US President Donald Trump has backed protesters with several Twitter messages calling for an end to the exit restrictions due to the corona virus. “FREE MINNESOTA!” and “LIBERATE MICHIGAN!” Trump wrote in capital letters on Friday in the short message service Twitter, followed by: “LIBERATE VIRGINIA, and save your great second constitutional amendment. It is under siege!”
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The second amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees the right to carry weapons. The number of confirmed corona infections in the USA has meanwhile increased to more than 700,000.
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Demonstrations against coronavirus exit restrictions have been held in all three states in the past few days. All three countries are also governed by Democratic Party politicians – Trump, on the other hand, is a Republican.
Also on Friday, Trump attacked New York state democratic governor Andrew Cuomo. He should “go out and do his job,” he wrote of the head of government of the state most severely affected by the coronavirus, with more than 10,000 fatalities. Cuomo responded with the succinct remark that if Trump “sits at home and watches TV, he should get up and go to work”.
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Exit restrictions currently apply in more than 40 of the 50 U.S. states. Trump had made it clear on several occasions that he wanted an end to the restrictions in order to boost the economy again. However, the decision-making power rests with the governors of the individual states.
Michigan’s governor Gretchen Whitmer responded to Trump’s Twitter messages by saying that she hoped they “would not encourage further protests.” Michigan will then bring business back to normal, “if it is safe,” she said.
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Virginia Governor Ralph Northam said, “I don’t have time to deal with Twitter wars,” as the coronavirus battle is fought. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said to the President’s tweets that his primary role was to ensure the safety of his state’s residents. He did not have the time to consider why Trump wrote such messages.
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“Confused abuse”
The governor of the state of Washington, however, sharply criticized Trump. His “confused abuse” and calls for “liberation” from states could lead to violence, Governor Jay Inslee warned. The president incited the uprising and spread lies.
Demonstrations against the curfew had taken place in all three states named by Trump. During the largest protest, around 3,000 protesters, some of whom were armed, protested in Lansing, Michigan’s capital, on Wednesday, some wearing Trump campaign caps and flags. On Friday, around 800 people demonstrated in front of the governor’s residence in Minnesota’s capital St. Paul under the banner “Liberated Minnesota”.
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Further demonstrations against the Corona measures are planned for Saturday, including in New Hampshire, Maryland, Texas and Colorado.
The United States is now the country with the highest number of confirmed corona infections worldwide. Their number rose to more than 700,200 on Friday (local time), according to Johns Hopkins University. Almost 36,800 people died as a result.
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US President Trump has since corrected his announcement that he expects 100,000 or even 200,000 deaths. Every death was one too many, Trump said at a press conference in the White House, but one now assumes a significantly lower number of victims. “I hope that we will hopefully stay well below the 100,000,” said the US President, with 60,000 to 65,000 deaths currently expected.
Trump accused China of a coronavirus death toll that the Chinese government has revised upwards. The actual numbers are “significantly higher, and significantly higher than that of the United States,” he wrote on Twitter.
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