President Trump mockingly warned at his rally in Nevada late Sunday that Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden would “listen to the scientists” if elected and there would be more lockdowns to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
Trump told attendees in Carson City that supporters of his opponent would surrender their “future to the virus,” saying: “He’s gonna want to lockdown.”
“He’ll listen to the scientists,” Trump added in a mocking tone before saying, “If I listened totally to the scientists, we would right now have a country that would be in a massive depression instead — we’re like a rocket ship. Take a look at the numbers.”
He also took aim at Democratic governors, accusing them of “keeping their states closed” with preventative measures to mitigate the spread of the pandemic. According to Johns Hopkins University data, the coronavirus has led to more than 8.1 million cases in the U.S. and more than 219,000 deaths.
A spokesperson for Biden’s campaign, Andrew Bates, pushed back on the president’s comments in a statement on Twitter late Sunday, saying the claims are “tellingly out of touch and the polar opposite of reality.”
“Trump crashed the strong economy he inherited from the Obama-Biden Administration by lying about and attacking the science, and layoffs are rising. Meanwhile, Joe Biden would create millions more jobs than Trump,” Bates added.
Trump also warned during his rally on Sunday that “the Christmas season will be canceled” if Biden wins in November.
“The Christmas season will be cancelled. Look, remember I said we’re going to bring back Christmas? The name. Remember? We brought it back. Remember?” he asked.
“They’d say, ‘Have a great season.’ I say, ‘No, I don’t want to have a great season. I want to say ‘merry Christmas.’ Say ‘merry Christmas.’ Now, they’re all saying ‘merry Christmas,’ ” he added.
Trump has dug his heels into opposing political correctness as part of his campaigns in 2016 and 2020, particularly when it comes to Christmas. During his campaign, as well as his presidency, Trump has often railed against what he has called “the war on Christmas” in an appeal to evangelical and Christian conservative voters.