Hours after several governors announced they are extending their states' stay-at-home orders President Donald Trump announced what he called a plan to open up America again. Thursday evening Trump revealed his "Opening Up America Again" program (video below).
The President does not have the legal or constitutional authority to reopen the country, so he has decided to lock the nation's governors into that responsibility, while telling America the time is now – putting tremendous pressure on them just one day after right wing activists linked to the DeVos family shut down the capitol of Michigan in protest of the governor's stay at home order.
Just so we're all clear, Betsy DeVos, Trump's Secretary of Education, paid for a fake protest in Michigan just so D… https://t.co/Z8LFLLrD3Q— Jared Yates Sexton (@Jared Yates Sexton) 1587075240.0
Anger on social media against Trump's move to force a reopening of the country before the coronavirus is under control is palpable.
This is a complete abdication of leadership by Trump. He’s essentially demanding the economy reopen, but with no pl… https://t.co/L4xHS7PZw4— Matt McDermott (@Matt McDermott) 1587075843.0
Via a series of blatant lies President Trump announced he is "allowing" the governors to open their states when they choose, but the pressure is now on. Trump is assuming Americans don't know the real statistics, and lied to them about issues like coronavirus deaths in the U.S. versus other countries.
“The United States has achieved a significant lower mortality rate than almost all other countries.” - Trump Coron… https://t.co/w4jIISvSkP— Keith Boykin (@Keith Boykin) 1587075691.0
But the President is also under the false beliefs that the majority of Americans think it's time to go back to work, back to school, back to shopping.
They do not.
Morning Consult: 89% Dems, 72% GOP say social distancing should continue as needed. Gallup: 89% Dems, 69% GOP say… https://t.co/Fryw9eEgHb— David C. DeWitt (@David C. DeWitt) 1587052898.0
Not at all.
New Pew poll: About twice as many Americans say their greater concern is that state governments will lift restricti… https://t.co/T53tWEhwCe— Jonathan Landay (@Jonathan Landay) 1587075456.0
For the record, as of this writing, and even despite sufficient testing, the U.S. is number one in coronavirus cases (675,640) and number one in coronavirus deaths (34,522). America ranks number 43 in testing per capita.
Here's the President's announcement:
President Trump: "Based on the latest data our team of experts now agrees that we can begin the next front in our w… https://t.co/BsGYQ33UwI— CSPAN (@CSPAN) 1587075738.0
Trump clearly is concerned with credit snd blame:
TRUMP: "We have some states that got too much credit for what they've done, frankly. I could name you a couple of those."— Ryan Struyk (@Ryan Struyk) 1587077876.0
Here's how some are responding to the President's "plan."
The Trump "plan" to re-open the economy is similar to the Trump "plan" to have drive-thru testing in every Wal Mart… https://t.co/glYSfNhYU6— Chris Hayes (@Chris Hayes) 1587076384.0
If we reopen without tests it’s just February all over again.— Esther Choo MD MPH (@Esther Choo MD MPH) 1587062277.0
Sharing this photo for absolutely no reason whatsoever... https://t.co/qCgcZ1QbkI— Andrew Feinberg (@Andrew Feinberg) 1587075467.0
Seems like Trump is setting up a dynamic where he can complain governors (and potential political points by claimin… https://t.co/CElzG25JZB— Eric Lipton (@Eric Lipton) 1587075568.0
Trump plan to open economy is a sham. All responsibility shifted to states. He stands ready to claim credit or di… https://t.co/x37LaIAzOa— David Rothkopf (@David Rothkopf) 1587075321.0
Bottom line on Trump opening. Federal govt is done and his gut tells him it's time to open the country. No science involved.— Joe Lockhart (@Joe Lockhart) 1587075968.0
This is, again, Trump suggesting he has made a decision to let states do something they don't need his permission t… https://t.co/8EXiaGjNoI— Daniel Dale (@Daniel Dale) 1587076466.0
