During the third day of Donald Trump’s second season of coronavirus press conferences, the president sent more mixed signals about the pandemic.
The big news, as PoliticusUSA’s Jason Easley noted, is the fact that Trump canceled his doomed convention in Jacksonville, Florida.
“I looked at my team and I said the timing for this event is not right, just not right with what’s happened recently,” Trump said.
But in nearly the same breath, Trump doubled down on his commitment to force schools to reopen, even saying he would direct funding away from schools that decide to remain closed because of the virus.
“If schools do not reopen, the funding should go to parents to send their children to the public, private, charter, religious or home school,” Trump said.
As CNN’s Jim Acosta pointed out, “Trump is canceling part of his convention because of the threat posed by the virus while also pushing schools to reopen at the same time.”
Trump is canceling part of his convention because of the threat posed by the virus while also pushing schools to reopen at the same time.
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) July 23, 2020
More mixed messages from a floundering president
The purpose of the highly-scripted, revived coronavirus press briefings was for Donald Trump to at least pretend he’s still focused on the pandemic as polls continue to show him slipping further behind Joe Biden.
But in just a few days, the president has reminded the American people why he stopped holding these stunts to begin with – because he is incapable of presenting a consistent, honest message to those tuning in.
If Donald Trump doesn’t feel safe spending a few days in Florida for his convention, then millions of school kids shouldn’t be forced to return to school as the virus surges across the country.
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Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.