Day 1,184: Trump is trying to foment uprisings against governors for imposing his own guidelines
Donald Trump gave guidelines to states — weak, delayed and pushing all responsibility off to governors — on how to handle the coronavirus outbreak and the reopening of various sectors of society.
At the same time, Trump is trying to undercut those same guidelines by pushing right wingers to take to the streets to pressure their governors to open states sooner. He’s the supposed leader of the U.S. undercutting leaders of states who are trying to keep their residents alive and healthy.
These protests aren’t completely organic. They’re often affiliated with people with multiple commas in their bank account.
Earlier this week, hundreds of demonstrators blocked the streets of Lansing, Michigan, and defied an executive order from Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to shelter in place to combat the spread of the coronavirus.
The protest, known as “Operation Gridlock,” featured a fair share of MAGA hats, Trump flags, at least one Confederate flag, chants of “Lock her up!” in reference to Whitmer, and far-right groups from the Proud Boys to the Michigan Liberty Militia. They clogged up the streets outside the state Capitol and defied Whitmer’s ban on public gatherings.
The whole charade was facilitated by the Michigan Conservative Coalition, a conservative political group that doubles as a front for Michigan Trump Republicans, and promoted by the Michigan Freedom Fund, a conservative group with ties to Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, a Michigan billionaire philanthropist power broker before she joined the Trump administration. The Detroit Free Press reported that the fund was listed as one of the protest’s hosts on Facebook. The organization also promoted the event on Facebook.
When asked during the afternoon press briefing what his “liberate” tweets meant, Trump issued a mealy-mouthed gobbledygook filibuster where he said nothing. Acknowledging the federal guidelines Trump nonsensically added, “but some things are too tough.”
He also added that Ralph Northam, the governor of Virginia, “should be under siege.”
This is a man — an overstuffed boy, really — trying to push riots in states run by Democratic governors. Trump didn’t disavow violence, rather he doubled down on the idea that things should happen to certain governors.
Notably, Trump isn’t saying vote them out. He isn’t trying to put pressure on cautious governors with facts and data and science. No, Trump is telling his followers to “liberate” their states and lay “siege” to governors.
This is Trump trying to get the red hats to do his bidding for him — despite his own guidelines — by any means possible.
1,184 days in, 278 to go
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