Trump will be dangerous for Biden as his base will turn out at 'historic level' in 2020, says ex Obama advisor
President Donald Trump's supporters will not be deterred by the coronavirus pandemic and the struggling economy, former Obama adviser David Plouffe said, stating that the president's staunch following will make him "very dangerous" to Democratic front-runner Joe Biden.
Plouffe, while appearing on the 'Fox News Rundown' podcast on Thursday, April 2, said: "You look at the economic situation and say, 'How can an incumbent win in that?' But, you know, no one's blaming Trump for the damage. ... I think if you can lay his crisis response at his feet and connect that to the economy, I do think that's some headwind he's got to run into."
"But, almost no matter what happens, [the question is] can Donald Trump win Wisconsin? Can he win Michigan? Can he win Pennsylvania? Can he win Florida?" he continued. "Sure, because his base is so solid. And I think he's going to turn out voters almost at a historical level on his behalf, so that makes him very dangerous if you're Joe Biden."
The former White House adviser's comments came at a time when normal campaigning has come to a halt due to the coronavirus pandemic, and Biden has been virtually out of the spotlight. Plouffe said this also has put the former vice president's campaign at a disadvantage as President Trump continues to remain in the public eye as he heads the press conferences of the Coronavirus Task Force almost daily.
"There's nothing he [Biden] can do about it. He's not in office. He's not a governor. He's not the president. And truthfully, [New York Govornor] Andrew Cuomo, [California Govornor] Gavin Newsom ... Donald Trump, citizens want to hear from those folks because they're the folks making decisions. So," Plouffe said, "all Biden can do is leverage interviews ... leverage social media every day ... to communicate how you would handle this crisis."
The Obama adviser added regardless of who wins the elections, their next four years would be defined by "the economic ebb" which would continue after the pandemic is over. "Whether it's Trump who gets reelected or Biden in his first term, [it] is going to be defined ... by ... digging [us] out of a really deep economic hole," he said.
Talking about the measures that can be taken for the summer's nominating conventions, Plouffe floated the possibility of holding the events virtually considering social distancing guidelines would remain in place through the summer months.
"I think both the Republican Party and the Democratic Party have to do scenario planning here. One is a traditional convention in person ... the other is a virtual convention," Plouffe said. "The same thing's gonna be true for the election," he warned. "You have to prepare to run an election in the fall that may be all mail-in. Will we have presidential debates? We can have them in a studio."
The United States, as of April 2, registered more than 216,000 coronavirus cases in the country, with over 5,000 recorded deaths. COVID-19 has infected nearly 100,000 people across the world with a recorded fatality of almost 50,000. Although multiple countries are striving to find a cure for the novel coronavirus, there is no known official cure or vaccine for the deadly infection yet.