Gov. Wolf blasts Trump campaign rallies as public health threat

A day ahead of President Trump’s scheduled campaign rally at Harrisburg International Airport, Gov. Tom Wolf on Friday blasted the president for disregarding public health advisories on masking and social distancing at a series of rallies across Pennsylvania over the past month.

Trump, who held rallies that attracted thousands of supporters at airport hangars in Latrobe on Sept. 3 and at Pittsburgh International Airport on Tuesday, is scheduled to address supporters at Harrisburg International Airport on Saturday evening.

Wolf, a Democrat, who is battling the federal courts over his authority to restrict public gatherings, called on Trump to forgo such events. He noted the state did not issue exemptions for the prior rallies at which thousands of unmasked Trump supporters stood in close quarters.

The governor said the Trump campaign has yet to respond to a letter he sent Sept. 10, asking that the campaign respect public health guidance.

“Once again, I am requesting that the president of the United States not endanger Pennsylvanians by holding unsafe rallies that will put Pennsylvania communities at risk,” Wolf said. “It is gravely concerning that the president would insist on holding this event with blatant disregard for social distancing and masking requirements. His decision to bring thousands of people together in a tight space in the midst of a global pandemic caused by an airborne virus is flat-out wrong.”

A spokeswoman for the Trump campaign declined to comment on Wolf’s statement ahead of the president’s visit.

The Harrisburg-area rally will mark the president’s fifth visit in as many weeks to the battleground state he won by 44,000 votes out of more than 6 million cast in 2016. He previously campaigned in Scranton on Aug. 20. He also attended 9/11 memorial ceremonies at the Flight 93 memorial in Somerset County on Sept. 11.

Former Vice President Joe Biden also has made repeated visits to the state where he spent his childhood. The Biden campaign, however, has eschewed large public gatherings.

There are no indications Trump’s rallies here have resulted in a spike in covid-19 cases. Nonetheless, Wolf joins a parade of Democrats who have roundly criticized Trump’s large rallies.

Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald joined Pennsylvania Democratic Party Chair Nancy Patton Mills and local labor leaders at a press conference in advance of Trump’s Pittsburgh visit, labeling the rally a potential “super-spreader event.”

Republicans have used the same terms to refer to Black Lives Matter protests across the nation in recent months.

Legal experts have said such events could be classified as falling under First Amendment guarantees regarding protected speech.

Wolf said he’s disappointed in the president’s approach to covid-19. He noted Trump has admitted to downplaying the threat.

“The president has admitted to lying about the severity of the covid-19 pandemic, and in the meantime, our country has lost more than 200,000 lives on his watch. While we continue to see only tepid and contradictory attempts at leadership from the White House, families have lost loved ones, the economy has taken a massive hit and communities are crying out for help,” he said.