March 24, 2020 12:43 PM UTC

President Trump's Coronavirus

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• by: Colorado Pols

You may soon find some coronavirus franking mail in your (physical) mailbox this week with President Trump’s name front and center…and not in a good way.

“Franking” is the shorthand name given to mail pieces that are produced with government resources that aren’t supposed to work like campaign messages but can be understandably confused for that purpose. Normally you might get one of these mail pieces from your Member of Congress or a U.S. Senator — and usually they come more frequently in election years — but the coronavirus outbreak gave the White House an excuse to send out something with the name “President Trump” in big, bold, uppercase letters.

This mail piece from the White House and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) unnecessarily and inappropriately include’s “President Trump” at the top of one side — undoubtedly because Trump staffers thought it would be a great way to demonstrate Trump’s coronavirus leadership, or something. In this case, the positive impressions that the White House hoped to generate may end up backfiring in a big way.

“PRESIDENT TRUMP’S CORONAVIRUS” is probably not the sort of phrasing that the White House wants Americans to adopt en masse — even if the name fits.