Coronavirus poses new challenge to Trump's re-election bid

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump faced one of the gravest threats of his political career as the coronavirus pandemic spread, leaving fellow Republicans to worry that the White House’s response and the hit to the economy would harm his re-election prospects.

U.S. stock market indexes that Trump has touted throughout his term as evidence of his success plunged into bear market territory on Thursday - a day after he tried to calm Americans’ fears with an Oval Office address that promised economic stimulus and a 30-day travel ban for Europeans.

Some Republicans worried that the measures were too little, too late for an administration that for several weeks minimized the risk of the COVID-19 respiratory disease caused by the virus that has killed at least 39 Americans.

“The president’s early downplaying and politicizing of the virus hurt his credibility and will make people question the administration’s readiness from now until the day this passes,” said Mike DuHaime, a Republican strategist who ran Chris Christie’s gubernatorial campaigns in New Jersey.