President Trump said the nation is “rounding the turn” on the coronavirus at a Friday rally in Wisconsin, which has seen a 41 percent spike in new cases over the last 14 days, according to a tracker kept by The New York Times.
The president ran through what has become standard remarks at his campaign rallies, boasting about vaccine development and ridiculing his opponent, Democratic nominee Joe Biden, for supporting restrictions meant to slow the spread of the virus.
“He’s ready to lock it down. I mean, you guys are already in a lockdown. You might not notice it as much. Hey governor, you gotta open up your state here,” Trump said to cheers as he swiped at Gov. Tony Evers (D).
But Evers has had difficulty imposing statewide mandates meant to curb the virus, running into opposition from the GOP-controlled legislature and state courts.
Trump railed at length against Biden, making inaccurate claims that the Democratic nominee “wants to keep everyone locked up” and mocking the former vice president for focusing much of his campaign rhetoric on the pandemic response.
“The truth is we have done an incredible job,” Trump said. “With our ventilators, the vaccines, therapeutics. And all he does — because he’s got nothing else he can talk about because no administration in the history of our country has done what we’ve done.”
The president touted that a vaccine would be ready “very soon,” even though no company has completed clinical trials yet, adding: “With or without the vaccine we’re rounding the turn, but the vaccine makes it go faster. The vaccines are going to be out very soon.”
“Our vaccine will eradicate the virus, end the pandemic, quickly restore normal life. I just want normal life. All we want is normal life,” Trump said, looking to the sky.
The president’s rosy outlook on the pandemic is at odds with how it is playing out on the ground, especially in Wisconsin.
The state has had more than 5,000 additional infections reported since Thursday, according to the Department of Health, and 70 of 72 counties are experiencing very high disease activity. The state this week has seen record highs for deaths and hospitalizations from the virus, as well.
The outbreak in Wisconsin is part of a larger spike around the country in infections, hospitalizations and deaths. The U.S. set a record with more than 90,000 new infections Thursday, and the country Friday surpassed more than 9 million total cases since the pandemic began.
The president has made multiple appearances in Wisconsin in recent days, with his rallies attracting thousands of people who generally do not observe social distancing or wear masks at the events.
Trump narrowly won Wisconsin in 2016 and is hoping to do so again next week. But polls show him trailing Biden by steady margins, including a Marquette University poll this week that found the Democratic nominee up by 5 percentage points.