Coronavirus: Trump hosts big July 4 celebrations as officials call for restrictions

While public health officials are urging Americans to avoid large crowds and hold more muted Independence Day celebrations amid a spike of coronavirus cases, President Donald Trump is going big for what he is promising will be a “special evening” in the nation’s capital.

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Trump is set hold his “Salute for America” celebration Saturday with a speech from the White House South Lawn that he says will celebrate American heritage, a military flyover over Washington, and an enormous fireworks display that is expected to draw thousands to the National Mall.

The celebration comes one day after Trump kicked off the holiday weekend by travelling to Mt. Rushmore for a fireworks display near the iconic mountain carvings George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt.

The president delivered a fiery speech in which he accused protesters who have pushed for racial justice of engaging in a “merciless campaign to wipe out our history.”

US President Trump and first lady Melania Trump attend South Dakota's US Independence Day Mount Rushmore fireworks celebrations at Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota. (Reuters)

Trump is taking part in the big gatherings even as many communities have decided to scrap fireworks, parades and other holiday traditions to try to prevent further spread of the virus that they fear could spurred by large holiday gatherings.

Still, Trump insisted on moving forward on holding big gatherings — including the Mt. Rushmore event for which South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, a Trump ally, insisted social distancing wasn’t necessary and masks were optional. Trump spent little time in his Mt. Rushmore address reflecting on pandemic, which has killed more than 129,000 Americans.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cautions that mass gatherings like the one scheduled for Washington present a high risk for spread of the virus.

Trump has been aching to see the nation return to normalcy and has been willing to push the envelope further than many state and big city mayors are willing to go.

Last month, he held his first campaign rally since early March in Tulsa, Okla.

Days later, he addressed a packed megachurch for a Students for Trump event in Arizona. Few attendees at either event wore masks.

Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser, who said she didn’t have the right to shut down the holiday spectacle because it’s on federal land, warned the federal government about the obvious dangers of such a large crowd. On Friday, she urged the city’s residents to be smart about how they spend the holiday.

“Just because someone invites you to a party doesn’t mean you have to go,” Bowser tweeted Friday.

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