Pandemic, There Was a Pandemic? Trump Eyes Mass Rallies as Path to his Re-election

Trump is planning to bring back his massive in-person rallies as soon as July as the pandemic rages on.

PRESIDENT Donald Trump’s political advisers have been debating how to get him back in front of raucous arena-sized crowds for campaign rallies that could breathe new life into his embattled re-election effort, possibly as soon as next month, sources revealed.

Trump’s campaign rallies, which frequently veered into violence during the Republican’s successful 2016 White House bid, halted in early March when the nation started going into lockdown to curb the coronavirus pandemic. As states began reopening last month, Trump’s advisers started talking about how to transition away from the online events they’d used as a replacement and get the president headlining big rallies again.

Media reports suggest that White House officials believe they have been given ‘cover’ by this month’s nationwide anti-racism protests sparked by the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Those who backed the demonstrations despite their inherent health risks, the argument goes, would be hypocrites if they objected to rallies or reopenings.

The campaign relaunch could also throw down the gauntlet to Trump’s election rival, Joe Biden, who is beating the president comprehensively in several opinion polls. A Trump rally with a cheering crowd eschewing face masks, and a packed convention crowning him as the Republican nominee, could be used to draw a striking contrast in optics with the mask-wearing, basement-bound Biden, selling the incumbent as a happy warrior.