In the searing midday heat in Peoria, Arizona, people wearing bright red MAGA (Make America Great Again) hats hold their smartphones high, filming as the multiple vehicles of the vice-presidential motorcade sweep down empty streets, carrying Mike Pence to a rally. To chants of “four more years”, Donald Trump’s right-hand man fist-pumps the air on stage. Outside the venue, I ask those still queuing to get in whether they think the coronavirus pandemic will have an impact on the way people vote. This isn’t the easiest task. Many here are not fond of the media, nor of wearing face masks. “Absolutely it will,” says Gary, a 74-year-old Trump supporter. “One hundred percent it will, because the media have spread fear and told people it’s Trump’s fault.” “I’m afraid so” says Sherry, a young mother and Israeli immigrant. “They’ve told people to stay home for months and that it’s Trump’s fault. Basically blaming him for a pandemic that started in China.” Another woman, also called Sherry, says it will have an impact, but in a good way. She says Trump now has personal experience with the virus, that it has made him “more human” and people will be “more sympathetic […]

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