In an op-ed for The Atlantic this Tuesday, Peter Wehner writes that despite that the proven life-saving results of social distancing, President Trump nevertheless took to Twitter and encouraged protest movements across the country that defied those very same directives, making the protests a "rallying point for the right, encouraged by talk-radio and Fox News personalities such as Laura Ingraham, Jeanine Pirro, Tucker Carlson, and Brian Kilmeade. The anti-social-distancing rallies are drawing comparisons to the early days of the Tea Party movement."
According to Wehner, the protesters are not forming a coherent narrative. Instead, they're "lashing out in frustration and in anger, frustration and anger that is being incited by the president and many—although not all—of his acolytes on the right."
Trump has always utilized the tactic of inflaming his base, but it's especially disheartening this time around since Americans are looking for solidarity in the midst of a pandemic.
"They may yet achieve it, but if they do, it will be in spite of this president, not because of him," Wehner writes. "Trump is doing everything in his power to divide us, to keep people on edge, mistrustful and at one another’s throats. To that end, he will even cheer on people who are violating his own administration’s social-distancing guidelines."
Read his full op-ed over at The Atlantic.