President Donald Trump spoke to thousands of his fans in West Salem, Wisconsin, on Tuesday at a rally where he, as has become predictable, downplayed the seriousness of the coronavirus pandemic. The president told the crowd at La Crosse Fairgrounds Speedway: “You turn on the news: ‘COVID, COVID.’ You know when they’re going to stop talking about it so much? November 4th.” The statement is clearly absurd—but made even more so as it came hours after Wisconsin’s Department of Health Services reported a record day of new COVID-19 cases and related deaths in the state. According to Wisconsin Public Radio, the department reported 5,262 new cases for the day—nearly twice the number at the beginning of the month—and 64 deaths. State health officials described the situation as a “nightmare scenario.”
