Trump's First Indoor Rally
- fionacsweet
- Sep 14, 2020
- 2 min read
On Sunday, President Donald Trump hosted his first completely indoor rally since June, telling a packed, nearly mask-less Nevada crowd that the nation was "making the last turn" in conquering COVID-19.
It was clear that Trump wished to project a "safe" image of his rally on the TV, as he only mandated masks for those directly behind him (aka the only people whose images would end up on TV). The majority of others were without masks.
Trump made no mention of the 200,000 deaths from the virus thus far and instead said that "we are not shutting the country again. A shutdown would destroy the lives and dreams of millions Americans. We will very easy defeat the China virus." (Let me remind everyone, it is racist to call the coronavirus the China virus.)
The Nevada Governor (Steve Sisolak) did not like this. He had previously limited in-person gatherings both indoors and outdoors to only 50 people, a guideline that Trump obviously violated with this rally. In a statement released just before the rally started, Sisolak said that Trump was "taking reckless and selfish actions that are putting countless lives in danger here in Nevada. To put it bluntly: he didn’t have the guts to make tough choices. He left that to governors and the states. Now he’s decided he doesn’t have to respect our State’s laws. As usual, he doesn’t believe the rules apply to him."
Trump even went so far as to say he would support those in attendance "if the governor came after you." I can't even begin to explain how concerning this is.
He even pulled a move that I remember pulling in middle school: saying something bad about myself or something bad that someone else had said about me so that others around me would feel bad and would affirm that I am not the thing I (or someone else) had said about me. He said that he feels Joe Biden will "win because they don't like me, they don't like my personality." His supporters then started the cheer "We love you!"
This is just so dangerous for so many reasons, but honestly, I wouldn't expect anything else out of Trump at this point. I heard recently a very interesting point of view about Trump supporters, and I'm going to share it on here because I think for the most part it makes a lot of sense.
I understand why people can support Trump. His rhetoric allows his supporters to ignore everything that is going on with the world because he acts like it doesn't exist. COVID-19: not a threat. Systemic racism or police brutality: not a thing. Global warming: don't worry about it. Imagine how much easier life could be if we could put on blinders and just ignore what is going on in the world. Then, we only see our small world, and that's why Trump supporters like him. He makes life simpler for them, and they don't have to worry about other things.
But to be honest, I cannot respect that type of thinking. Ignoring a problem doesn't make it disappear. Taking responsibility of real problems is when I can give respect to someone. If one cannot take responsibility for problems, there is a serious problem with their moral compass.
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