President Donald Trump is reportedly making plans to resume official events as his campaign vows to hold rallies leading up to the election, despite health experts’ warnings.
The president is reportedly pressing his aides to begin scheduling more events outside of the White House, according to Politico.
Trump is also said to be interested in more site visits similar to Vice President Mike Pence’s coronavirus-related trip to Wisconsin on Monday.
During recent White House Coronavirus Task Force press briefings, Trump has reiterated that he has not “left the White House in months,” which raises more speculation about his desire to resume travel.
Trump’s campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh also recently discussed political events, insisting that the president’s camp still plans to hold rallies leading up to the general election in November. In fact, he noted that the president is “certain” his campaign will be going “back out there.”
“This coronavirus will pass and the president is looking forward to getting back out on the campaign trail and holding rallies,” Murtaugh told ABC News.
He said during a virtual campaign event, “We will get back to those rallies. Never fear, the president is certain that we’re going to be back out there speaking directly to the American people.”
The president has also alluded to his desire to hold rallies again.
“I hope we can do rallies. It’s great for the county. It’s great spirit. For me, it’s a tremendous way of getting the word out. We win where we have rallies,” Trump recently said.
He continued, “If you look at our success rate, we’ve had tremendous success. We win where we have rallies, including endorsements of candidates our success is I think unparalleled. There’s nothing like it.”
Despite the Trump camp’s enthusiasm health experts have advised against large gatherings until next year. The recommendation is due to the uncertain nature of the virus and the possibility of a resurgence this winter.
The president is expected to resume travel — for official trips only — very soon.
The latest reports follow Trump’s recent, abrupt announcement to deliver the commencement speech at U.S. Military Academy at West Point in June. Trump, however, insists social distancing will be practiced at the event.
“I understand they’ll have distancing. They’ll have some big distance, and so it’ll be very different than it ever looked,” Trump said at a recent press briefing.
Trump has begun to pressure governors to reopen their economies. Despite the continued threat of the coronavirus, governors have been encouraged to reopen their economies in phases.
While the “Opening Up America Again” guidelines would allow select, non-essential businesses to resume operations, it would still include certain restrictions on gatherings where social distancing cannot be practiced.
Coordinating larger gatherings could prove to be relatively difficult in perennial swing states. The Trump administration has clashed with multiple governors in those states over the handling of the coronavirus outbreak.
“If there was a situation where the president was trying to violate his own guidelines, we would certainly have a conversation about that,” an aide for Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers said.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) has also expressed apprehension about political events.
“If we’re listening to our best medical minds in this country, political events are going to be some of the last activities that are phased in as we reboot our economy,” Whitmer said.
