A Sunday report from The New York Times claimed that Republicans are starting to contradict Donald Trump as he continues to brush off the coronavirus pandemic ahead of the November election.
According to the report, the purported break from the president is driven by multiple factors, including the destruction the pandemic is wreaking on Republican states and the Trump campaign’s poor polling performance against Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden . Notably, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell broke with Trump last week on almost every significant issue relating to coronavirus. He promoted the importance of wearing a mask, pressed Americans to follow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidelines on handling the pandemic, and expressed “total” confidence in Dr. Anthony Fauci, who Trump’s White House recently tried to undermine.
“The straight talk here that everyone needs to understand is: This is not going away until we get a vaccine,” McConnell warned.
As The Inquisitr reported, cracks were previously evident in the Republican Party when some GOP lawmakers pushed back on the president’s plan to end funding for COVID-19 testing sites. According to The New York Times , the “breach” between Trump and leading Republicans is quietly increasing as the COVID-19 crisis continues to rip through America.
“The emerging rifts in Mr. Trump’s party have been slow to develop, but they have rapidly deepened since a new surge in coronavirus cases began to sweep the country last month,” the report said.
In addition to McConnell, Republican Govs. Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas and Mike DeWine of Ohio have allegedly become more open about their concerns with Trump’s leadership. Others, like former House Speaker Paul Ryan, who has avoided explicit criticism of the president for years, reportedly expressed doubt over the real estate mogul’s prospects at the ballot box — should he continue to lose ground with suburban voters.
As reported by Politico , Florida Gov. and Trump ally Ron DeSantis recently acknowledged the state’s testing problems and called for faster results after the region broke a daily case record.
“I know many Floridians are filled with apprehension as they wonder, you know, what does this mean,” DeSantis said in what Politico called a “more somber tone” than usual.
“What do these trends mean for our health, for our families, and for our jobs,” DeSantis added.
Despite the break from Trump among some Republicans, others continue to side with Trump’s purported decision to minimize the virus. Notably, Gov. Brian Kemp of Georgia recently blocked local governments from mandating masks and sued Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms for issuing this requirement.
