Ask Not What President Trump Can Do for You
His
made-for-TV rallies can be matters of life and death.
Ms.
Cottle is a member of the editorial board.
·
June 15, 2020, 7:00 p.m. ET
Once again, President Trump is taking
heat for treating the presidency like a branding exercise.
This time, instead of brandishing a
Bible he doesn’t read next to a church he doesn’t attend, the president is
resuming huge, made-for-TV campaign rallies. The first is set for Saturday in
Tulsa, Okla. It will take place in a 19,000-seat arena that, in deference to
the coronavirus pandemic that’s still raging, had canceled all other events through the end of July.
For Trump’s triumphal return, his
campaign has decided that no social distancing is required. He wants this to be
a spectacle, packed with as much noisy adoration as possible.
But whatever risks those attending
might incur, Team Trump is taking steps to ensure that it bears none. All rally
attendees must sign a liability waiver holding the campaign
legally blameless in the event that people subsequently fall sick. Or drop
dead.
Over
the weekend, Tulsa’s top health official,
noting that coronavirus cases are spiking in the state, implored the campaign
to postpone the party. But what is the health of his followers to Mr. Trump
compared with a mass show of affection — especially after he has endured so
many sad weeks without such affirmation?
It is important to stress that there is
nothing wrong with presidential photo ops per se. Politics is a performative
business, especially the presidency. With skillful staging, presidents can
signal their priorities, inspire the nation or simply model good behavior.
Think about Ronald Reagan at the Berlin Wall; George W. Bush throwing out the first pitch in
Game 3 of the World Series in Yankee Stadium not long after the Sept. 11
attacks; Barack Obama sitting alone on the Rosa Parks bus.
As tacky as it may sound, using people
as props is also a presidential staple. What are the guests at the State of the
Union address but a way to convey priorities? And bill signings not
infrequently feature regular Americans affected by the legislation.
Now and then, the messaging goes
sideways. Jimmy Carter donning a cardigan for a fireside chat about
the energy crisis depressed Americans more than it roused them to conserve. And
George W. Bush most likely had second thoughts about the “Mission Accomplished” fiasco of 2003.
But, on the whole, presidential theater
is a powerful tool of the trade, one that Mr. Trump should understand better
than most. He is, after all, a former reality TV star, long obsessed with image
and ratings.
Three-plus
years into office, however, he rarely (if ever) aims for anything more than
making himself look important. Whether posing in a tractor-trailer, using Air Force One as campaign prop or
ordering up a martial pageant for July
4, complete with tanks and fighter jets, no higher purpose is on display.
While such performances carried a whiff
of Il Duce, most did not put the public at direct risk. The same cannot be said
of Mr. Trump’s public relations stunts of late.
The Lafayette Square episode of June 1 was chilling.
The White House’s damage-control efforts aside, the basics are
clear: Attorney General Bill Barr directed federal law enforcement agencies to
clear peaceful protesters from the area directly across the street from the
White House. Smoke bombs, pepper balls and
rubber bullets were among the weapons used. This was done as the president and
his entourage — including the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark Milley, in combat fatigues — were preparing
to walk across the park so Mr. Trump could wield a Bible in front of the parish
house of a historic church for a photo op so impious it would make Beelzebub
blush.
Current and former members of the
military expressed their dismay. General Milley later apologized for letting himself be used. “I should
not have been there,” he said in a video statement.
None of them should have been there.
Mr. Trump’s disregard for public health
and safety isn’t limited to people he considers hostile. On Saturday, he
delivered the commencement address in person at West Point to a
crowd of cheering cadets. Footage from the event will, no doubt, make for vivid
campaign ads.
To give the president his moment —
complete with a 21-gun salute — some 1,100 young men and women, all of whom had
been sent home in March because of the pandemic, were summoned back to campus
to quarantine together for two weeks before the
ceremony. More than a dozen initially tested positive for the coronavirus. The
graduates’ friends and family were not allowed to attend the ceremony, which
drew protesters carrying signs with messages such as “Cadets Aren’t Props.”
Now Mr. Trump is thinking even bigger —
and demanding greater risk from his most faithful followers. From a public
health standpoint, resuming large, crowded, indoor rallies is madness. But the
president is not content simply to endanger the lives of his supporters.
He is
demanding they sign away their rights for the privilege.
As
promised, Mr. Trump continues to disrupt and redefine presidential norms.
Downward.
