Trump's re-election bid is collapsing because part of his base no longer trusts him on the COVID-19 crisis: report

According to the Washington Post's Eugene Scott, it would appear that Donald Trump's base that has stuck with him for three and a half years is starting to fracture, in par,t because they no longer believe they can trust his comments about the coronavirus pandemic.

Pointing to a report from the Washington Post's Fact Checker Team that states, "The coronavirus pandemic has spawned a whole new genre of Trump’s falsehoods. The category in just a few months has reached nearly 1,000 claims, more than his tax claims combined. Trump’s false or misleading claims about the impeachment investigation — and the events surrounding it — contributed almost 1,200 entries to the database," Scott notes that deep dive into the president's poll numbers shows a recent trendline that indicates he has been losing support from hardcore Republicans -- a demographic he badly needs to have any hope of being re-elected.

Noting that the president's approval number has been relatively steady at 40 percent since he took office, Scott said some recent changes indicate "voters’ lack of confidence in Trump could have real ramifications this November."

As he notes, Trump's chances of being re-elected hinges upon turning out his base -- particularly since recent polls show him losing the independents who helped propel him to the Oval Office in 2016. 

Writing "aides on the Trump campaign have argued that the president could be successful by focusing on turning out those who have supported him," the report from Scott notes the president may have done irreparable damage with his misrepresentations with the very voters he should be able to count on.

"The problem is that there are weaknesses in that group. According to the Post-ABC survey, nearly 30 percent of Republicans — one of the most pro-Trump voting blocs — said they don’t trust what the president says about the outbreak," he explained. "And neither do nearly 2 in 3 political independents, a voting bloc that was key to helping deliver the White House to Trump in 2016."

He went on to conclude, "The Post reported that while Trump aides are aware of his declining popularity, even with some of the voting blocs that he won in 2016, the president shows little sign of changing his behavior or words to increase confidence in him."

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