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US President Donald Trump held his first fully indoor rally in months, outraging Nevada state officials who warned the gathering violated coronavirus restrictions on crowd size.
Indoor demonstrations during the pandemic have proved problematic for Trump, who came under fire after one in June that was later linked to an increase in virus cases.
Trump took advantage of yesterday’s event, held in the Las Vegas suburb of Henderson, to applaud his own handling of the pandemic, which has killed nearly 195,000 Americans, the highest number in the world.
“We have done an incredible job, we get absolutely no credit for the work we have done,” he told the crowd at the Xtreme Manufacturing facility, adding that his leadership had “saved millions of lives.”
Governor Steve Sisolak tweeted that “tonight, President Donald Trump is taking reckless and selfish actions that are putting countless lives in danger here in Nevada.”
“The president seems to have forgotten that this country is still in the midst of a global pandemic,” he said.
Trump called Sisolak, a Democrat, a “political stunt” and urged the crowd to “tell your governor to open his state.”
The plans for the demonstration generated a reprimand from local authorities, who pointed out that events with more than 50 people are not allowed due to the coronavirus.
“The City of Henderson has issued a letter of compliance and a verbal warning to the event organizer that the event, as planned, would be in direct violation of the governor’s Covid-19 emergency directives,” the city spokeswoman said. Kathleen Richards in a statement.
The pandemic has stripped the U.S. presidential campaign of its usual spate of events, but with less than two months to vote, Trump and Democratic rival Joe Biden have been making more appearances.
The Trump campaign said temperature checks would be conducted at the door of the Nevada rally and that attendees would be given face masks and encouraged to wear them.
“If you can join tens of thousands of people protesting in the streets, gambling in a casino or torching small businesses in riots, you can gather peacefully under the First Amendment to hear from the president of the United States,” Trump campaign. Communications director Tim Murtaugh told reporters.
Trump’s indoor rally in the city of Tulsa in Oklahoma in June proved deeply controversial, with most attendees disobeying the Trump administration’s guidelines by refusing to wear masks or engage in social distancing despite being indoors. .
Coronavirus cases spiked in Tulsa in the weeks following the June 20 rally, and local health officials said it was “more than likely” that major events were a contributing factor.
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