SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
U.S. President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence as they participate in a Fox News Virtual Town Hall with Anchor Bill Hemmer, in the Rose Garden of the White House on March 24, 2020 in Washington, DC. Cases of COVID-19 continue to rise in the United States, with New York's case count doubling every three days according to governor Andrew Cuomo. (Photo: Doug Mills-Pool/Getty Images)
'Packed Churches All Over Our Country--I Think It Will Be Beautiful,' Declares Trump Despite Pandemic
"Easter is a very special day for me," said U.S. president as he continued to press for loosened restrictions in the coming weeks while ignoring expert warnings.
Mar 24, 2020
Even as calls grow for stricter national measures to help contain the surging coronavirus pandemic sweeping the United States, President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that he thinks it would be "beautiful" to see the nation's churches packed for Easter Sunday less than three weeks from now--the latest in a series of troubling statements that betray the dire warnings from public health experts and frontline medical workers.
"At this point you have to wonder if he wants people to die."
Ahead of the formal press briefing with the Coronavirus Task Force at the White House on Tuesday evening, the president earlier participated in a televised town hall event with Fox News--his favorite right-wing cable network.
The town hall itself was denounced by CNN's in-house media critic Brian Stelter as the "Fox News Presidency at its very worst," complete with rosy scenarios about the virus by Trump who said he wants to get "people back to work" by Easter Sunday, which falls next month on April 12--just nineteen days away.
In response to that comment, Fox News' Bill Hemmer said it might seen as a "great American resurrection" if workers were sent back to work and restrictions lifted by the Christian holy day:
"Easter is a very special day for me," Trump later responded to Hemmer when asked to explain why he thought Easter would be a good deadline--despite the warnings from public health officials--to lift national restrictions.
"I saw wouldn't it be great to have all of the churches full--you know the churches aren't allowed to have much of a congregation there. And most of them, I watched on Sunday online--and it was terrific, by the way--but online is never going to be like being there. So I think Easter Sunday and you'll have packed churches all over our country--I think it will be a beautiful time. And it's just about the timeline that I think is right."
Critics found the comments horrifying.
"Trump is excited about the prospect of packed churches for Easter Sunday," said political commentator Joshua Potash. "At this point you have to wonder if he wants people to die."
The president's latest statements came just hours after New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo expressed frustration with the failed response of the Trump administration, demanding to know "where are the ventilators" for his state--now the epicenter of the national outbreak. With New York's case count doubling every three days at this point, Cuomo said the urgency for action is intensifying, not lessening.
In his critique of both Trump and the Fox reporters involved in Tuesday's town hall event, Stelter said it was "pathetic" for the president to continue providing misleading information about the outbreak to the American people and a "failure" for journalists to enable it:
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Even as calls grow for stricter national measures to help contain the surging coronavirus pandemic sweeping the United States, President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that he thinks it would be "beautiful" to see the nation's churches packed for Easter Sunday less than three weeks from now--the latest in a series of troubling statements that betray the dire warnings from public health experts and frontline medical workers.
"At this point you have to wonder if he wants people to die."
Ahead of the formal press briefing with the Coronavirus Task Force at the White House on Tuesday evening, the president earlier participated in a televised town hall event with Fox News--his favorite right-wing cable network.
The town hall itself was denounced by CNN's in-house media critic Brian Stelter as the "Fox News Presidency at its very worst," complete with rosy scenarios about the virus by Trump who said he wants to get "people back to work" by Easter Sunday, which falls next month on April 12--just nineteen days away.
In response to that comment, Fox News' Bill Hemmer said it might seen as a "great American resurrection" if workers were sent back to work and restrictions lifted by the Christian holy day:
"Easter is a very special day for me," Trump later responded to Hemmer when asked to explain why he thought Easter would be a good deadline--despite the warnings from public health officials--to lift national restrictions.
"I saw wouldn't it be great to have all of the churches full--you know the churches aren't allowed to have much of a congregation there. And most of them, I watched on Sunday online--and it was terrific, by the way--but online is never going to be like being there. So I think Easter Sunday and you'll have packed churches all over our country--I think it will be a beautiful time. And it's just about the timeline that I think is right."
Critics found the comments horrifying.
"Trump is excited about the prospect of packed churches for Easter Sunday," said political commentator Joshua Potash. "At this point you have to wonder if he wants people to die."
The president's latest statements came just hours after New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo expressed frustration with the failed response of the Trump administration, demanding to know "where are the ventilators" for his state--now the epicenter of the national outbreak. With New York's case count doubling every three days at this point, Cuomo said the urgency for action is intensifying, not lessening.
In his critique of both Trump and the Fox reporters involved in Tuesday's town hall event, Stelter said it was "pathetic" for the president to continue providing misleading information about the outbreak to the American people and a "failure" for journalists to enable it:
Even as calls grow for stricter national measures to help contain the surging coronavirus pandemic sweeping the United States, President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that he thinks it would be "beautiful" to see the nation's churches packed for Easter Sunday less than three weeks from now--the latest in a series of troubling statements that betray the dire warnings from public health experts and frontline medical workers.
"At this point you have to wonder if he wants people to die."
Ahead of the formal press briefing with the Coronavirus Task Force at the White House on Tuesday evening, the president earlier participated in a televised town hall event with Fox News--his favorite right-wing cable network.
The town hall itself was denounced by CNN's in-house media critic Brian Stelter as the "Fox News Presidency at its very worst," complete with rosy scenarios about the virus by Trump who said he wants to get "people back to work" by Easter Sunday, which falls next month on April 12--just nineteen days away.
In response to that comment, Fox News' Bill Hemmer said it might seen as a "great American resurrection" if workers were sent back to work and restrictions lifted by the Christian holy day:
"Easter is a very special day for me," Trump later responded to Hemmer when asked to explain why he thought Easter would be a good deadline--despite the warnings from public health officials--to lift national restrictions.
"I saw wouldn't it be great to have all of the churches full--you know the churches aren't allowed to have much of a congregation there. And most of them, I watched on Sunday online--and it was terrific, by the way--but online is never going to be like being there. So I think Easter Sunday and you'll have packed churches all over our country--I think it will be a beautiful time. And it's just about the timeline that I think is right."
Critics found the comments horrifying.
"Trump is excited about the prospect of packed churches for Easter Sunday," said political commentator Joshua Potash. "At this point you have to wonder if he wants people to die."
The president's latest statements came just hours after New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo expressed frustration with the failed response of the Trump administration, demanding to know "where are the ventilators" for his state--now the epicenter of the national outbreak. With New York's case count doubling every three days at this point, Cuomo said the urgency for action is intensifying, not lessening.
In his critique of both Trump and the Fox reporters involved in Tuesday's town hall event, Stelter said it was "pathetic" for the president to continue providing misleading information about the outbreak to the American people and a "failure" for journalists to enable it:
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.