Trump’s Declaration of War Against COVID-19

Opinion columnist, Charles Blow, wrote an article in the NY Times that sheds light on the ways in which politicians’ responses to the coronavirus are “heavily overlaid with political calculations.” Blow notes that “in general, a national crisis benefits the incumbent, if the nation is perceived to be at war against an outside actor.” Using this logic, we can explore President Trump’s reaction to the virus in order to gain understanding of his attempts to control symbolic meaning over the pandemic as an event. Iconic photography and apocalyptic narrative are used in an attempt to frame this situation in a way where Americans are at war against an opponent. 

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/29/opinion/coronavirus-pandemic-politics.html

The photo above was taken of the U.S.N.S. Comfort’s departure for New York City from Norfolk, Virginia. Trump deployed the hospital ship in order to relieve health care professionals in New York City, an area that has been hit hard by the virus. This photo is iconic because it condenses symbols into a specific material form. In No Caption Needed, Hariman and Lucaites write that “iconic photographs provide an accessible and centrally positioned set of images for exploring how political action (and inaction) can be constituted and controlled through visual media” (5). They state that iconic photographs influence the public by “reproducing ideology, communicating social knowledge, shaping collective memory, modeling citizenship, and providing figural resources for communicative action” (9). The composition of this photograph denotes Trump as an authority figure by focusing attention on him and featuring him in the foreground, while the ship is presented in an unfocused and blurry manner in the background. Additionally, the shot is taken from behind, so we cannot see Trump’s face, which gives a level of mystery and formality to the picture. We can see that he is looking at the ship, possibly in contemplation. Also, the photo is grave and displays a severe nature of our present times. The picture is cool toned which gives off a dismal and gloomy effect, however, the red cross on the ship represents a symbol of hope. The red cross brings in ideas of protection and humanitarianism, as well as nationalism. The hospital ship brings about ideas of nationalism, because it is owned by the U.S. Navy and supports America’s agenda. Icons can “provide definitive representations of political crises and motivate public action on behalf of democratic values” and this image promotes solidarity among Americans amidst a national crisis (45). The composition of the photo gives the perspective that the viewer is standing behind Trump, making it seem as though he is leading us out of the crisis towards the hope that is associated with the cross. In this way, the photograph works in Trump’s favor by associating him with reassurance, stability and leadership. 

In Why War?, Philip Smith argues that “in such apocalyptic narratives events are seen as unequivocally world-historical, and as in need of heroic interventions, for the object of struggle is the future destiny of the planet or civilization” (27). Trump claims that “we’re at war” and “fighting an invisible enemy.” He deployed the U.S.N.S. Comfort, which normally provides emergency care for U.S. combatant forces, to give support to healthcare workers during the pandemic. However, he has not been successful in shifting the event from a health crisis to a combat war. Since the enemy is invisible, there is no one for him to blame. He attempted to put blame on China by calling the virus the “Chinese virus” but the U.S. has far surpassed China in number of confirmed cases. Additionally, the successes that America has won in combating the virus are attributed to the health care professionals rather than being credited to Trump. Trump has tried to shift the perspective of the event so that he can emerge as a hero, but so far it seems that his attempts have been largely unsuccessful. 

Works Cited

Blow, Charles M. 2020. “The Politics of a Pandemic.” The New York Times. Retrieved May 10, 2020 (https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/29/opinion/coronavirus-pandemic-politics.html).

Hariman, Robert and John Louis Lucaites. 2011. No Caption Needed: Iconic Photographs, Public Culture, and Liberal Democracy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Smith, Philip. 2005. Why War?: the Cultural Logic of Iraq, the Gulf War, and Suez. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.