Daniel DePetris

Is Trump toning himself down for re-election?

The last time a U.S. President lost re-election, the year was 1992 and the victim was George H.W. Bush. President Donald Trump is currently doing everything in his power to make sure he isn’t the first incumbent in 28 years to vacate the White House after a single, four-year term; if that means ditching the improvisation and unconventionality he wears on his lapel every day, so be it.

That Trump gave two consecutive press conferences, on 21 and 22 July, about the coronavirus now rampaging the American South and West is not surprising. You may remember this past April, when Trump and his advisers thought it would be a good idea for the President to give daily news briefings about the virus with vice president Mike Pence, Dr. Anthony Fauci, and Dr. Deborah Birx standing alongside him. The idea was to project Trump as a decisive commander-in-chief; in charge of the country’s coronavirus response.

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