Do Trump's reelection hopes hang on his coronavirus response?
Karl Rove reacts to the White House's efforts to address the health and economic crisis.
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Fox News contributor Karl Rove said on Friday that President Trump’s response to the economic fallout due to the coronavirus is going to have a “huge impact" on the election.
“Presidents who are in recessions tend to lose, presidents who are not in recessions tend to win, but we have never been in a circumstance like this where the country has suffered economic contraction because of a virus this close to a presidential election,” the former senior adviser to President George W. Bush told “Fox & Friends.”
Rove said that although Americans may not hold Trump accountable for the coronavirus, they are going to judge him on his response to the pandemic and the impact on the economy in the months ahead.
“Their question is going to be: 'Does he seem to be doing the things that are reasonable and prudent to get us back to economic health as rapidly as possible?'” Rove said.
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Trump on Thursday predicted a "big bounce" as he argued the U.S. economy will recover quickly from the massive hit it has taken because of the coronavirus pandemic — despite 16.8 million Americans losing their jobs in just the last three weeks.
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“The economy is just going to do very well,” Trump said at the daily Coronavirus Task Force briefing at the White House. “I think we’re going to have a big bounce…we’re going to open up very strong.”
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Rove said that Trump has faced two main challenges: the coronavirus itself as a health crisis and the aftermath of an economic contraction.
“[American voters] are going to say, ‘How does he seem to be handling this? and, 'Does he seem to be moving us in the right direction?'” Rove said.
Fox News' Andrew O'Reilly contributed to this report.
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