Hans Nichols: ‘I Wouldn’t Be So Surprised’ That Trump Announces a May 1st Reopening

‘I actually think the president is, this time, more serious about it’

EXCERPT:

NICHOLS: "Right. I wouldn’t be so surprised. I actually think the President is, this time, more serious about it. Because they think the combination of diagnostic testing and surveillance testing, sort of monitoring what’s happening, could be sufficient to open up parts of the country on a regional basis. So in the past, it seems he has been sort of winking at the markets, trying to juice the stock market or send a signal to at least those Americans who do want to get back to work, which let’s be honest about this, there is a big debate in the country about when to open up. And in the past, at least with Easter, it seems the President was nodding. This seems more serious. Again though, the testing, I mean, you’re talking about the overall confidence issue. The power of the presidency is limited. And the rhetorical powers are limited. And even if the president says, 'Open up,' there is no guarantee. This is what he heard, as Jonathan was mentioning, on the call with the business leaders, s that there might not be the public confidence. And I don’t want to do any sports metaphors here, in part because there are no sports to watch, but confidence is a tricky thing to instill. I don’t know if the President, at least for the half the country, or more than half, we can have a debate, that doesn’t really listen to him, how he will inspire people to let them know that it's safe to go out and resume living their lives.“

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