How Outcome of Coronavirus Pandemic Will Help - Or Hurt - Trump: UVA’s Lawless LIVE

How Outcome of Coronavirus Pandemic Will Help - Or Hurt - Trump: UVA’s Lawless LIVE

University of Virginia Professor of Political Science Jennifer Lawless appeared on GoLocal LIVE where she discussed how President Donald Trump is handling the coronavirus pandemic — and how that plays into 2020 presidential politics. 

“I think the outcome of this pandemic could ultimately really help or hurt Donald Trump because he’s the President and he’s the person who’s overseeing the efforts,” said Lawless. 

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“I tune in every night [to Trump’s press conferences] both for the information, then also, ‘who’s he going to attack tonight?’” said Lawless, of Trump’s response to reporters. 

Sanders' Exit

Lawless also spoke to U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders’ exit from the Democratic primary — which Lawless said meant “two things."

“The first is that Joe Biden has already told us he’s begun vetting Vice Presidential candidates — there’s also the speculation he might very well identify who would serve in his cabinet, at least the higher-level positions before he actually engages in the convention in August,” said Lawless. 

“So what this does is, it clears the path for him to have the flexibility to do that without looking like he’s being presumptive, so that’s the first part,” she said. “And it means that those people will be able to campaign with him as surrogates on the campaign trail probably [and] demonstrate a higher level of diversity and youth than he himself is able to, you know, demonstrate.”

“The second piece is it gives Biden a longer time to embrace Sanders supporters and convince them to come along for the ride — in 2016 Sanders didn’t really get behind Hillary Clinton until June and so these extra two months could be really important for Biden,” said Lawless.