Pandemic as Campaign Stage: On Trump’s Handling of Covid-19 in the United States

The author argues that Donald Trump pursued a 'herd immunity' approach to Covid-19 not for epidemiological reasons, but to frame public health measures as Democratic-led attacks on the working class and small business owners. By dismissing scientific expertise and associating mask-wearing with weakness, Trump leveraged the pandemic as a campaign tool to solidify support among his base, particularly the less-educated petite bourgeoisie, by presenting a choice between public health and employment.

• The Trump administration adopted a laissez-faire approach to pandemic preparedness by disbanding the White House pandemic response team in May 2018 and removing the CDC epidemiologist from China's disease control agency.
• In 2019, the administration rejected simulation findings that indicated the US lacked sufficient personal protective equipment, ventilators, and ICU beds, and that public health infrastructure was underfunded.
• Trump's strategy is described as a 'herd immunity' approach, where he prioritized economic reopening over health measures, framing lockdowns as a 'cure' that was 'worse than the problem itself'.
• Trump used the pandemic to launch a 'war against expertise', framing scientists and epidemiologists as elites protecting their own interests against the needs of ordinary people.
• The author suggests Trump's support remained strong because he successfully framed the pandemic as a choice between health and employment, appealing specifically to small business owners and the self-employed.
• Trump associated mask-wearing with a lack of masculinity and weakness, using this to mock his opponent Joe Biden and signal a different identity to his followers.
• The document notes that Trump's support actually increased in more than two-thirds of the 100 US counties that experienced the highest per capita death rates.

APA

Levenson, Z. (2021). Pandemic as Campaign Stage: On Trump’s Handling of Covid-19 in the United States. Public Affairs Research Institute. https://pari.org.za/pandemic-as-campaign-stage-trumps-handling-of-covid-19-usa/

Chicago

Levenson, Zachary. Pandemic as Campaign Stage: On Trump’s Handling of Covid-19 in the United States. Public Affairs Research Institute, 2021. https://pari.org.za/pandemic-as-campaign-stage-trumps-handling-of-covid-19-usa/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Levenson |first1=Zachary |title=Pandemic as Campaign Stage: On Trump’s Handling of Covid-19 in the United States |publisher=Public Affairs Research Institute |date=14 January 2021 |url=https://pari.org.za/pandemic-as-campaign-stage-trumps-handling-of-covid-19-usa/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{levenson2021pandemic, author = {Levenson, Zachary}, title = {{Pandemic as Campaign Stage: On Trump’s Handling of Covid-19 in the United States}}, institution = {Public Affairs Research Institute}, year = {2021}, month = jan, url = {https://pari.org.za/pandemic-as-campaign-stage-trumps-handling-of-covid-19-usa/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }