Lack of COVID empathy cost Trump election, ex-campaign manager says. ‘People were scared’
President Donald Trump’s former campaign manager says the president’s lack of empathy surrounding the coronavirus pandemic cost him reelection.
Brad Parscale, who was ousted from the role over the summer, reflected on the outcome of the 2020 presidential campaign in an interview that aired Tuesday night on Fox News and said he believes Trump’s tone surrounding the virus was the campaign’s biggest policy downfall.
“People were scared,” Parscale told Martha MacCallum on Fox. “I think if he would have been publicly empathetic he would have won by a landslide.
Trump has been heavily criticized for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
He repeatedly and publicly downplayed the severity of COVID-19 — including when he told Americans “don’t be afraid” of the virus before leaving the military hospital where he was being treated for it in early October — and compared it to the flu despite privately acknowledging its deadliness.
The president admitted to downplaying the threat of the virus and called it “more deadly” than “even your strenuous flus” in interviews conducted during the early days of the pandemic by journalist Bob Woodward for his book “Rage,” which was released in September.
Trump has been slammed for holding large campaign rallies during which many attendees were seen not wearing masks or social distancing and which researchers have said likely resulted in thousands of cases.
He’s also contradicted the advice of and been at odds with his public health experts throughout the outbreak.
President-elect Joe Biden’s campaign largely focused on Trump’s response to the coronavirus pandemic and Biden’s own plans to fight it while Trump defended his record and continued downplaying the virus.
“I think he could have leaned into it instead of run away from it,” Parscale said on Fox.
Parscale was demoted from his post as campaign manager in July and replaced by Bill Stepien. Parscale left the Trump campaign completely in late September after he was detained by police and hospitalized when his wife reported he was “armed and threatening self-harm,” The Hill reports. Police in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, confiscated 10 guns from Parscale’s home during the late-September incident, McClatchy News reported.
His wife also reported Parscale bruised her arms during a “physical altercation” but later rescinded the claim, according to The New York Times.
He responded to the incident during the Fox interview, saying his wife and his family are in a “much better” place.
“I’m just glad I’ve moved on,” he said.
Parscale is reportedly working on a memoir but has mostly kept a “low profile” since September, the Times reports.
He told Fox that his removal from the campaign “hurt” and that he hasn’t talked to Trump recently.
“It’s probably just as much my fault as his,” he said during the interview. “I love that family and I gave every inch of my life to them. Every inch.”
This story was originally published December 2, 2020 at 10:05 AM with the headline "Lack of COVID empathy cost Trump election, ex-campaign manager says. ‘People were scared’."
