US President Donald Trumps "farcical and nonsensical" comments regarding the coronavirus pandemic has worsened the consequences from COVID-19 and created significant divisions among Republicans, says an American political analyst.
"As the political, social and economic consequences of the coronavirus pandemic worsen, all roads lead to President Donald Trump," said Rodney Martin, a former congressional staffer now based in Arizona.
"This is creating a significant divide within the Republican Party, particularly between the Republican establishment and the Republican core base,", Martin told Press TV on Thursday.
"There is tremendous pressure within the Republican establishment and among Republican senators....to oppose some or even all of Donald Trumps farcical, nonsensical and hyperbolic comments relating to the coronavirus," he added.
Republicans in the Senate are under growing pressure to criticize the Trump administration for its response to the coronavirus.
Some Republican strategists believe that the GOP should distance itself from Trump as the party comes under pressure over conniving his vices in the midst of the covid-19 pandemic.
The party, which holds a 53-47 seat majority in the upper chamber of the Congress, has been extremely supportive of Trumps policies since he took office after his 2016 victory.
"This may be an unprecedented circumstance in terms of public health and the budget, but its not unprecedented politically for the party in Congress to look at the incumbent president in the election and say ‘How can we protect ourselves from the drag of the White House? " Vin Weber, a Republican strategist, told the Hill.
Trumps handling of the virus has come under increasing scrutiny. Only 43 percent of Americans approved his handling of the coronavirus, according to the Reuters/Ipsos poll from April 27-28.
On Friday, Trump increased his estimate of possible deaths in the United States from the coronavirus, telling a White House event he hopes for less than 100,000 fatalities, a higher upper limit than the 60,000 to 70,000 deaths he discussed on Monday.
On Wednesday the number of deaths passed 60,000, eclipsing the number of Americans killed in the Vietnam War. By Friday afternoon, at least 63,260 people had died, according to a Reuters tally of state and local government reports.
LINK: https://www.ansarpress.com/english/16752
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