To some, court pick justifies backing Trump
VANDALIA, Ohio – With President Donald Trump about to appoint a third justice to the U.S. Supreme Court, some conservative Christians say they are reaping the reward for supporting the controversial Republican in 2016.
“I think it’s extremely important that he gets a judge on there because of the abortion issue,” said Candace Pfeifer, 61, a worship leader at a non-denominational church that she declined to name.
“It’s a huge issue. We believe that’s not the woman’s body, that’s the body of another individual within her,” said Conley, who was with a group that traveled 60 miles from Washington Court House to hear Trump speak Monday night at the Dayton airport.
One of her companions on that journey was Linda Conley, 52, who homeschools her grandchildren. She said Trump is “making good on the promise that he picks conservative judges,” ones who share the same “family values” that she tries to instill in her grandchildren.
Tim Gleason, 58, of Sydney, was clear on the other side of the airplane hangar where Trump was about to speak, but the real estate company owner was on the same page: “I’d like to see another conservative on the court, and I’d like to see the court rule pro-life.”
His 23-year-old son, Grant, agrees, saying he likes Trump as a force for change — noting that many of his generation backed Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders for the same reason.
Trump said relatively little about his Supreme Court pick, other than to note it will be a woman and she will be nominated by this weekend. He spent more time attacking Democratic opponent Joe Biden and making highly dubious statements about the COVID-19 pandemic.
On the day before America surpassed 200,000 coronavirus deaths, the almost-totally barefaced Ohio crowd waiting to hear Trump booed the mere mention of masks and the Ohio governor who ordered them to be worn.
The president later asserted the coronavirus “affects virtually nobody. It’s an amazing thing.”
Despite the findings of scientists and medical experts, Trump said the young and the fit are virtually exempt from the disease.
“Now we know it affects elderly people,” Trump said. “Elderly people with heart problems and other problems. If they have other problems, that’s what it really affects. That’s it.”
Trump’s response to the coronavirus remains a major campaign issue, despite his attempts to shift the focus to Biden. The former vice president and other Democrats say while Trump could not have prevented the pandemic, his poor response led to tens of thousands of deaths and economic devastation.
Biden has not campaigned in Ohio since March. His wife, Jill Biden, will make an unspecified virtual appearance Friday.
Trump made campaign stops Monday at the airport in Vandalia, north of Dayton, and one in Swanton, which is near Toledo.
At the former, the shoulder-toshoulder crowd estimated at 2,000 booed loudly well before the president took the stage at Ohio Lt. Gov. Jon Husted’s mention of wearing masks — even though he was wearing one with a Trump logo.
The boos got louder when Husted mentioned GOP Gov. Mike Dewine, then hit a crescendo when Dewine himself was later introduced by Trump, with several in the audience crying out “RINO!” That stands for Republican In Name Only.
The Dewine administration’s health orders require masks and social distancing at public gatherings, but it has deemed political rallies and protests exempt under the First Amendment. Audience members did have their temperatures taken before being allowed inside.
Trump told the packed Dayton audience that “we’re rounding the corner” on COVID-19, and that “my plan is to crush the virus.”
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has taken issue with Trump’s assessment, as well as with the president’s promise of a vaccine soon.
“We will deliver a vaccine before the end of the year, but it could be a lot sooner than that,” Trump said. “It’s pretty sad that the Democrats are making this a political issue.”
The president added, “Biden will surrender to the virus just like he surrendered to China.”
That was just one in a barrage of mostly unsupported assertions and extreme claims about his Democratic opponent in a speech stretching just over an hour.
Trump also claimed that the Obama/ Biden administration killed coal jobs but that he has brought them back. However, the U.S. currently has more than 5,000 fewer coal mining jobs that when Trump took office.
Trump also spread more unsupported claims about voting by mail, calling it “a real affront to our democracy.” Trump said without evidence that Democrats are trying to commit fraud so the Nov. 3 election gets tied up in the courts, where they will try to prevail.
Trump’s event near Toledo was far different, with several thousand present and signs allowed.
About halfway through that rally, Trump called to the stage two Little Miami High School football players, Brady Williams and Jarad Bentley, who temporarily were suspended from school for carrying a “thin blue line” flag supporting police and a “thin red line” flag supporters firefighters and first responsders onto the football field before a game Sept. 11.
Trump said they have become even more popular than him. “You’re doing great, and everybody out here loves you,” the president told them
Later, the crowd cheered loudly when Trump claimed that “we brought back the Big Ten and Ohio State” football.
He lashed into Biden at the Toledo rally as well, saying the challenger would “destroy suburbia.”
“Suburban women, they love me. You know why? They want security and they don’t want projects being right next to their house. That’s OK.”
He also said, “Nobody has done what we’ve done . ... I am the only thing standing between you and chaos, OK?”
Trump visited Toledo in January for his first campaign stop of 2020.
Monday in Dayton, he repeated a falsehood from that speech early this year: that Ohio had its best year in state history last year.
Actually, the Buckeye State was one of the few in America that lost jobs in 2019 — the most since the Great Recession a decade earlier. drowland@dispatch.com @darreldrowland