US President Donald Trump raises hopes for Covid-19 vaccine in his campaign ad

The Trump campaign has inserted one of the country’s greatest hopes for overcoming the coronavirus pandemic — the push to develop an effective vaccine — into the presidential race with its latest campaign ad.

The Message

For months, the Trump campaign has struggled to lock in a cohesive message on the pandemic. After the administration played down and bungled the early response to the coronavirus, there has been little success for President Donald Trump to tout in his reelection campaign.

So his campaign is trading instead on a hope for a vaccine, and a promise to rebuild the economy.

The ad opens with the camera panning across bottles labelled “Covid-19 Coronavirus Vaccine” while a narrator claims that “the finish line is approaching” for a vaccine. That is quickly followed by a promise to bring back “the greatest economy the world has ever seen,” a promise that hinges more on the president’s hope than on any tangible plans or platforms that he has released.

The ad tries to draw a contrast between Trump’s pledge to rebuild the economy and remarks from Joe Biden, using a selectively edited clip that shows Biden saying he would “shut it down.”

For live updates on the coronavirus outbreak, click here

The ad fits into a broader arc that the Trump campaign is trying to sell: a pitch that the worst of the coronavirus is behind the country, and that the president is the best candidate to rebuild the economy.

Fact Check

The ad claims that the “finish line is approaching” for a vaccine. Earlier this month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notified public health officials that they should prepare to begin distributing a coronavirus vaccine to some high-risk groups as soon as late October or early November. But Dr Moncef Slaoui, the top scientist on Operation Warp Speed, warned in an interview with National Public Radio that the chance of successful vaccine results by October was “very, very low.” Health officials have also raised concerns that the Trump administration is seeking to rush a vaccine before Election Day on November 3.

The ad boasts about adding 1.37 million jobs in August, but that was down from the gains in the three previous months and included the hiring of nearly a quarter-million temporary census workers.

And Biden does not plan to shut the country down. He said that he would only do so, if elected, if scientists and health experts told him it was necessary.

Where It’s Running

The ad is currently running in five battleground states: Florida, North Carolina, Georgia, Wisconsin and Michigan. More may be added in the coming days.

The Takeaway

While the most vocal message out of the Trump campaign has been a strident stoking of racial divisions amid the protests against racism and police brutality around the country, the new ad is a recognition that the president’s reelection bid cannot simply ignore the coronavirus pandemic, particularly as many polls find the virus to still be the top concern of voters around the country.