[ad_1]
As coronavirus instances spike, public well being officers are pleading with Americans to keep away from massive crowds and maintain extra muted Independence Day celebrations, but subdued just isn’t President Donald Trump’s type, and he aimed to go big, promising a “special evening” in Washington that would carry tens of 1000’s to the National Mall.
Trump’s “Salute for America” celebration on Saturday night was to embody a speech from the White House South Lawn that he stated would rejoice American heritage, in addition to a navy flyover over town and an unlimited fireworks show that would pack folks downtown.
The president kicked off the vacation weekend by touring to Mount Rushmore in South Dakota for a fireworks show Friday night time close to the mountain carvings of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt. In his remarks, he accused protesters who’ve pushed for racial justice of partaking in a “merciless campaign to wipe out our history.”
In a presidential message Saturday on the 244th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, Donald Trump acknowledged that “over the past months, the American spirit has undoubtedly been tested by many challenges.”
His Democratic rival, Joe Biden, stated in an announcement that the US “never lived up” to its founding precept that “all men are created equal,” but that right now “we have a chance to rip the roots of systemic racism out of this country.?
His participation in big gatherings comes as many communities have decided to scrap fireworks, parades and other holiday traditions. The goal is to try to prevent further spread of the coronavirus, which large gatherings could spur. Confirmed cases are climbing in 40 states, and the US set another record Friday with 52,300 newly reported infections, according to the tally kept by Johns Hopkins University.
For the Mount Rushmore event, GOP Gov. Kristi Noem, a Trump ally, insisted social distancing wasn’t necessary and masks were optional. Trump spent little time in his Mount Rushmore address reflecting on pandemic, which has killed more than 129,000 Americans.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cautions that mass gatherings like the one scheduled for Washington present a high risk for spread of the virus.
Trump’s surgeon general, Jerome Adams, who has stepped up his call for Americans to wear a mask in public, sidestepped when asked during an interview Friday whether he would caution a loved one from attending such large gatherings. “It’s not a sure or no,” Adams told NBC’s “Today Show.” “Every single individual has to make up their very own thoughts.”
Trump has been aching to see the nation return to normalcy, and has been willing to push the envelope further than many states and big city mayors are willing to go.
Last month, he held his first campaign rally since early March in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Trump is accustomed to jam-packed crowds, but the BOK Center was only about one-third full for the president’s first rally of the coronavirus era. Days later, he addressed a packed megachurch for a Students for Trump event in Arizona. Few attendees at either event wore masks.
Interior officials said they would hand out 300,000 face coverings to spectators who gather on the National Mall. Interior Department Secretary David Bernhardt said visitors would be encouraged to wear masks and keep a six-foot distance from one another. There was no indication that would be mandatory, despite the recommendations of health officials.
Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser, who said she didn’t have the right to shut down the holiday spectacle because it’s on federal land, warned the federal government about the obvious dangers of such a large crowd. On Friday, she urged the city’s residents to be smart about how they spend the holiday. “Just as a result of somebody invitations you to a celebration doesn’t suggest you have got to go,” Bowser tweeted.
ALSO READ | At Mount Rushmore, Donald Trump says protesters seek to ‘defame’ heroes
ALSO READ | On Balakot airstrike, former US NSA John Bolton says India’s reaction was appropriate
ALSO WATCH | US has not forgotten 9/11, it won’t sit by while terrorism grows: John Bolton on Pakistan
[ad_2]
Source link