Joy Reid explained why those MAGA re-open protests that have coincidentally sprung up in states Trump needs to win in November are a lot like the anti-Obamacare Tea Party protests - but with more lethal consequences for everyone.
April 18, 2020

Reid opened her show today with a blistering critique of the “citizen protesters” risking their own lives and those of everyone they come into contact with by defying stay-at-home orders. She played a clip of Michigan’s Democratic governor, Gretchen Whitmer saying that the maskless protesters deliberately touching each other are “precisely what makes this kind of a disease drag out and expose more people.”

What's especially tragic is that the protesters are risking their lives and ours on behalf of fat cats like Trump and his cronies who are remaining safe at home.

REID: Let's be clear. These are organized political rallies.

This week after saying he had total authority to reopen the country, a claim that is categorically untrue based on the Constitution and federal law, Trump on Thursday reversed course and said oh, no, no, wait, it's up to governors to make that call. Only to take to Twitter on Friday to call for the quote, liberation of Minnesota, Michigan and Virginia.

In his tweet about liberating Virginia, he even threw in some gun-loving scare tactics saying the state's Second Amendment was quote, under siege. I mean, what is he calling for? Armed MAGA supporters to defy their governors' orders and storm back to their low paid jobs? Booming Wall Street or bust?

It sounds a lot like the Brooks Brothers protest during the 2000 election or the Tea Party's vow to stop the little people from getting health care and mortgage relief. Full liberty. Right?

This thing about insta-protests about what really rich people want, but which are cast at as regular folks, almost all white, just happening to show up to defend their freedom, sometimes with their guns and always with their screaming rage, is kind of a Republican thing.

The upshot, Reid pointed out, is that the protests help Trump campaign during the coronavirus pandemic, but with his supporters taking (and spreading) all the risk. “This time, the banner cry of keeping American Great is against the backdrop of a horrific American death toll as outbreaks unfold across the country,” Reid noted.

According to The New York Times about 33,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 so far. Not surprisingly, many of the latest outbreaks are in Trump country where governors have resisted stay-at-home orders. Trump and his cronies are fine with even more dying for the sake of his political fortunes.

Discussion

We welcome relevant, respectful comments. Any comments that are sexist or in any other way deemed hateful by our staff will be deleted and constitute grounds for a ban from posting on the site. Please refer to our Terms of Service for information on our posting policy.
Mastodon