President Trump Kept His Team Together and Led Us to the Reopening of America
Apr 17, 2020
RUSH: What a fabulous job they did. What a wonderful job they did. Greetings, my friends. It’s great to have you with us. It’s Rush Limbaugh, and it is Friday.
JOHNNY DONOVAN: And now, from sunny South Florida, it’s Open Line Friday!
RUSH: Open Line Friday means that you can ask me anything. It doesn’t have to be related to COVID-19, coronavirus. It doesn’t have to be related to anything to do with that. It could be questions or comments about anything. It’s the purpose of Open Line Friday. The original reason, the original purpose behind Open Line Friday was to take the program beyond where I take it by allowing you to talk about things that maybe I hadn’t brought up.
You don’t have to do that, but, I mean, it’s the option. We don’t permit this Monday through Thursday. Monday through Thursday I maintain benevolent dictatorial control over the program and the callers. On Friday I take a gigantic career risk by surrendering that benevolent, dictatorial control, autocratic control, and giving you more say so over the programming than ever, at any other time during the week. The phone number is 800-282-2882, and email address, ElRushbo@eibnet.us.
So Kathryn and I were chatting about the daily brief yesterday after the president announced the phased reopening plan for the country. And it has to happen. Folks, there is no delaying this any further. You see all over the country now people are revolting against certain state governors who want to maintain lockdown. It can’t go on. This forced shutdown, the forced ruination of the United States economy must end. And I can’t tell you. I was longing for that day yesterday.
I have been longing for the White House briefing to be what it was yesterday for a month. I cannot describe for you — I’ve tried, during the course of every day’s busy broadcast, I have tried to convey my concern and fear for you, for all of us, for everybody. I’ve been there. I don’t know how many of the people who are among our experts setting policy, I don’t know how many of them have been broke.
I don’t know how many of them have been where 22 million Americans are, without a job, without any income, and unemployment compensation that just will not get it done. I don’t know how many. There may be some. I’m sure that the law of averages would dictate some have been there. But I don’t know how many. Trump has been there, by the way. Trump has been at the edge of the cliff looking over it. His survival techniques are a fascinating story and why they’re not going to damage him ultimately with every effort they’re gonna mount on this.
But you look at some of these people. I don’t want to mention any names. The names are not the important thing here. It’s the ability to relate, the ability to have some kind of empathy. And while I understand the nature of leadership and I understand the nature of expertise and intelligence, it simply is better if there are people in the policy making sphere who’ve been there or have faced similar circumstances far better than people who are not feeling threatened financially by any of this.
And I think that way too many people in some positions of authority and power really don’t face dire economic circumstances like an increasing number of the American people do. It worries me. As I say, I’ve been there, and it’s scary to me, just the memories of being in that circumstance. And it was a number of different times for me. It’s scary to remember it. But it enables me to understand what people are going through and how it cannot go on. It simply can’t.
There may be great risk in reopening the country in phases. There may be great risk in sending people back out to start working even under the guidelines. They’re risks that have to be taken. They are certainly no different than risks the American people have taken throughout our history. We had to get involved in World War II once we were attacked by the Japanese. We had to get involved in World War I. We had to get involved in order to defend and protect ourselves.
These were risks that we tried to avoid taking for the longest time, but we had to get involved. We had to take risks after 9/11. We’ve had to take risks our entire history as a nation. Taking risks, entrepreneurism, fearlessness, it’s a hallmark of the American identity and of the American culture. And this shutdown and hunkering down in total fear is not a hallmark of American history or of American culture.
Now, very quickly, here are the guidelines that were announced yesterday. And I’m gonna have some comments in that briefing ’cause it was brilliant. Trump, even before it began, was watching the Fox News Channel, and John Roberts was their White House correspondent, said the magic words. Dr. Fauci and the Scarf Queen have signed off on the guidelines. Okay. The leadership that President Trump has exhibited, the leadership that he has engaged in, that he commanded, is worthy of being noted.
People are so busy occupying themselves with their own problems that you may not have time, you may not have the inclination to start analyzing how anybody else is doing, either living their lives or doing their jobs or what have you. But I want to make a point about it because do you realize, Mr. Snerdley and everybody, do you realize whatever the length of time this task force has been up and running there has not been one subversive leak, not one? Not a single subversive leak. Not a single act or leak of sabotage. It’s phenomenal.
Think of all the opportunities people on this task force had. There is a sympathetic media waiting out there beating down the windows, beating down the doors, begging anybody, a staff member, an actual member of the task force, “Please, please, we know things can’t be going this well. We know some of you have to think Trump’s an idiot. Just tell us. Just tell us. We promise you anonymity.†The media trying to get leaks, the media trying, desperately trying for any negative story. Not one. That is leadership.
Okay. More on that in a second. Here are the guidelines on reopening the economy and essentially Trump’s plan is three phases. And each phase or every step requires a decline in cases for two previous weeks before the next phase can be implemented.
(summarizing phases) Phase One allows certain businesses such as gymnasiums — gyms, workout centers, health and recreation centers — to reopen if social distancing is possible — and, of course, it is. You limit the number of people in the gym; you limit the number of people at each station in the gym. “Hey, Rush, it sounds like you know about gyms.†Ho-ho! I know about ’em. That’s why I don’t go there.
But I know all about ’em. Gyms were a form of punishment for me when I was growing up, like cutting the grass. I know all about this stuff. There’d be plenty of ways to load people into gyms and have the six feet or even more space between people as they wait in line. You get in there, and you disinfect the equipment after every patient — uh, person — uses whatever the equipment is, and you go.
