If the economic impact of Covid-19 remains short-lived and the American economy quickly returns to some sense of normalcy, President Trump may still be able to recover from his current predicament.
Prior to the Covid-19 crisis, most analysts were confident that President Trump would win a second term in office. At the end of the longest-ever economic expansion in American history, the unemployment rate was at a historic low. With Covid-19, however, things have quickly and dramatically changed. Many blame President Trump for downplaying the pandemic and calling for the economy to reopen too early, a move that has been interpreted as a cynical ploy to minimise the economic toll in order to increase his chances of re-election. Now, he is the underdog in the lead up to the election and seems to be aggravating the trade war with China, in an attempt to boost his popularity. If the economic impact of Covid-19 remains short-lived and the American economy quickly returns to some sense of normalcy, President Trump may still be able to recover from his current predicament.
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