How Trump allies have organized and promoted anti-lockdown protests

By Michael Martina, Jarrett Renshaw and Tim Reid

 

FILE PHOTO: Supporters of the Michigan Conservative Coalition protest against the state's extended stay-at-home order, amid the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at the Capitol building in Lansing, Michigan, U.S. April 15, 2020. REUTERS/Seth Herald

 

HARRISBURG, Pa./DETROIT (Reuters) - Republican politicians and individuals affiliated with President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign are organizing or promoting anti-lockdown protests across key electoral battleground states, despite the White House's own cautious guidance on relaxing restrictions, interviews with two dozen people involved show.

 

In Michigan, the organizers of last week's rally against Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer's stay-at-home order aimed at combating the coronavirus pandemic are involved in the Republican president's re-election effort, a Reuters review of their profiles and interviews with them show.

 

In other swing states, such as Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and North Carolina, Republican lawmakers, party leaders and Trump allies encouraged their social media followers to join the protests, often organized by conservative activists and pro-gun- rights groups, and attended the events themselves.

 

Their actions contradict the Trump administration's recommendations for a slow and phased reopening, as well as warnings from its own medical experts that opening the economy too fast risks a resurgence of the novel coronavirus that has infected almost 810,000 people in the United States and killed over 45,000 - the world's highest number of cases and deaths.

 

A bipartisan majority of Americans - 88% of Democrats and 55% of Republicans - also want to continue to shelter in place despite the impact on the economy, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Tuesday.

 

Regardless, many Trump supporters saw his criticism of Democratic governors for going too far with economic restrictions, and his recent tweets calling for those states to be “liberated,” as endorsing their cause, protest organizers and Republican officials said.

 

They said there had been no communication with the Trump administration or his election campaign over the protests.

 

The Trump campaign declined to answer whether it had been involved with the protests, referring instead to Trump’s daily coronavirus briefings in which he has expressed sympathy for the protesters, saying he understands their frustration.

 

Several of the main organizers of the Lansing, Michigan, protest that police estimated drew about 4,000 people have ties to the Trump campaign, and are deeply involved in state Republican politics.

 

Among them is Meshawn Maddock, who sits on the national advisory board of Women for Trump 2020, an organizing and fundraising arm of Trump’s re-election.

 

Maddock, whose Twitter profile pictures her with Trump and also says she is a co-chair of his campaign in Michigan, said the Trump campaign had given her no messaging and she was only acting in her capacity as a concerned citizen.

 

Marian Sheridan, who was a founder of Michigan Trump Republicans and serves as the grassroots vice chair for Michigan’s Republican Party, was also involved in organizing the protest.

 

She described the protest as an apolitical backlash to Whitmer’s guidance, seen as one of the strictest in the country. Whitmer is widely seen as a possible running mate for presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden in November's election.

 

“You see the people with the Trump signs, but people shouldn’t just jump to conclusions that these are only Republicans out there. Everyone is being so hurt by this,” Sheridan said.

 

Chris Gustafson, the Trump campaign's Michigan spokesman, reiterated that neither the Republican National Committee nor Trump's national campaign had any role in the Michigan protest.

 

'HE ALONE CAN FIX ECONOMY'

Still, the Trump campaign has seized on the anti-shutdown backlash to drive new talking points on the economy: Democrats are killing small businesses, while Trump is the only leader able to both fix the coronavirus-ravaged economy and slow down the pandemic, emails sent by Trump campaign aides show.

 

After running more than 4,000 Facebook ads in January and February touting a strong economy, Trump has not mentioned the economy in a new ad since March 3, according to a Reuters analysis of ad data gathered by researchers at New York University, as jobless claims surged and stocks tumbled.

 

A Trump campaign pollster, who asked not to be identified, said the current economic picture was bleak but could favor Trump.

 

“Voters won’t hold him accountable for the collapse - and they shouldn’t - and he is best suited to make the argument that he can bring the economy back,” the pollster said.

 

In Wisconsin, a state Trump won by less than a percentage point in 2016, Stephen Moore, a member of Trump’s council to reopen the economy and an outside economic adviser to the president, urged people to join an anti-shutdown rally planned for Friday, in a video posted on YouTube last week.

 

Mark Jefferson, chairman of the Wisconsin Republican Party, said voters would look fondly at Trump’s efforts to reopen the economy when they go to the polls in November.

 

“The messaging for Republicans is becoming clear for the election: Voters are going to appreciate a president concerned about their economic health as well as their physical health," Jefferson said.

