Coronavirus: Trump defends demonstrators who protest US lockdown rules
- Hundreds protest in cities across America against coronavirus lockdowns, some of them armed
- Resentment grows against the crippling economic cost of confinement, even as US tops world death toll
US President Donald Trump on Saturday defended the mounting series of protests against coronavirus restrictions, saying some governors had overreached in their efforts to fight the pandemic – efforts that were based on the advice of leading health officials in his own administration.
“I really believe that they’re being unreasonable,” Trump said, citing the Democratic governors of Michigan and Virginia. “There are a lot of protests out there. And I just think that some of the governors have gotten carried away.”
Trump faulted Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer for following closure and social-distancing guidance that came from his administration, and Virginia Governor Ralph Northam for gun-control measures he signed more than a week ago that have nothing to do with the coronavirus.
Trump spoke hours after protests took place in Texas, Maryland, Indiana, Nevada and Wisconsin against ongoing stay-at-home restrictions enacted to fight the spread of the coronavirus. Several such demonstrations have already taken place across the country in recent days, including in California, Michigan, Ohio and New Jersey.
On Saturday in downtown Annapolis, Maryland , dozens in their vehicles drove in circles and honked during a lunchtime protest. One woman waved a sign out her window that said: “I want to save my business!!! I need to work!” Another man scrawled on his pickup truck, “The face mask you were duped into wearing symbolises you loosing your freedom of speech.”
Outside the Texas Statehouse in Austin, protesters chanted: “Fire Fauci!” referring to Dr Anthony Fauci, the top US infectious disease expert who is widely credited with influencing President Trump’s approach to the coronavirus pandemic. Right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones made an appearance.