Is The Coronavirus an Invisible Enemy? Donald Trump’s Second-Most Influential Speech

Coronavirus, CDC image

Former president Donald Trump delivered his second-most influential speech during a Coronavirus Task Force Update on March 16, 2020. The coronavirus pandemic was the gravest crisis that Donald Trump faced (or failed to face) during his presidency. It inevitably gave rise to his two most influential speeches. I wrote about his “their new hoax” speech a couple of months ago. Now, let us look at the second one, where he called the virus “an invisible enemy.” He helped people pretend that they could ignore the virus. People do not avoid public health measures because they value freedom more than life. No, they ignore the coronavirus because Trump helped them pretend it wasn’t a big deal. No, the virus was invisible, just as unsafe water and gamma radiation are invisible. Out of sight, out of mind. 

Earlier Post: “And This Is Their New Hoax:” Donald Trump’s Six Deadly Words Still Ravage Our Nation

Trump’s most important speeches helped his supporters escape from reality. Trump helped people think that he did a great job with the pandemic - by downplaying it. Let us recall that many presidents have given influential speeches about momentous national and international issues. Trump himself gave such speeches. In contrast, however, Trump’s rhetorical response to the virus boiled down to two influential phrases: “This is their new hoax,” in February 2020, and “An invisible enemy,” in March 2020. Why should we wear an itchy mask or take a vaccine to protect ourselves from “their new hoax?” Why should we pay attention to an “invisible enemy” that we cannot even see? Nothing that Trump said in any speech mattered more than the clever way he underplayed the pandemic. 

Just as in February 2020, Trump’s March comments laid the groundwork for endless conspiracy theories. In February 2020, Trump had called the virus a hoax. By March, however, enough people were dying that it was no longer satisfying to call the virus a hoax. But what if the whole thing was not really a hoax, but merely invisible? And therefore easy to ignore? And, so, Trump continued to leapfrog across reality.

Just as with his “their new hoax” speech, it was one brilliantly-worded phrase that helped Trump lead his supporters away from reality. Everything else Trump said could be normal – except for the single crucial phrase. Trump’s idea – the invisible virus – the invisible enemy – still reverberates across our nation. A September 2021 Gallup poll concluded that: “Republicans retain the lowest vaccination rate of any major subgroup of Americans.” There are many reasons for this. Crucial, however, is that Trump reinforced the view that the virus didn’t matter much. 

So, by using his March 16, 2020 Coronavirus Task Force Update to remind people that the virus was invisible, Trump led his listeners away from the pandemic’s deadly reality. He cleverly did so while simultaneously noting that the pandemic was horrible:

“I just say this. We have an invisible enemy. We have a problem that a month ago nobody ever thought about. I’ve read about it. I read about many years ago, 1917, 1918. I’ve seen all of the different problems similar to this that we’ve had. This is a bad one. This is a very bad one. This is bad in the sense that it’s so contagious. It’s just so contagious, sort of a record setting-type contagion. The good part is the young people they do very well and healthy people do very well. Very, very bad for older people, especially older people with problems. My focus is really on getting rid of this problem, this virus problem. Once we do that, everything else is going to fall into place.” [Italics added]

That passage, was as a whole, pretty reasonable. Trump said that the pandemic was “very bad.” He said that it was “a record-setting-type contagion.” He emphasized that it was “very, very bad for older people.” How sensible! But the virus was also “invisible.” And we all know that, deep inside, many people don’t really believe in things they cannot see. That is how the soundbite made the difference.

Unfortunately, we live in the soundbite era. The press did not, for the most part, pick up Trump’s comment that things were “very bad” or “record-setting.” No, the press picked up on the virus being “invisible.” CNN later even ridiculed the idea, headlining: “Trump’s task force invisible as cases surge again.”

Donald Trump was nothing if not master of the soundbite. He said many of the right things in that March 2020 update. All the same, it was a soundbite – “invisible enemy” – that captured public attention. We can easily ignore unseen dangers. Radiation? Viruses? Carbon monoxide? Unseen carcinogens in our plastic bottles? If we don’t see something, we can pretend it’s not there. If we pretend it is not there, we don’t need to let it trouble our lives. We can pretend that we don’t need to watch our cholesterol. We can pretend that we don’t need to worry about toxins in our food. We can pretend that we don’t need to take a vaccine. Yes, Republicans all the time talk about their “freedom” to ignore public health. That misses the point. No one really wants to become deathly ill or die while gasping for breath. People don’t ignore the virus because they value their freedom. They ignore the virus because they can pretend it isn’t a big deal. Trump’s two most influential speeches came down to two influential phrases: “Their new hoax.” “An invisible enemy.” He helped his supporters ignore the virus. And, unfortunately, here we are.

_________________

Earlier Post: Trump Lived in Two Opposite Coronavirus Realities

Earlier Post: Trump Used Medical Quackery to Divert Attention from Coronavirus Issues

Elaine’s Post: Misinformation Kills; Has Your Child Been Vaccinated? Or, Are You Waiting?

_________________

P.S.: Thanks to the good people at the rev.com, transcription service; they have archived so many excellent speech transcripts. 

P.P.S. I hope all my readers had a wonderful, peaceful, and healthy Thanksgiving.