Virus nixes Trump's stadium rallies, so campaign draws virtual crowds through digital TV

Pioneering 'virtual campaign' rallies on Facebook and Twitter have attracted more than a million viewers apiece, campaign says.

President Trump is known for his signature, raucous, stadium-sized rallies drawing thousands of in-person supporters to stadiums nationwide. Supporters often stand in line for hours to pack in closely together to clap, cheer, and, presumably, share a few germs. But with tight federal guidelines during the coronavirus pandemic recommending that gatherings be capped at just 10 people and state orders to shelter in place, those rallies are a thing of the past. Through at least April 30 and the end of “social distancing” to stop the spread of the coronavirus, campaigning is going virtual to keep voters and campaign staff healthy.

Against the backdrop of a country fighting a global pandemic, the Trump campaign is embracing its unorthodox, David-vs.-Goliath mentality that catapulted an unexpected GOP political newcomer into the White House. The campaign is in some ways building its own startup, digital television network, a coronavirus-inspired version of “Trump TV,” that could rival any of the conservative digital television networks, from OANN and Newsmax to The Blaze and Fox Nation. Americans are camped out inside their homes, and they're turning on their televisions, with Fox News seeing Q1 2020 as its most-watched quarter in its history, and the New York Times reporting that the president’s daily Coronavirus Task Force briefings are drawing roughly 8.5 million viewers on cable news each night (to the angst of some members of the mainstream media who want to nix carrying the briefings live and in full). Those at-home coronavirus campers are also turning to their social media, with the Trump campaign reporting that more than one million viewers participated in each of the campaign’s first two online broadcasts, for coalitions of “Women for Trump Online” and “Latinos for Trump Online.” The broadcasts airing on Facebook and Twitter have featured top surrogates like Lara Trump, senior advisor to the Trump campaign and daughter-in-law of the president, Trump campaign political director Chris Carr, and strategic communications director Mercedes Schlapp.

“There’s no playbook for political campaigning in the age of coronavirus,” Lara Trump wrote in a Fox News op-ed Wednesday. “Now that in-person campaigning is off the table, we’ve had to adapt to an almost exclusively digital approach to presidential politicking. Fortunately, the Trump campaign has always been ahead of the curve when it comes to online outreach, allowing us to rapidly implement an exciting new strategy for this unique moment in history.” On Friday, the campaign is holding an online event with national press secretary Kayleigh McEnany hosting a yet-to-be announced guest; McEnany is also hosting “American Heroes Online” on Saturday night. The campaign’s “War Room Weekly,” on Sunday nights starts this weekend, “Hosted by senior members of Team Trump to get out the facts.” “I’m excited to help pioneer ‘virtual campaigning’ over the coming weeks,” Lara Trump wrote, and “with luck, it will even become a permanent feature of our efforts to connect with voters.”

https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/all-things-trump/coronavirus-nixes-stadiums-trump-campaign-so-it-turns-digital-tv

Homegrown Virus Gear

Italy gave China PPE to help with coronavirus — then China made them buy it back

Reports of Beijing’s diplomacy go from bad to worse

China has tried to restore its image after lying to the world about the seriousness of its coronavirus outbreak, but its attempts at humanitarianism have turned out to be as slippery as its wet markets. China Politics World

Italy gave China PPE to help with coronavirus — then China made them buy it back

Reports of Beijing’s diplomacy go from bad to worse

Amber Athey

amber athey

Chinese President Xi Jinping

Chinese President Xi Jinping

Amber Athey

April 4, 2020

3:17 PM

China has tried to restore its image after lying to the world about the seriousness of its coronavirus outbreak, but its attempts at humanitarianism have turned out to be as slippery as its wet markets.

After COVID-19 made its way to Italy, decimating the country’s significant elderly population, China told the world it would donate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to help Italy stop its spread. Reports later indicated that China had actually sold, not donated, the PPE to Italy. A senior Trump administration official tells The Spectator that it is much worse than that: China forced Italy to buy back the PPE supply that it gave to China during the initial coronavirus outbreak. ‘Before the virus hit Europe, Italy sent tons of PPE to China to help China protect its own population,’ the administration official explained. ‘China then has sent Italian PPE back to Italy — some of it, not even all of it … and charged them for it.’

China taking advantage of Italy’s generosity is just the latest example of its disastrous diplomacy in the wake of the pandemic. Much of the supplies and testing kits China has sold to other countries have turned out to be defective. Spain had to return 50,000 quick-testing kits to China after discovering that they were faulty. In some cases, instead of apologizing or fixing the issue, China has blamed its defective equipment on others. China condescendingly told the Netherlands to ‘double-check the instructions’ on its masks, for example, after the Netherlands complained that half of the masks they were sent did not meet safety standards. ‘It’s so disingenuous for Chinese officials now to say we are the ones who are helping the Italians or we are the ones who are helping the developing world when, in fact, they are the ones who infected all of us,’ the senior administration official said. ‘Of course they should be helping. They have a special responsibility to help because they are the ones who began the spread of the coronavirus and did not give the information required to the rest of the world to plan accordingly.’

The official said China’s disinformation campaign delayed the US response by at least a month, as the coronavirus initially seemed to be a regional issue rather than a global one. As China downplayed the outbreak within its borders, nearly half a million people traveled to the US potentially carrying the virus. ‘The disinformation that China has put out is crippling responses around the world. We were a month behind because the Chinese did not share information,’ according to the official. ‘It’s hard for the world to accept that even the information that they’re putting out now is accurate and acceptable from an epidemiological standpoint. We’re operating on some level with a hand tied behind our back.’ China has still been underreporting coronavirus cases and deaths, for instance not including asymptomatic COVID-19 cases in its overall case count. The country has also claimed no new deaths from the virus, even as thousands of ash urns are shipped to local hospitals.

https://spectator.us/italy-china-ppe-sold-coronavirus/