Donald Trump Jr. is usually the Trump son making headlines for his, uh, commentary about American politics. But Eric Trump seems to want in on some of that action too – judging by an interview he gave to Fox News’ Jeanine Pirro over the weekend.
In it, Eric offered up his own, uh, theory about why some states have been slow to full reopen as the coronavirus continues to circulate in the country. Here it is:
“And they think they’re taking away Donald Trump’s greatest tool, which is being able to go into an arena and fill it with 50,000 people every single time, right?
“So they will and you watch. They’ll milk it every single day between now and November 3, and guess what? After November 3, coronavirus, will magically all of a sudden go away and disappear and everybody will be able to reopen.”
OK, let’s walk through this, shall we?
So the reason that states with Democratic governors are slowly reopening after stay-at-home orders over the past few months is not to avoid a second surge in the coronavirus (as infectious disease experts worry could happen) but rather to keep President Donald Trump from holding campaign rallies?
(The President, for his part, has repeatedly cited his desire to begin holding campaign rallies again; “It’s great for the country. It’s great spirit,” Trump said of his rallies last month. “I hope we’re going to have rallies. I think they’re going to be bigger than ever.”)
But suggesting that Democratic governors are keeping their states from fully reopening to stop his dad’s rallies wasn’t even the most controversial thing that Eric Trump said!
That title goes to this line: “After November 3, coronavirus, will magically all of a sudden go away and disappear and everybody will be able to reopen.”
WHAT? To believe that, you must believe that every governor of a state that is not fully reopened is covering up the fact that coronavirus is, in fact, not all that bad in their state. And they are doing this solely to keep Donald Trump from holding rallies. Or something.
You also have to believe that the guidance being offered by doctors, epidemiologists and public health experts that we need to continue social distancing, mask-wearing and other measures proven to lessen the spread of the virus is all bunk, because the only reason these states aren’t opening is because their governors are out to get Trump. And you’d have to believe that it actually has nothing at all to do with the coronavirus, which will “magically all of a sudden go away and disappear” after Election Day.
This isn’t some random Trump surrogate on the local news making a wild accusation about governors hiding the truth about a global pandemic. This is the President’s son saying it on the flagship TV station for conservatives across the country. Without any pushback. Or fact checking.
(Here’s how Pirro responded to Eric Trump’s conspiracy theory: “I mean, it’s clearly – it’s no longer, you know, for a while it was about the science and the non-believers and all of that, but it’s right down the middle in terms of left and right.” Uh huh.)
If you don’t think this stuff is dangerous, you aren’t paying attention.