Wolf asks that Trump's Saturday rally in Harrisburg be canceled, calls the event "dangerous" and

Wolf asks that Trump’s Saturday rally in Harrisburg be canceled, calls the event “dangerous” and “manipulative"


A day before President Donald Trump is set to hold a rally in Harrisburg, Gov. Tom Wolf slammed him for flouting public health guidance, in Pennsylvania and elsewhere, and downplaying the severity of a virus blamed for killing more than 203,000 people in the United States.

“To hold this event is not just misguided, it is dangerous, it is manipulative and it is wrong," the governor said Friday in a statement. "I would ask Pennsylvanians to think of the health and safety of their families and their communities before attending this event or any rally put on by the Trump campaign. And I would ask the President, for once, to put the health of his constituents ahead of his own political fortunes.”

As Trump campaigns for reelection, he has held rallies in Pennsylvania several times in the past month, most recently at Pittsburgh International Airport on Tuesday. Like at his other rallies, thousands of his supporters gathered close to one another, with seemingly no regard for social distancing. Aside from those standing directly behind the president, few spectators wore masks, according to news reports. On stage, Trump mocked his opponent, Democrat Joe Biden, for regularly wearing a face covering.

Trump is set to hold another rally at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Harrisburg International Airport, despite Wolf’s public pleas for the president not to endanger Pennsylvanians. The governor said he sent a letter to the president earlier this month asking that he abide by public health guidance in visits to the commonwealth. Wolf called Trump’s insistence on holding Saturday’s event “gravely concerning.”

Read more: https://www.inquirer.com/health/coronavirus/live/coronavirus-covid-philadelphia-nj-pa-de-testing-updates-news-cases-20200925.html

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