President Trump is seizing on the coronavirus pandemic to engineer an immigration ban that he’s sought for years, framing it as a step to protect domestic jobs and public health amid waves of new unemployment claims.
The move is red meat for his die-hard supporters and has the potential to rally his conservative base ahead of his tough reelection bid this fall.
Yet it’s also opened up the president to attacks from Democrats, now accusing the White House of trying to shift public attention away from his unsteady response to the coronavirus outbreak, which has killed more than 45,000 people, sickened 825,000 and shuttered the U.S. economy. Continue reading.