The "press conferences" Donald Trump conducts every day (and which for some unknown reason the broadcast media feels compelled to force on us) aren't doing the job for him. He needs his brainless zombie crowds egging him on. He has had to pretend he's presidential for weeks on end now during this unprecedented health crisis, and he just can't do it anymore. That is why he wants to "reopen" the nation. He wants to be able to get back on the road in front of his adoring crowds. And to golf. Always with the golf.
He's harassing his staff to get those events back on his schedule, sources are telling Politico. At a coronavirus briefing this week, he complained that he hasn't "left the White House in months," which in normal people time is six weeks. You can just feel the about-to-have-a-tantrum energy in his early morning tweet: "States are safely coming back. Our Country is starting to OPEN FOR BUSINESS again. Special care is, and always will be, given to our beloved seniors (except me!). Their lives will be better than ever...WE LOVE YOU ALL!"
He's also aiming straight at Democratic governors, who will fight his efforts to have his rallies in their states. "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," said Michigan's Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. "I think it's going to be a long time before anyone thinks it's safe to have big gatherings," Whitmer told Politico. "It's important that we’re all very mindful, and that goes for campaign rallies on both sides of the aisle." An aide to Wisconsin's Democratic Gov. Tony Evers agreed. "If there was a situation where the president was trying to violate his own guidelines, we would certainly have a conversation about that."
He wants to have this fight. He thinks it's good for him politically. (If you can attribute "thinking" as the reason for anything Trump does.) This would be fine. He could have his rallies with his zombie crowds. It would absolutely be fine if coronavirus could be contained to just the Trumpers. But they'd go out into the larger world and breathe on everyone else. And more people would die because Trump can't control his own impulses and no one around him is enough of a patriot to force him to.
And just because there's always a tweet, here's a tweet: