Trump indoor rally defies health rules

LAS VEGAS－In open defiance of state regulations and his own administration's pandemic guidelines, US President Donald Trump hosted his first indoor rally since June, telling a packed, nearly mask-less Nevada crowd that the nation was "making the last turn "in defeating the virus.

Eager to project a sense of normalcy in imagery, Trump soaked up the raucous cheers inside a warehouse on Sunday night. Relatively few in the crowd wore masks, with a clear exception: Those in the stands directly behind Trump, whose images would end up on TV, were mandated to wear face coverings.

Not since a rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, that was blamed for a surge of coronavirus infections has Trump gathered supporters indoors. The pandemic had killed nearly 200,000 people and was still claiming 1,000 lives a day in the United States by the time of the event in Henderson, Nevada.

"We are not shutting the country again. A shutdown would destroy the lives and dreams of millions Americans," said Trump, before using his inflammatory moniker for the coronavirus.

The rally in Tulsa, which was his first in three months after the coronavirus reached the US, was a disaster for the campaign. The debacle featured a sea of empty seats and a rise in COVID-19 cases, including among his own staff.

One prominent Trump supporter at the rally, businessman and former presidential candidate Herman Cain, died of COVID-19 weeks later, though it is unclear whether he contracted the virus in Tulsa.

Smaller gatherings

Recognizing that many supporters were uncomfortable to gather in a large group indoors, where the virus spreads more easily, the Trump campaign shifted to holding smaller, outdoor rallies, usually in aircraft hangers.

But on Sunday they returned indoors, in part as a nod to the Las Vegas-area heat. Temperature checks were given to all upon entrance at the industrial site in Henderson, and while masks were encouraged, few wore them.

Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak, a Democrat, has limited in-person gatherings indoors and outdoors to 50 people since May, a recommendation based on White House reopening guidelines. In a statement issued just before the rally, Sisolak said Trump was "taking reckless and selfish actions".

The city of Henderson informed Xtreme Manufacturing on Sunday that the event as planned was in direct violation of the governor's COVID-19 emergency directives.

"If you can join tens of thousands of people protesting in the streets, gamble in a casino, or burn down small businesses in riots, you can gather peacefully under the First Amendment to hear from the President of the United States," campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh said.

To this point, the campaign has not been played out as a choice election between Trump and his Democratic opponent, Joe Biden, but rather a referendum on the president's handling of the virus.

That makes Trump's campaign keen to change the subject. In an hour-long speech, Trump mused on mandatory prison sentences for flag burning and appeared to endorse extrajudicial killings for those who target police officers.

Agencies Via Xinhua