The mainstream media suddenly cares about social distancing again.
On Saturday, President Donald Trump announced plans to hold his first major campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma since the start of the novel Wuhan coronavirus pandemic. The event was originally planned for June 19 but was rescheduled to June 20 as not to conflict with the holiday on “Juneteenth.”
As Tulsa prepares for the rally, the Trump campaign announced it had received more than 1 million requests for tickets in an early sign that a silent majority backing the president surely exists, even as his poll numbers decline under nationwide social unrest.
The media however, is spiking fears that the large gathering will be a deadly “super-spreader” for COVID-19 even after celebrating the mass protests that took over the nation’s cities and even drew participation from woke politicians.
Little over an hour apart. pic.twitter.com/K2a7fGRNDd
— Mark Hemingway (@Heminator) June 15, 2020
“Trump’s Tulsa rally raises concerns over exacerbating racial tensions, becoming a coronavirus ‘super-spreader’ event,” warned a headline in The Hill.
“Why Trump’s Tulsa rally could become a COVID-19 superspreading event,” read another in Vox.
“Trump’s Rally in Tulsa Could Spread Virus,” one headline in the New York Times read plainly.
Several Tulsa attorneys even sued to stop the “super-spreader” event, which a judge promptly denied.
When it came to recent weeks of mass demonstrations in the nation’s cities however, protestors were celebrated while the violence from the riots was downplayed, even as millions of Americans remained banned from properly saying goodbye to loved ones because the government deemed it too dangerous.
We were told we couldn’t have more than 10 people at an outdoor graveside service in Maine literally 10 days ago. People were afraid to come see my family. https://t.co/kXh951js5j
— Christine Rousselle (@crousselle) June 2, 2020
Just seeing this and wow. https://t.co/Bq3kfw6hgQ
— Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) June 3, 2020
Aerial view shows large crowd of protesters marching through Philadelphia as protests over the death of George Floyd roil the nation. https://t.co/BL5Q39gdAi pic.twitter.com/dP4mLd48QL
— ABC News (@ABC) June 1, 2020
Pretty large crowd outside the White House an hour before curfew for the George Floyd protest. Hard to tell exactly but feels like a larger crowd than yesterday.
Very diverse group of demonstrators. Peaceful so far. pic.twitter.com/CaCi62Artv— Shabtai (@velvetart) June 2, 2020
The D.C. region can expect a packed Juneteenth with marches, protests and actions. We've got the list: https://t.co/1iLzgPUP0t pic.twitter.com/hynz3Q18V2
— DCist (@DCist) June 16, 2020
There was little to no social distancing shaming from the press on the account of the protestors, and when concerns were raised over spreading the novel coronavirus, it was almost always framed in the form a question.
“Will the protests cause a spike in COVID-19 cases? Wait two weeks,” headlined the Philadelphia Inquirer.
“Will the protests be super-spreader events for the coronavirus? Experts say it’s too soon to tell,” read one in Fortune.
“Why protests aren’t as dangerous for spreading coronavirus as you might think,” explained The Guardian. If that were true – and it might be – one would think in a sane world that everything outdoors would be open. Even as Trump’s Tulsa rally is slated to take place indoors, the media made no qualms about the indoor memorial services for Floyd, who was rightly put to rest surrounded by loved ones in a luxury unavailable to the rest of the country.
