Only Indoor Rally Attendees Standing Directly Behind Trump (and On TV) Apparently Asked to Wear Masks
President Donald Trump held an indoor political rally Sunday evening in Henderson, Nevada, despite ongoing concerns that highly-trafficked and crowded indoor areas are among the riskiest locations to contract the coronavirus. AP’s Jonathan Lemire and Ken Ritter reported that, despite the threat of the potentially deadly Covid-19 contagion, few of the rally-goers wore masks followed the CDC’s social distancing guidelines.
AP Reports:
In open defiance of state regulations and his own administration’s pandemic health guidelines, President Donald Trump on Sunday 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. Relatively few in the crowd wore masks, with one clear exception: Those in the stands directly behind Trump, whose images would end up on TV, were mandated to wear face coverings.
A Twitter user named Doug Landry (who appears to be a supporter of Joe Biden based on his Twitter profile) seems to confirm the reporting from Lemire and Ritter by posting screen captures of two different moments of the indoor political rally from Sunday night. The first features Trump Campaign advisor Kimberly Guilfoyle speaking at the podium, the second features President Trump in the same spot. While the angles of the shot are slightly different, you can see that mask-less individuals were suddenly wearing facial coverings while Trump was speaking.
and they didn’t even put them on until Trump was on stage.
before & after: pic.twitter.com/Br7Rj7DXvm
— Doug Landry (@dougblandry) September 14, 2020
You would be forgiven for having missed the rally, as it was not aired on any major media outlet due to concerns from the coronavirus pandemic. The rally was held indoors and reportedly featured very little mask-wearing or social distancing, so many news outlets refused to cover over safety concerns for their photojournalists and reporters.
The last time the Trump campaign held an indoor political rally was in Tulsa during late summer. That event led to numerous cases of COVID-19 with campaign officials, Secret Security detail. It may have also even been where Herman Cain contracted the disease that eventually led to his tragic and untimely death.
