In a surprise press release Friday at his private golf club in Bedminster, NJ, President Trump said that his public of well-wishers were involved in a ‘peaceful protest’ and that he therefore did not have to follow coronavirus state guidelines that large gatherings prohibit.
Trump was asked about his earlier claim that the pandemic “disappeared” by a reporter who noted that the present public appears to be restricting New Jersey restrictions, intended to slow the spread of the virus.
“You are doing this wrong because it is a political activity and they have exceptions, political activity and it is also a peaceful protest,” Trump replied.
Before the nearly-summoned news conference began, members of Trump’s private club took inside the room where the president would speak, most wearing no masks.
Shortly before the president took to the pop stage, staff handed out face masks to the audience, many of whom had been standing shoulder-to-shoulder for about half an hour.
As of Friday night, more than 161,000 Americans had died from COVID-19, affecting more than 4.9 million people here. This week, Phil Murphy’s New Jersey ruled out the restrictions again at indoor meetings in the state following a recent rise in coronavirus cases. The new guidelines prohibit indoor meetings of more than 25 people.
“To me, they look pretty much like everyone else, almost everyone wears masks,” Trump continued. ‘You know you have an exclusion in the law. It says peaceful protest as a political activity, right? ‘
In comments ahead of questions from the press, Trump floated the idea of signing executive orders to extend unemployment insurance if a deal was not reached with Democrats in Congress, and one that guarantees insurance companies coverage for existing medical conditions, something that Affordable Care Trading is already in place.
The crowd at the event was largely silent when Trump spoke, but came to life when he suggested they were actually protesting against what the president calls the ‘false news’.
“I would call it peaceful protest because they heard you were coming up and they know the news is false,” Trump said to the applause of many of his supporters. “They understand it better than anyone.”
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