Chuck Grassley just gave up the gig
Donald Trump is still planning to hold an in-person Republican National Convention in Jacksonville, Florida. Given the turnout numbers for such an event, it’s a statistical near-guarantee that a number of people will show up to the convention infected with the coronavirus, a larger number of people will leave the convention infected, and a number of attendees will end up dying.
The thing is, while Trump may be able to sell this political Russian roulette game to the suckers who worship him, but he’s having trouble selling it to some of the leaders of his own party. For instance, Republican Senator Chuck Grassley announced today that he won’t be attending the convention this year due to the coronavirus.
Grassley is 86 years old, which means he’s in a high risk group, so he’s making the smart move here. But Trump is 74 years old and in poor health, meaning he’s probably at just as high of a risk as Grassley. More to the point, plenty of the delegates and others who will be pressured to attend the convention are senior citizens. And as we keep seeing, this virus kills a tragic number of young and healthy people as well.
As much as Donald Trump wants to sell this notion that the coronavirus is a hoax and the Republican National Convention will be safe to hold, Chuck Grassley just gave up the gig. If a Republican Senator isn’t willing to bet his life on Trump’s latest deranged ego trip, why should anyone else?
