President Trump blamed Democrats for “purposely” refusing to open schools and stopping him from holding campaign rallies in the run-up to November’s election.
Trump, in an interview on “Fox News Sunday,” touted how he built the “greatest economy” until it was derailed by the coronavirus and pledged he would do it again, but that Democrats were trying to thwart his efforts.
“The Democrats are purposely keeping their schools closed, keeping their states closed. I called Michigan. I want to have a big rally in Michigan. Do you know we’re not allowed to have a rally in Michigan?” Trump said in the interview.
“Do you know we’re not allowed to have a rally in Minnesota? Do you know we’re not allowed to have a rally in Nevada? We’re not allowed to have rallies in these Democrat-run states.”
Fox News’ Chris Wallace questioned whether the states were worried about allowing rallies with thousands of people amid a public health crisis.
“Some people would say, fine,” Trump responded.
But Wallace brought up a campaign event in Tulsa, Oklahoma, last month that Trump’s reelection promised to deliver packed crowds but eventually drew only a little more than 6,000 people.
Trump said that even if his campaign had everything worked out, “they still wouldn’t allow it. They’re not allowing me to do it. So they’re not allowing me to have rallies,” Trump said.
Michigan, where Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has limited the size of crowds at public gatherings in most parts of the state, has more than 6,000 coronavirus deaths and more than 81,000 cases.
Minnesota has more than 1,500 deaths and health officials reported a rise with 737 new cases on Sunday.
Health officials in Nevada reported 206 deaths as of Saturday, with more than 4,000 total cases.