Another day, another Donald Trump claim that’s easily disproved.
The president’s latest piece of misinformation concerns anti-lockdown protesters.
Trump has previously voiced his support for people taking to the streets across the US to demonstrate against lockdown measures implemented to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
He’s called them “great people” – despite extensive evidence of far-right involvement in organising the protests and the presence of racist symbols such as the Confederate flag.
But on Tuesday, Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention condemned those gathering, saying it was “not helpful” during an interview with The Washington Postwhere he warned that a second wave of Covid-19 will be “more difficult”.
During Trump’s Tuesday briefing, he was asked for his thoughts on Redfield’s comment and the response was textbook.
He said:
Well look, it’s not a question of helpful. People want to get back to work. I’ve watched some of the protests and they’re separated, there’s a lot of space in-between. They’re doing social distancing if you can believe it.
Trump on anti-stay-at-home protests: "They're separated, there's a lot of space in between. They're doing social di… https://t.co/ZKzrDUSAZI— Aaron Rupar (@Aaron Rupar) 1587508821
Unfortunately, we can’t believe it, because it’s not true.
As multiple photographs and videos document, protesters have not been practising blanket social distancing.
One viral photo by Joshua Bickel shows protestors at an Ohio demonstration pressed up against glass doors and each other. They are screaming angrily. But they're not social distancing.
This photo, from an Ohio protest demanding opening the economy, is everything (taken by Joshua A. Bickel for The Co… https://t.co/iOGBKPmL85— Zack Beauchamp (@Zack Beauchamp) 1586979242
Elsehwere, a compilation of videos taken at the demonstrations and edited together by the the BBC show people at protests across the country stood tightly packed together.
People in the US have held protests against restrictions brought in to try and stop the spread of Covid-19… https://t.co/pZdbW13T8V— BBC News (World) (@BBC News (World)) 1587308557
And the internet isn't letting Trump get away with such a bare-faced lie.
One person compared his statement to propaganda in George Orwell’s novel 1984.
Another questioned how he could claim such a thing when visual evidence existed to the contrary.
Once again Trump claims that the protesters are practicing social distancing. As if these things called “photograph… https://t.co/iOshZ7Drf6— Tom Nichols (@Tom Nichols) 1587508718
As if more proof was needed, comparing anti-lockdown protests to ones that have adhered to social distancing guidelines shows a stark difference.
Nurses protesting a lack of PPE outside the White House earlier this week did stay six feet apart – and it shows.
Now: nurses from National Nurses United protest lack of PPE outside the White House while holding signs showing pic… https://t.co/FXWdE1Ut7L— Ali Vitali (@Ali Vitali) 1587475769
Ditto the powerful images from Israel when 2,000 demonstrators assembled two metres apart to protest the regime led by Benjamin Netanyahu.
Wow! Socially distanced protest in Israel tonight. https://t.co/qlZ3ZaXkIG— Tobias Schneider (@Tobias Schneider) 1587325479
So the question remains: does Trump even believe what he’s saying?