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Eighteen events are connected to 30,000 infections and 700 COVID-19 deaths, researchers conclude.
By Melissa Healy
President Trump has described his campaign rallies as “fun,” “wonderful,” “ the Greatest Show on Earth ,” and, of course, “ BIG .”
An effort to calculate whether those events have increased the spread of the coronavirus in the United States suggests that “contagious” and “deadly” would also apply.
A rigorous attempt to gauge the after-effects of 18 of the president’s reelection rallies, all held in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, suggests they have led to more than 30,000 additional cases and at least 700 additional deaths.
Those casualties would not have occurred if the campaign events had not taken place, according to a team of Stanford researchers. Media coverage of the rallies made clear there was little effort to follow guidelines about social distancing, and mask use was optional for attendees, who typically numbered in the thousands. (Indeed, face coverings were disparaged by the president on several occasions.)
Furthermore, the extra illnesses and deaths almost certainly reached beyond the ardent Trump supporters who attended the rallies, rippling outward to ensnare others in their towns and cities, the study authors said.
“The communities in which Trump rallies took place paid a high price in terms of disease and death,” the Stanford team concluded.
The study, led by economist B. Douglas Bernheim , was posted Friday on a website where social science researchers share preliminary work and seek feedback from other scholars.
On Saturday, the findings became fresh campaign fodder as the president stumped at four outdoor rallies in Pennsylvania and his Democratic challenger, Joe Biden, held two drive-in events in Michigan with former President Obama.
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