President Trump’s massive campaign rallies led to more than 30,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases and likely caused the death of 700 Americans, a new study says.
The Stanford University paper released Friday took a close look at 18 Trump rallies between June and September and followed subjects “up to ten post-rally weeks for each event.”
“The communities in which Trump rallies took place paid a high price in terms of disease and death,” researchers concluded.
Rates of COVID-19 often rose notably in communities that hosted the events, compared with nearby towns where Trump stayed away, the study found.
“There are some indications that compliance with public health guidelines, such as the use of masks, improved at later rallies,” researchers wrote. “While it would be worth evaluating the diminution of treatment effects resulting from greater compliance, we currently lack sufficient compliance data to conduct that investigation.”
The Trump campaign has insisted that it offers participants masks and temperature checks at his rallies.
A Biden spokesman slammed the Trump rallies as “super spreader” events that violate common-sense public health rules.
Biden’s rallies have featured smaller invitation-only crowds, with more masks and social distancing.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.