Barely in the polls almost a hundred days before the presidential election, criticized for his management of the coronavirus, Donald Trump tried on Tuesday to regain control by recognizing the seriousness of the health crisis. "It will surely, unfortunately, get worse before it gets better. I don't like to say it but it is like that," said the President of the United States at the White House, where he returned for the first time. since the end of April with the press conferences on Covid-19, called to become regular again, as at the height of the pandemic. "In recent weeks, we have seen a worrying increase in cases in many parts of our South," he added, referring to "big fires" and even a "very difficult situation" in Florida, a state ruled by one of his close allies where he plans to hold in a month the convention supposed to launch the home stretch of his campaign.
After an improvement in late spring, the epidemic resumed with more vigor in the country, already the most bereaved in the world with 141,800 dead. The number of cases is exploding - more than 60,000 a day for a week, for a total of 3.88 million since the start of the pandemic - and daily deaths are also on the rise: more than 700 per day on average. The situation is particularly worrying in southern states such as California, Florida and Texas, which are often forced to impose restrictions in reverse of deconfinement.
Trump struggles in the polls
Until now, Donald Trump had tried at all costs to turn the page on Covid-19. Pressed to revive the economy as well as his campaign for the presidential election of November 3, he had been accused of being in denial in the face of the coronavirus outbreak. But after a failed meeting in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in June, in front of a sparse audience, the progression of the epidemic has not allowed him to continue with the large public meetings he loves.
Meanwhile, his Democratic opponent Joe Biden, who however moves only cautiously on the ground, is considered more competent to face the multiple crises facing the United States.
He is widening the gap in the polls: if the election took place today, he would win hands down, according to the voting intentions.