With Trump Rallies Returning, the Media Suddenly Remembers the Coronavirus Pandemic

A month ago the owner of a salon in Dallas, Texas was literally sentenced to a week in jail and fined $7,000 for having the audacity to open up her business so that she and her employees could feed their families. Anti-lockdown protests were derided by the media and Democrats alike, and liberal governors doubled down on their stay-at-home orders.

But after George Floyd’s death, the left (and that includes the media) stood in sheer awe at the number and size of the protests that occurred. It was like all of a sudden all those concerns about social distancing because of the coronavirus were erased. Wanting a haircut was a crime, but looting stores in the name of George Floyd and shouting “I can’t breathe” and “black lives matter” suddenly made it okay to gather in large groups, often without masks. The coronavirus pandemic was basically over. At least as far as the media was concerned.

That was until President Trump decided he wanted to hold rallies again. “President Trump will hit the campaign trail this month — despite the deadly coronavirus pandemic, which continues to impact the lives and livelihoods of households across the country,” tweeted NPR.

President Trump will hit the campaign trail this month — despite the deadly coronavirus pandemic, which continues to impact the lives and livelihoods of households across the country.

"The rallies will be tremendous," a campaign manager said. https://t.co/hZ1nV45d00

— NPR (@NPR) June 9, 2020

Two days earlier, NPR was literally gushing at massive Washington, D.C protest. “Thousands of voices at a protest in D.C. came together to sing the Bill Withers classic ‘Lean on Me,’ led by local musician Kenny Sway. ‘It sounded like unity and togetherness,’ he says. ‘It sounded like love and pureness of the people.'”

Thousands of voices at a protest in D.C. came together to sing the Bill Withers classic "Lean on Me," led by local musician Kenny Sway.

"It sounded like unity and togetherness," he says. "It sounded like love and pureness of the people."
https://t.co/KdDHFuVbTf

— NPR (@NPR) June 6, 2020

The word “coronavirus” doesn’t appear once in the linked article, either. Nor did it come up in the following NPR tweet/article either:

Throngs of protesters gathered in front of the Lincoln Memorial for a rally that was slated to be just the first of over a dozen similar events at landmarks around the greater D.C. region on Saturday. https://t.co/1hZILsxjQp pic.twitter.com/2MECU3GDUC

— NPR (@NPR) June 6, 2020

The media doesn’t want Trump holding rallies because they show the country how popular he really is, and expose the enthusiasm gap between him and Joe Biden, who could only dream of holding rallies of the same size and energy. But, by cheerleading protests despite the pandemic, they gave Trump the opportunity he was looking for to get back on the campaign trail. The campaign would do good to offer MAGA-themed face masks at the rally for attendees. It would be quite a sight to see.

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Matt Margolis is the author of Trumping Obama: How President Trump Saved Us From Barack Obama’s Legacy and the bestselling book The Worst President in History: The Legacy of Barack Obama. You can follow Matt on Twitter @MattMargolis