This evening, President Donald Trump is making an appearance at Mount Rushmore in Keystone, South Dakota for an evening of fireworks and military jet flyovers to celebrate Independence Day, and to charge up his supporters for his reelection campaign.
Around 7,500 people are expected to attend the display, and Politico is reporting that there are no social distancing requirements in place for the event, even though Coronavirus infection rates are spiking across the country.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, a member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force and the Director of the NIAID, has suggested that people should not attend these types of events because the potential for infection is very high if social distancing practices are not in place.
In a recent interview on Twitter, Fauci shied away from specifically naming Trump and his events, instead offering forth the following:
“Public figures with big fan bases can save lives by promoting best safety practices.”
Dr. Anthony Fauci
The key public figure involved in these events, Donald Trump, is ignoring the best safety practices and is not requiring that attendees wear masks or maintain a distance of six feet away from each other.
Why would Trump once again ignore these guidelines following his disastrous turnout at a recent rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma?
Perhaps he is trying to gain back some ground on presumptive Democratic Presidential nominee, Joe Biden, and is desperate to try anything to reignite his base as he did on the campaign trail in 2015.
At the beginning of 2020, it looked like it was going to be smooth sailing for Trump. He was ahead in the polls and was way ahead in the betting odds posted at top political sportsbooks.
Now, Trump is down across the board, with a major chasm between him and Biden, and it seems that every attempt he makes to close the gap is backfiring on him.
- Joe Biden -160
- Donald Trump +140
- Joe Biden -160
- Donald Trump +110
- Joe Biden -180
- Donald Trump +150
So what does President Trump have planned for July 4th? An even bigger celebration at the National Mall in Washington, D.C., also with a large fireworks display and military jet flyovers.
Over 300,000 masks will be made available to attendees of the fireworks and air-show in D.C., but there will be no requirement that anyone must wear them, according to CBS News.
Trump has not mentioned the Coronavirus in relation to these events at all, which only adds to the speculation that he is ignoring the problem.
White House staffers are allegedly working around the clock to protect the President from potential infection, and in turn, he is asking his supporters to turn out in droves, risking infection for themselves.
Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has spoken out against the event because of the disregard for CDC distancing guidelines, but cannot affect the proceedings because they take place on federal lands.
“We know this is a special event for the Department of the Interior. We’ve communicated to them that we do not think this is in keeping with the best CDC and Department of Health guidance. But this event will take place entirely on federal property.”
Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser
If the turnout for these events is anything resembling the attendance at Trump’s recent rally in Tulsa, it will likely negatively affect his reelection chances, his poll numbers, and the Presidential betting odds.