Phase Two. Phase Two will allow schools to reopen — and large venues and restaurants and bars to open — with social distancing in place. Bars are specifically mentioned as places that will not be permitted to be open at the outset in Phase One. Phase Three allows large venues, bars, and restaurants to expand to their full capacity — and it is thought that it’s gonna take some time to get to Phase Three.
But they are specified.
There’s a plan.
There’s a program in place with clear lines and steps about how we move to each phase.
It allows… The Trump plan — well, the task force plan — allows employers to resume unrestricted staffing in the workplace. Phase Three. So again, the first phase after two weeks of a decline in cases (you’re gonna have two weeks where we’ve had a decline in cases) — not deaths, but cases — urges existing measures to remain in place while allowing certain businesses and gyms to reopen if social distancing is possible, which it is.
Second phase: States and regions that have twice satisfied the initial criteria — that would be after four weeks of decline in cases — urges all vulnerable individuals to shelter in place, encourages others to exercise social distancing in public. Nonessential travel can resume in Phase Two. Schools can reopen. Large venues, gyms, and bars can operate with social distancing steps in place — and again, the third phase is recommended only for states that have shown no signs of a spike in cases after restrictions are lifted.
This would be essentially after six weeks of a decline in cases. It allows public interactions and visits to nursing homes to resume. It lets bars and restaurants expand to full capacity. The third phase still encourages people to socially distance when possible, and to limit their time in large groups. In other words, continue to behave as you’ve been trained, as you’ve been taught here: Wear masks and keep your distance even when we get back to near full capacity in Phase Three.
And then all of this would eventually go by the wayside should there ever become a vaccine. Prior to that, massive, upscale testing will go a long way to facilitating the increased speed of adaptation of each of these phases. Pelosi issued a press release in all this saying that the guidelines are too vague, they’re inconsistent, and the plan risks further death and economic disaster.
The media and the Democrats are just waiting… I predicted yesterday. It’s gonna be this and worse. They’re just waiting for any negative news after Phase One begins, and they’re gonna dump all of it on Trump, which is why it was crucially important that everybody on the task force sign off on these guidelines. This is not Donald Trump the Autocrat writing his own guidelines and forcing the members of the task force to agree.
It’s the result of the task force — chaired by Vice President Pence — meeting, discussing, and eventually arriving at a consensus. You can have a consensus in this task force. So the leadership here, what Kathryn and I were talking about, is really impressive. I think the president has done just a marvelous job through all of this. He has navigated through a mess that he never anticipated, that nobody could have ever seen coming.
This is why when people want to talk about polling data and months and months out, I always say, “It’s irrelevant. You can’t predict things in politics. The unexpected, something that nobody knows is gonna happen, is gonna blow it all up.†The classic example is this: The coronavirus. This team, this task force — despite every effort to make it appear ununified and at odds with each other — held.
I mean, how many times did the media try to get Dr. Fauci to dump on Trump? How many times did they get the Scarf Queen to answer a trick question, the answer to which would have been, “Yeah, this guy’s a blithering idiot and I can’t believe I have to stand up here on the same stage� How many times did they try to trick Dr. Fauci — and not even trick!
How many times did they goad the doctor? How many times throw Dr. Fauci a softball? All he would have to do is say, “Yes, this guy is everything you think he is. He’s an absolute embarrassing idiot.†Not once did the Scarf Queen or Dr. Fauci go there. There was no breaking in the ranks. There was not one subversive leak throughout and still hasn’t been.
The task force is still in existence. I mean, they’re still working, still meeting. I think what we’ve seen here is exceptional. Exceptional leadership. No doubt there has been incredible, massive amounts of negotiation behind the scenes. What with all the CEOs that Trump brought in. What with all the private sector people that the president needed to retool, to make ventilators and masks and so forth.
Can you imagine the things that we didn’t see, and yet look at how it all turned out! An example yesterday: Trump has in the truckers, FedEx and UPS. He has them up there at the White House thanking them, praising them. These are people in many cases some union people probably inclined to vote Democrat, but there they were.
Throughout all of this, not only did Drs. Fauci and Birx not take the bait whenever they were given a chance to insult Trump, Trump never diminished anybody. Trump anybody insulted anybody on his team. Trump never made anybody say, “Well, if they’re that bad, why do you have them on the team?†He was nothing but respectful of everybody on his team. He stood behind all of them.
He was happy to share the stage with any and all of them. He did not tweet when things weren’t going well that somebody was a buffoon and made a mistake. He acted as real leaders do. He stood behind the American people. He made it clear that everything going on was for the benefit the American people. All the while, he was taking just incredible incoming fire from critics, the Democrats, the media — and he held the line.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: Folks, there’s something else that happened yesterday, and I was so hoping for this. I did not officially predict it. But I know the power of suggestion, and I know the power of real optimism, not fake or phony optimism. I noticed something happened the minute that task force briefing ended yesterday with the president announcing the guidelines under which we reopen the country and the itinerant attitude that he had about it.
“We gotta do it. We’re gonna come back. We’re gonna come back better than ever. We’re gonna come back stronger than ever.†This is this kind of thing the American people need to hear. Do you know what happened? Once that started being discussed, jump-starting the economy, everybody became all in with it. Everybody started having their own ideas. “Yeah, we can do this.†No matter where I watched on cable news, I’m seeing all kinds of people go from the day before, “No, I don’t think we can reopen.
“I think it may be too soon. I think…†We get the task force briefing describing how we’re gonna do it, and now, everybody’s got their own ideas. Everybody is revved and ready for it, moving forward at a good rate. It’s fascinating. It’s exactly what I was hoping would happen. More and more people are signing on to the concept of reopening. It was good.
