President Trump seems to have kicked off a firestorm of controversy last week as he implored states to be “liberated” from their allegedly dictatorial state officials.
The bizarre tweets came as cities and states around the nation were grappling with how best to balance the threat posed by COVID-19 with the threat posed by a suddenly-stagnant economy. In places such as Michigan and Ohio, some Americans even took to the streets to protest their Governors’ “stay at home” orders.
So, when President Trump tweeted an order to “liberate” these states from the social-distancing guidelines, not every one was thrilled.
One NPR host even went so far as to say that they believed Trump was inciting violence.
National Public Radio (NPR) Weekend Edition Saturday host Scott Simon implied on two occasions during his three-hour show that President Donald Trump’s tweets about liberating states from draconian shutdowns to stop the spread of the coronavirus may be Trump encouraging “armed insurrection.”
The first occasion was in an interview with Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, who leads a state where protests against shutting down the economy have taken place in recent days.
“As I don’t have to tell you, there were anti-stay-at-home protests in – right there in Columbus this week. And I have to ask you, Governor DeWine, when President Trump calls on people in Michigan, Minnesota and Virginia – those are states with Democratic governors – to, quote, “liberate” themselves from lockdown, is that a call for insurrection?” Simon asked.
“No, I don’t think so,” DeWine said. “Look; I mean, we have…”
“Well, what else does liberate mean?” Simon asked.
“Well, the people have every right to demonstrate,” DeWine said. “This is what I’ve said to people who were protesting against me, people who are very upset with me. I say, look; there’s the First Amendment. They have a right to speak out.”
Then came the doozy of a statement.
“Well, but I got to pressure you a bit on this because the president also tweeted, “liberate Virginia,” Simon said. “Save your great Second Amendment. It is under siege. And they followed that up from the White House podium.”
“Is that a call for armed insurrection?” Simon asked.
“No, I don’t think that’s a call for anything other than, you know, the president is tweeting what he wants to tweet,” DeWine said. “But again, you know, I’m sure there were many people who in Ohio were saying, you know, go demonstrate against DeWine, et cetera.”
Simon just wouldn’t take no for an answer, however, would even go on to ask a third time about such a possibility.
The liberal narrative won’t write itself, folks.
