Sunday, September 13, 2020

What did Donald Trump do today?

He held an indoor rally.

Trump has spent much of the last week struggling to explain why he told journalist Bob Woodward in February and March about how dangerous COVID-19 was, while admitting to Woodward that he was telling the American people a very different story. The answer his campaign has settled on is that he was trying to avoid "panic," although in practice, Trump seems to have been simply trying to trade increased risk of infection and death for a short-term economic rebound.

Today, for the first time since a June rally in Tulsa sickened his own staff and Secret Service agents and contributed to a spike in cases that killed former presidential candidate Herman Cain, Trump held a rally indoors.

The Nevada rally was held at a manufacturing plant in Henderson. More than a thousand attendees were gathered on the factory floor, and most weren't wearing masks. 

The Trump campaign appeared to be deliberately looking for a rule to break. It's against emergency restrictions to hold a gathering of more than 50 people in Henderson, but the owner of the plant will be liable, not Trump.

According to a recent poll, twice as many Americans disapprove (65%) of Trump's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic as approve (35%). 

So what?

  • The health and safety of the American people is more important than Donald Trump's need to be in front of a crowd.
  • Presidents aren't above the law.