At a Monday rally in Sanford, Florida — the president’s first campaign event outside the White House grounds since his diagnosis with the Coronavirus — a group of the president’s supporters seemingly tried to shout down CNN White House correspondent Jim Acosta with an angry chant. While Acosta was speaking live with CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer, a seemingly rather large group of the president’s supporters were shouting the chant: “CNN sucks!” The inane pettiness seems quite aptly representative of Trumpism as a whole. Acosta replied by noting to Blitzer that getting the Coronavirus would also “suck.” Rallygoers have subjected themselves to the possibility of Coronavirus infection by attending the event.
As the belligerent “CNN sucks!” chant rang out in the background, Acosta memorably commented to Blitzer:
‘And as this crowd is chanting that there are members of the press here who suck, I should also point out what also sucks — getting the Coronavirus.’
Check out his on-point comments below:
>> @Acosta at Trump's rally in FL: "As this crowd is chanting that there are members of the press here who suck, I should also point out, what also sucks: getting the coronavirus." pic.twitter.com/nMUlZ8lnlB
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) October 12, 2020
The Trump campaign has repeatedly flouted public health precautions that are meant to keep the frequently deadly Coronavirus from spreading. Although temperature checks have apparently been performed on rallygoers before entrance, what if they’re carrying the Coronavirus without displaying symptoms? And what if there’s someone else at the event who could catch the virus and display serious symptoms and maybe even die? These Trump campaign rallies have routinely proceeded with essentially no systematically meaningful mask-wearing or social distancing in place, and the president keeps trying to downplay the threat from the virus altogether. The president and his team frequently prioritize their own political point-scoring over basic concerns about protecting life, and it’s just appalling.
The president himself, as mentioned, has experienced a bout with the Coronavirus, but this experience has not changed his overall approach to the disease. He insisted in the wake of his time in the hospital that Americans should not let the virus “dominate” their lives, as if dealing with the pandemic hinges on mere personal and/or political will. It does not, and it never has. Dealing with the pandemic hinges on the material and public health policy support that the Trump administration has repeatedly failed to provide over the course of the crisis.