 

The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, which oversees efforts to elect more Democrats at the state level, said Americans overwhelmingly supported stay-at-home orders and accused Republicans of putting "profits over lives."

 

"We’re going to make sure voters hold them accountable for their recklessness this November and beyond," said Jessica Post, the group's president.

 

'LET'S MAKE PENNSYLVANIA GREAT AGAIN'

Organizers say their rallies are non-partisan. But with many wearing Trump 2020 hats and waving his campaign flags, they look and sound like Trump's signature campaign rallies.

 

At Monday's protest in Harrisburg, the Pennsylvania state capital, several state Republican lawmakers addressed the crowd. Some borrowed Trump’s favorite taglines.

 

“Let’s reopen this economy. Let’s make Pennsylvania great again,” said Republican state Senator Doug Mastriano, a vocal Trump supporter who sponsored legislation forcing the reopening of the state. It passed both houses but was vetoed by the state's Democratic governor, Tom Wolf.

 

Matthew Bellis, one of the Harrisburg protest organizers, said politicians were smart to recognize and tap into their anger.

 

"If Trump supports us, we are happy to have his support, though we are not seeking it," said Bellis. "In fact, I think politicians are taking cues from us, not the other way around."

 

(Reporting by Michael Martina in Detroit, Jarrett Renshaw in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and Tim Reid in Los Angeles; Additional reporting by Colleen Jenkins and Jason Lange; Editing by Soyoung Kim and Peter Cooney)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-04-22

 

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There will be very many tactics the trump pimps will use. Get ready for anything from violence to the usual tactic of voter suppression up to November by his republican friends in the legislatures and courts 

In other news today.

 

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/gop-lincoln-project-joe-biden-ready-032101189.html

 

 

 

Republican Group Endorses Biden With Anti-Trump Ad In Battleground States

Trump says to lockdown

trumps team says protest lockdown

trump endorses protest against his lockdown.

 

some wonder why trump and his supporters are a sandwich short of a picnic.

Democrats still haven't gotten over the election of Donald J. Trump as their President. 

Come November freedom-loving patriots will be swimming again in Liberal Tears! 555 

 

MAGA 

2 hours ago, Sujo said:

Trump says to lockdown

trumps team says protest lockdown

trump endorses protest against his lockdown.

 

some wonder why trump and his supporters are a sandwich short of a picnic.

It's not so much that, as it is emblematic of his chaotic management style. The experts all noted the importance of calm and consistent messaging and getting trustworthy information out there for public reassurance. The administration chose to go "business as usual" and this chaos is the result. Turns out there are actual realities that can't be altered by bluster and misinformation. I believe this is why this crisis is finally having an impact on Trump's political fortunes. In the past, his style managed to get him what he wanted more or less and so he could justifiably say "it worked, what's the problem?" and continue on. His supporters were happy, his opponents were stymied and couldn't understand how he kept winning. When that DOESN'T happen though you see the result, endless blaming of anyone or anything to shift responsibility and no ability to actually resolve the issues. That would require technical expertise and competence, and those people have already been driven out of the administration in favour of sycophants. I'll be amazed if Drs. Birx and Fauci are still working for the administration in one months' time. Just waiting for the campaign to smear them as "Democrats", "Deep State", etc. to start.

My response to this article is - so what?

 

The state of Missouri is actually suing China for negligence. Now I'm not saying China hasn't been lying through their teeth about corona, but this is clearly a case of selective outrage to direct the attention away from the way this crisis has been handled by the WH, and it is also clearly aimed at gaining political brownie points with Trump followers.

Edited April 22, 20206 yr by rudi49jr

3 minutes ago, DoctorG said:

My response to this article is - so what?

 

Well you are a Doctor. 

Yes protest more together. These idiots will be get Covid and come November, they won't be around to vote Trump. Win win!

1 minute ago, DoctorG said:

My response to this article is - so what?

 

I tend to agree.

 

I’m not a fan of the Donald but he certainly plays the media and his opponents like my teenage daughter plays me. 
 

I can either hyperventilate and react to every single thing she says and does, or ignore. The former just ends up driving you nuts, the latter leads to come clear thinking. 
 

As someone who opposes trump, you aren’t going to beat him playing his own game. The reactions to him just serve to fire up his MAGA base even more. 
 

I’ll defer to much smarter people than myself to figure out what the correct strategy is, but it seems giving him rope and let him hang himself probably works best. 

6 minutes ago, sirineou said:

Well you are a Doctor. 

Yes I am, but I will not pretend to understand your response.

1 minute ago, DoctorG said:

Yes I am, but I will not pretend to understand your response.

So what?

Living in Detroit,is almost worse than death anyway.

