Trump turns virus effort into ‘US vs. THEM’ debate

President Donald Trump’s push to resume big rallies despite concern he’s putting the public’s health at risk is part of a broader reelection campaign effort to turn the national debate about the coronavirus into a political fight that he frames as “US vs. THEM.”

“They hate me. They hate you. They hate rallies and it’s all because they hate the idea of MAKING AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” Trump said in a recent fundraising email.

Those who raise concerns about the health risks of packing in thousands of people for his Saturday rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Trump says, are trying to “COVIDSHAME“his supporters for events that will draw fewer people than the throngs that turned out for outdoor protests after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

Trump went so far as to complain in a Wall Street Journal interview this week that some Americans wore facial coverings not as a preventive measure but as a way to signal disapproval of him.

The president appears to be calculating that he can ignite resentment toward “the other” and inspire his base to turn out for him in November, said Christopher Borick, director of the nonpartisan Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion.

“The frame of us-versusthem — the other — has been a consummate rhetorical tool for the president throughout his time in office and before as a candidate,” Borick said. He cited earlier Trump attacks against people living in the country illegally and against “American carnage” in U.S. cities as examples of divisive language from the presidential bully pulpit. “It’s the tried-and-true device that he repeatedly goes back to.”

Dan Eberhart, a Republican donor and Trump supporter, said it was disheartening that the virus has turned into a “Red team vs. Blue team” issue. But he said that Trump is clear-eyed that if the economy isn’t “roaring by October,” his reelection hopes are dim. The president’s push to get back to normal, including campaigning, reflects that political reality.

But the reality of the threat from the pandemic is quite different. Epidemiologists are increasingly concerned about spikes in infections that suggest the virus is still spreading.

Arizona, Florida, California, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas all reported record-high single-day increases in coronavirus cases on Thursday. Tulsa County, where Trump will hold his rally at a 19,000-seat arena, has emerged as the state’s leading COVID-19 hot spot.