Trump’s Mount Rushmore Journey Highlights Disconnect With Surging Virus

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Trump’s Mount Rushmore Journey Highlights Disconnect With Surging Virus

This 12 months, the Nationwide Park Service mentioned it was taking further security precautions on the Nationwide Mall, putting in greater than 10


This 12 months, the Nationwide Park Service mentioned it was taking further security precautions on the Nationwide Mall, putting in greater than 100 hand-washing stations all through the world, up from 15 final 12 months. Officers additionally mentioned that they had 300,000 material facial coverings available to distribute.

“We’re dedicated to offering the American folks with a protected and spectacular celebration of our nation’s birthday in Washington D.C., which is able to honor our navy with music, flyovers and fireworks,” a spokesman for the park service mentioned. “We’re doing so in step with our mission and historic practices, and we hope everybody enjoys the day’s festivities.”

The president’s political opponents, nonetheless, mentioned the celebrations had been about one individual, solely: the president himself.

“Donald Trump is searching for to aggrandize himself and divide our nation at one more rally,” mentioned Andrew Bates, a spokesman for Mr. Biden. “Joe Biden believes the presidency is about serving the American folks — whereas Donald Trump solely exploits it to serve himself.”

On Friday, Mr. Trump spent the day at his golf course in Sterling, Va., earlier than he departed for South Dakota, and White Home officers mentioned that they had no security considerations concerning the journey.

However the virus has already proven it could actually infiltrate the administration, and the White Home has skilled the hazards of staging massive gatherings because the pandemic rages. Vice President Mike Pence postponed a deliberate journey this week to Arizona after Secret Service brokers set to accompany him examined constructive for the coronavirus or confirmed signs. And not less than eight marketing campaign employees members who helped plan Mr. Trump’s indoor rally final month in Tulsa, Okla., have examined constructive, both earlier than the rally or after attending.

Earlier than the president left for South Dakota on Friday, Trump marketing campaign aides had been circulating on social a doctored picture of Mount Rushmore, that includes Mr. Trump’s face carved into the stone subsequent to a number of the nation’s most revered presidents.





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