Does any of this really matter?

How many people are out there who still didn't make up their mind about Trump after three years?

I find it difficult to believe that now any of the Trump supporters wakes up and realizes that Trump is an incompetent serial liar - and lots of other things.

And it's hard to imagine that anybody who didn't like Trump until now will see one of his shows and decide now that Trumps is the perfect guy to be president.

So it seem the big question is: who will motive the voters to vote at all?

And just in case people don't vote then they should not be surprised if they end up with someone like Trump in the highest position.

An unattributed post has been removed,

2 hours ago, DoctorG said:

My response to this article is - so what?

 

Maybe I agree with you after all the minuscule turnout is rather non eventful. 

I think it is more a case of people getting cabin fever and wanting to get back to work- particularly in areas where the number of cases is on the low side. I am in the same boat and would die for a haircut and to be able to get back in my gym. 
 

Trump understands this but he is anxious to get people working again before the economy slips too far. He has endorsed government guidelines which seem very reasonable but sees opportunities to get people in many parts of the country back to work very soon. Too many people try to blame him for anything ! 

3 hours ago, DoctorG said:

Yes I am, but I will not pretend to understand your response.

You know that chiropractors aren't real doctors, right?

This is not about Covid or a lockdown, it is about silly Americans not realizing that the upcoming erections & the above are 2 completely different issues & using this as an "opportunity" 

If they hold mass rallies they may end up just filling all the cemetries

2 hours ago, Searat7 said:

I think it is more a case of people getting cabin fever and wanting to get back to work- particularly in areas where the number of cases is on the low side. I am in the same boat and would die for a haircut and to be able to get back in my gym. 
 

Trump understands this but he is anxious to get people working again before the economy slips too far. He has endorsed government guidelines which seem very reasonable but sees opportunities to get people in many parts of the country back to work very soon. Too many people try to blame him for anything ! 

Sir with all do respect what he and his followers are trying to do cause people to die (dead) it squanders the sacrifice thus far to corral this monster to me it is at the very least ill responsible just more proof positive trump is unsuited to be potus we all understand and want to get our country up and running again but let’s not squander what we have gained 

I am surprised to see the liberal mindset infested in TVF too. It seems more epidemic than COVID.

If Pennsylvania has never been great in the past, it will not be any better in the future.

this goes for any state, or the USA its self. The Make America Great Again <deleted> is

just that. The USA is a country that is so far in debt, it will never be in the black in

the future. Shameful, but that is the reality of its future, and with this pandemic, there

will be many other countries in the same boat or worse.  Try make the world great would be

a slogan to get behind, but that would not be in anyones favor, would it?

Geezer

20 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Does any of this really matter?

How many people are out there who still didn't make up their mind about Trump after three years?

I find it difficult to believe that now any of the Trump supporters wakes up and realizes that Trump is an incompetent serial liar - and lots of other things.

And it's hard to imagine that anybody who didn't like Trump until now will see one of his shows and decide now that Trumps is the perfect guy to be president.

So it seem the big question is: who will motive the voters to vote at all?

And just in case people don't vote then they should not be surprised if they end up with someone like Trump in the highest position.

True dat. Which is why it's going to be life or death for Republicans to get rid of the Post Office and vote-by-mail. Once it becomes easy to vote, they're doomed. The Right cannot win fair elections and have depended on gerrymandering, the courts and corporate messaging to keep the vote down for decades. Once that's gone, they're gone.

7 minutes ago, JCauto said:

True dat. Which is why it's going to be life or death for Republicans to get rid of the Post Office and vote-by-mail. Once it becomes easy to vote, they're doomed. The Right cannot win fair elections and have depended on gerrymandering, the courts and corporate messaging to keep the vote down for decades. Once that's gone, they're gone.

 

18 hours ago, Searat7 said:

I am in the same boat and would die for a haircut and to be able to get back in my gym. 

An unfortunate turn of phrase, since both environments are ones in which sustained proximity to an infected person could produce just that result!

Pardon me oh most Holy Reuter’s but a sitting President tweeting out urging people to ‘liberate states’ Is hardly “cautious guidance”.

14 hours ago, Retarded said:

I am surprised to see the liberal mindset infested in TVF too. It seems more epidemic than COVID.

Thank you for the brilliant input member named Retarded. 

Posts containing links to unapproved or questionable sources have been removed. 

What I don't understand is how President Trump can, on the one hand, endorse these demonstrations against various anti-Covid measures taken by many states but on the other hand condemn the governor of Georgia for loosening restrictions. I imagine that said governor is feeling kind of ambushed right now.