Thor Graham

The 2020 election campaign trail is wrapping up in less than a month, but many voters are still undecided about who they will choose as the next president of the United States. The COVID-19 pandemic looms over everyone’s life and will have an extreme impact on who and why people will vote for in November. This article will not focus on any 3rd party candidates, only President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden. So let us analyze how they will try and lessen this pandemic:
Joe Biden has repeatedly emphasized the now over 215,000 COVID-19 related deaths in the U.S. in his campaigning, advertisements, and debates. Most of his campaign has been promoting his dedication towards his plan to slow down and end the pandemic, so let us examine what he will accomplish if he is elected:
According to his campaign website, Biden will attempt to make testing and care for COVID-19 cheaper and more widely available. While some testing sites are already free, he intends to have more free test sites all over the country. Biden also promises to task many federal agencies on the effort to slow down the virus. Furthermore, he will order agencies, the CDC, and FDA, to use more manpower on coronavirus. If under his leadership, the CDC would expand programs for testing and use the FDA to find any aids to slow down symptoms and possibly find a cure. Another concept Biden proposes is to restore the White House National Security Council Directorate for Global Health Security and Biodefense, which Trump shut down in 2018. Finally, Biden aims to create support and opportunities for workers and families who lost their jobs due to COVID-19.
Joe Biden and Donald Trump have very differing views on how to approach and slow down the pandemic. Trump has had various indoor and outdoor campaign rallies with an audience while Biden has minimal campaign events with only campaign personnel and family in the audience. Additionally, Trump has repeatedly downplayed the severity of COVID, and few plans currently exist to make testing and preventative measures more available to civilians. He seeks to undermine the use of masks and social distancing to lessen COVID. Trump has more plans to reopen the country than stopping the spread of the virus. Trump vows there will be a working vaccine by the end of 2020, which leads to his idea to return to a normal world without any social distancing and COVID-19 prevention. Trump wants to refill any stockpiles that have been depleted due to the virus, in order to prevent any future pandemics accordingly. Finally, the president wants to “Make All Critical Medicines and Supplies for Healthcare Workers in The United States”.
Given how diverging the two candidates’ plans and ideas are on relieving COVID’s impact, this election will be crucial in ensuring the health of the U.S. from an individual, economic, and political perspective. No matter how the next elected president decides to respond to COVID, it will impact our country for decades to come.