After President Trump was discharged from Walter Reed Medical Center earlier this week, upon his return to the White House the president went to the balcony, removed his mask, and saluted Marine One. The media hyperventilating was immediate, and CNN’s Jim Acosta even called Trump the “coronavirus in chief.”
Today Trump went back to the balcony for an event with hundreds gathered:
Live in person pic.twitter.com/VtT3uuKWZi
— Charlie Spiering (@charliespiering) October 10, 2020
About 400 or so here at White House, just by rough estimating, for Trump’s 1st in-person speech after his coronavirus hospitalization. pic.twitter.com/SczM8tLh6t
— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) October 10, 2020
It was a markedly brief speech by Trump standards, about 17 minutes, and filled with campaign boilerplate. His audience mostly young people wearing Blexit t-shirts in support of law enforcement. Emblazoned with the slogan “Blacks and Latinos back the blue.” pic.twitter.com/eD2xg7KXmA
— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) October 10, 2020
Trump now addressing this crowded group of mostly Black supporters from the safe distance of the balcony.
“This is an official event” not a campaign event, according to the White House; Trump is now mocking Biden, Harris, and “Communist” Democrats. https://t.co/9ZcEgt9GZC
— Dan Zak (@MrDanZak) October 10, 2020
“And you know why though? It’s because of the spirit, there’s a spirit the likes of which this country hasn’t seen in a very very long time.
“And I’m very proud of this country. I’ve very very proud.
“They’re seeing a spirit and a resilience like they haven’t seen.”
🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/Rz2adhIDEV
— Elizabeth Harrington (@LizRNC) October 10, 2020
Rep. Adam Schiff was among the re-triggered:
It was illegal for Donald Trump to hold his nominating convention at the White House in August.
And it is morally bankrupt for Donald Trump to hold another super-spreader rally at the White House today.
The law and ethics don’t matter to this President. Nor does our health.
— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) October 10, 2020
The guy who pushed the “collusion” BS against Trump for years wants to lecture somebody else about ethics? That’s rich.
And of course some in the media didn’t like what they saw and heard:
Off to the side of the White House event, not wearing a mask: Dr. Scott Atlas pic.twitter.com/yECbfzyU6t
— Jonathan Lemire (@JonLemire) October 10, 2020
White House had projected that 2,000 people would show for the Trump speech. Turns out it was max 400. Aides said it wouldn’t be a campaign rally. It was.
So we’re now a country where the president delivers angry speeches from a balcony to people in matching T-shirts and hats.
— Edward-Isaac Dovere (@IsaacDovere) October 10, 2020
From balcony at WH, Trump told crowd the virus is “disappearing.” But that’s not true. Yesterday, Johns Hopkins reported 990 deaths and 57,420 new cases, a high level of spread that continues to worry health experts. Trump and top aides are still recovering from COVID-19
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) October 10, 2020
President Trump is addressing hundreds of supporters from the White House balcony after testing positive for coronavirus. The crowds are not practicing social distancing.
Read more here: https://t.co/lbuXSK7z0Y pic.twitter.com/0xOH7E2NEt
— SkyNews (@SkyNews) October 10, 2020
This is just f*cking ridiculous.
Covid-infected President Trump holding a White House rally for 2000 people, many not in masks or socially distancing – just two weeks after the Rose Garden super-spreader event. Shameful. pic.twitter.com/ljjL9PNjm2— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) October 10, 2020
Breaking: In White House balcony speech, Trump vows to make trains run on time
— David Lazarus (@Davidlaz) October 10, 2020
With that last tweet above in mind, Paul Krugman was off and running with the narrative even before Trump’s event outside the White House today:
As many people have pointed out, Trump’s planned balcony address from the White House directly emulates Mussolini, the man who coined the term “fascist” pic.twitter.com/IrTdXaxveW
— Paul Krugman (@paulkrugman) October 10, 2020
We never heard that kind of thing from Krugman in previous years for some reason:
Why didn’t you tweet that when Obama had Chinese Communist Dictator Xi Jinping on the White House balcony in 2015? https://t.co/RSRZxfEzd5 pic.twitter.com/ktVYehArNm
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) October 6, 2020
Hey guys. Trump is speaking from a balcony. Only fascists do that, as everyone knows.
Look at all the fascists. Fascists everywhere. pic.twitter.com/69DLQlUDZK
— Matthew Thompson (@mattuthompson) October 10, 2020
