. At the same point in the race four years ago, Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee, trailed Mr. Trump by five points with the same group.
Among the aides who have warned the president of a softening with older voters is Kellyanne Conway, his 2016 campaign manager and a senior adviser, people familiar with the discussions said. White House officials aware of the problem have started to stage events and initiatives designed to highlight work the administration has done that will appeal to seniors.
Standing in the ornate East Room at the White House earlier this month, for instance, Mr. Trump surrounded himself with health officials as he signed a proclamation declaring May to be “Older Americans Month.”
Yeah, I don’t think that smarmy, paternalistic crapola is going to help. All of his “we must protect our precious elders over 60” is pretty much telling them they’ll have to imprison themselves for years — possibly their whole lives — and I’d guess a lot of them aren’t particularly impressed. At least a few apparently don’t have the minds of children. They tend to be very hooked into the medical system and their real doctors, as opposed to Doctor Trump and his team of epidemiologists Dr Oz, Dr Hannity and Dr Ingraham, are no doubt telling them the real facts.
I can’t answer for why any of them supported him in the first place. It’s beyond me. But now that their lives are at stake a few seem to have sobered up. They’d like to be able to leave their houses again before they die. And it’s pretty clear that Trump’s ignorance and incompetence has made that less likely. He’s made it very, very clear that he values his “great economy” more than he values their lives.
I guess owning the libs isn’t always what its cracked up to be.
Oh, and by the way. He’s killing his own voters as well:
An academic journal projects that deaths of 65-and-older Republican voters in several swing states will far exceed those of Democrats.