The Party of the Aggrieved
The day after announcing guidelines the nation’s governors can use to carry out an orderly reopening of their states, which are in the grip of a pandemic, President Donald Trump—through his weapon of choice, Twitter—openly encouraged protests against the social-distancing restrictions that have saved tens of thousands of American lives.
As The New York Times reported, in so doing, the president appeared to be “ceding any semblance of national leadership on the pandemic, and choosing instead to divide the country by playing to his political base.”
Maskless demonstrations—some featuring Make America Great Again hats, semiautomatic weapons, flags with rocket-propelled grenade launchers, and American and Confederate flags—have now taken place in state capitals in Colorado, Indiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Washington. More are being planned.
“They’ve got cabin fever,” the president said of the protesters. “These are great people,” according to Trump. “These
