Trump repeatedly tweets about 'liberating' midwestern states

Protesters outside Michigan's statehouse.
(Image credit: JEFF KOWALSKY/AFP via Getty Images)

President Trump is endorsing a little bit of anarchy to start the weekend.

On Friday, Trump sent out repeated tweets calling to "liberate" some states, seemingly in support of protesters demanding their governors reopen businesses and restart the economy. "Liberate Michigan!", "Liberate Minnesota!," and "Liberate Virginia, and save your great 2nd Amendment. It is under siege!" Trump said in three separate Friday tweets with liberal all-caps usage. The tweets came just minutes after Fox News covered protests outside the Minnesota governor's office.

Trump's tweets seem to support an immediate return to normalcy for those states, but as a recent Pew Research study shows, that's the opposite of what two-thirds of Americans want. According to the study released Wednesday, 66 percent of Americans say they're afraid state governments will lift COVID-19 restrictions too soon, as opposed to 32 percent who worry they won't be lifted soon enough.

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Experts also warn returning to normalcy without doubling or tripling testing coronavirus capacity would cause a dangerous surge in disease spread and perhaps make previous social distancing efforts worthless.

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Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.