But the former Obama White House official noted that Trump gets high marks for the economy even amid the downturn, and put the challenge for Democrats bluntly: “I don’t think this is a challenge for the Biden campaign. This is the challenge for the Biden campaign.”
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/dems-pre-election-economic-surge-seal-trump
I'd say this is wrong. This is
the challenge for Trump. Biden of course had many many arguments for why he is better suited than Trump for the job. And that was before Trump's dear-in-the-headlights nonresponse to the biggest crisis our country has experienced in decades.
It was Trump whose argument for reelect was based entirely on the economy (outside of his base, of course, that enjoys all the racism, and owning the libs, and the grievances, whatever it is about this total asshole that they like.) Which his supporters know, of course, which is why they are all pushing to reopen the economy when almost half the states are still seeing rises in cases.
On the likelihood of that "V-shaped recovery" in the fall, this is far from a given. Naturally, its possible, and likely that we will see
some rapid escalation in re-employment numbers (Trump will tout the record rate of "job creation" when this will be jobs coming back.)
But, this recovery probably won't be a V. Businesses have closed permanently. And when the others reopen, it won't be at full capacity. Restaurants and bars won't be able to pack people in the way they used to, neither will movie theaters. Sports events and concerts will be different experiences for the foreseeable future, not the least because it will be years before people will feel the same way going to one of these types of events. The loss of travel, tourism, retail...its created a hole in the economy. One that won't be filled quickly. Let alone before the fall election.
Its more likely that we are facing an economic crisis more on par with the Great Depression than a recovery equitable to a natural disaster.