Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Melania Trump Delivers Rare Nod At Convention To Tragedy Of Pandemic
AP: Melania Trump Tells Virus Sufferers They’re ‘Not Alone’
Melania Trump went there. While others at the Republican National Convention spoke about the coronavirus largely as a challenge successfully conquered, the first lady on Tuesday night used her address from the Rose Garden to acknowledge the pain of lives lost and families upended by the pandemic. “I want you to know you are not alone,” she said to the tens of thousands of families that have been affected. More than 177,000 Americans have been killed by COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus. (8/26)
The New York Times: Melania Trump’s Unique Role At The R.N.C.: Expressing Sympathy On The Virus
Speaking directly to Americans who had lost a loved one to the virus, Mrs. Trump told them, “you are not alone.” She acknowledged that “the invisible enemy swept across our beautiful country and impacted all of us.” The tone of her remarks stood in contrast to her husband’s insistence on defending his own handling of the government response and pinning the blame on China, and only ever mentioning the lives lost as an afterthought. (Karni, Rogers and Haberman, 8/25)
Reuters: Melania Trump Offers Sympathy On Coronavirus, Racial Suffering In Convention Speech
Trump’s wife acknowledged the pain of the pandemic in sharp contrast to most other speakers at the party’s national convention, notably her husband, assailed by Democrats for his lack of solace during a U.S. health crisis that has killed more than 178,000 people. “I want to acknowledge the fact that since March, our lives have changed drastically,” Melania Trump told a crowd seated in the White House Rose Garden, the president in the front row. (Whitesides and Mason, 8/25)
In other election news —
The Washington Post: Trump Uses Republican Convention To Try To Rewrite Coronavirus History, Casting Himself As Lifesaving Hero
Faced with a pandemic that has killed more than 175,000 Americans, President Trump used glitzy video and misleading testimonials to spin a tale of heroism and resolve far removed from the grim reality of a country in the throes of an uncontrolled public health crisis. At the Republican National Convention on Monday, Trump was hailed as a bold and lifesaving leader who “was right” on the novel coronavirus while Democrats, doctors and pundits were wrong from the beginning. One campaign-style video that aired during the convention hailed Trump as the “one leader” who stood up to the virus while quoting Democratic figures who played down the severity of the virus in its early stages. (Olorunnipa, 8/26)
The Hill: Less Than Half Say They Trust Trump, Biden On Coronavirus Info: Poll
Less than half of Americans say they trust coronavirus information from either President Trump or Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, although more trust Biden, according to a new Axios-Ipsos poll. Forty-six percent of respondents said they trust Biden on the issue compared to 31 percent who said they trust Trump. A sharp partisan divide exists for both candidates. (Budryk, 8/25)
The New York Times: The Democrats Are United To Fight Trump, Tensions On Policy Are Looming
Democrats used the convention to further a message that propelled their candidates to success in the 2018 midterm elections: The party wants to expand health coverage while Mr. Trump and the Republicans want to take it away. Mr. Biden, the former vice president, is a capable messenger on the issue, having been at President Barack Obama’s side when the president signed into law the Affordable Care Act. But in the Democratic primary, no major issue showed a starker division within the party than the future of America’s health care system. (Kaplan and Friedman, 8/25)
