Jake Tapper Slams Donald Trump For ‘Potential Super-Spreader Event’ At Republican National Convention

CNN’s Jake Tapper on Thursday took aim at Donald Trump for an apparent failure to follow pandemic guidelines at the White House for the Republican National Convention, where he made a speech on the South Lawn. As reported by Raw Story, the host began by pointing to Trump’s recent decision to wear a mask in public events — something he claims was well-received by the country’s health officials.

“Finally, we were going to get a good example set by the president,” Tapper said. “Well, I’ve been talking to health officials across the country who are just abjectly mortified by what they’re seeing from the South Lawn, which looks like a potential super-spreader event. The Harvard Global Health Institute saying this is deeply irresponsible. It goes against all we know about keeping people safe.”

Tapper claimed that America should “expect better” from its leaders and called the lack of social distancing, masks, and mass testing at the RNC “really alarming.”

“And I have to say that the idea of this happening while this pandemic is going on, and the president and the White House are trying to convince us that it isn’t, is just otherworldly.”

The RNC was previously set to use Jacksonville, Florida, as one location for the event before the location was scrapped. As reported by The Miami Herald, local Florida residents in early July filed a lawsuit against Trump’s campaign, the RNC, and the city of Jacksonville in an attempt to stop the event from happening, citing concerns that the gathering would be detrimental to public safety.

Per Vox, the RNC has received criticism for its approach to speaking on the COVID-19 crisis. The publication noted that speakers at the convention continually refer to the pandemic in the past tense despite deaths from the virus continuing across the country and surrounding world. Notably, the publication criticized White House economics adviser Larry Kudlow as the worst in this offense, who allegedly made it appear as if the disease had ended due to Trump’s swift leadership.

Trump himself has received criticism for his handling of the crisis throughout its duration. As The Inquisitr reported, the real estate mogul has, on many occasions, claimed that the virus will subside — at one point when cases surged past 2.6 million in America.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, new cases in the U.S. have trended downward over the course of the last month. As of Thursday evening, approximately 181,000 Americans have died from the virus.