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Legend has it that the ostrich, the large, flightless-but-fleet-footed African bird, will bury its head in the sand to avoid danger. While the legend has no basis in fact, it does provide a useful metaphor to describe certain of the President’s remarks at his poorly-attended Tulsa rally. During a meandering speech, he at one point describes his administration’s approach to the coronavirus pandemic, touting both the success and the problem of testing:

“And with testing, you know, testing is a double edged sword. We’ve tested now 25 million people. It’s probably 20 million people more than anybody else... Here’s the bad part. When you do testing to that extent, you’re going to find more people, you’re going to find more cases. So I said to my people, slow the testing down, please.”

Trump obviously believes that, if you do not test and find more infected persons, the problem cannot be that bad-  Just like the toddler who covers his eyes with his hands and says “you can’t see me”. Without the actual facts- the number of cases, the number of hospitalizations, the number of deaths-  he pretends he has been successful in battling the contagion. No need to do all the testing and contact tracing, to ask people to wear masks, to avoid large gatherings, to socially distance. What is important is that we open up the country, relax restrictions and get the economy going. If our leaders continue to ask people to make those sacrifices in the service of public health, to endure the ongoing crisis, they may start believing that those leaders are failing them. 

Trump knows this. He has known it since the beginning of the crisis. In early March, as his administration stumbled through developing a cohesive response to the spread of the virus, he was asked if passengers on the Grand Princess, a cruise ship anchored near San Francisco, some of whom had been exposed to the virus, should be brought ashore. 

“I’d rather have the people stay... I would rather because I like the numbers being where they are,” Trump said. “I don't need to have the numbers double because of one ship that wasn't our fault.”

Within a week, as the worldwide extent of the coronavirus became known, Trump’s ostrich-like approach of burying his head in the sand made assertions minimizing the crisis sound hollow and downright ridiculous. The stock market crashed and seemed headed into free fall. Unemployment numbers rocketed upwards. His plan to run for re-election on the back of a robust economy was evaporating.

With the undeniable reality the crisis was overwhelming the public health system, Trump, in a truly Orwellian move, switched gears and declared war on the “invisible enemy”, stating he regarded himself as a “wartime President”. He began showing up at the daily White House briefings given by the White House Coronavirus Task Force to provide updates on the progress of the “war”. Not unexpectedly, he took advantage of the mini-bully pulpit to transform the updates into campaign speeches, touting his record and overshadowing scientists such as Dr. Anthony Fauci. 

He was a stationary target and the media jumped on the opportunity. His bizarre claims- like treating patients by introducing disinfectants or powerful light internally- opened him up to ridicule. Unable to answer straight-forward questions from the press, he lashed out at the reporters asking the questions. These were not the adoring rally audiences he was accustomed to. The daily portrayals of self-aggrandizement and grievance began to impact his poll numbers. His staff worried he was damaging his re-election campaign.

By the end of April, he was tired of playing pretend wartime President. Changing horses in midstream again, his focus became “opening up the country”, getting people back to work, making the economy once again the focus of his efforts. Covid-19 was disappearing in his rear view mirror even as public health officials cautioned about returning to "normal" precipitously. 

As states began to loosen the restrictions that had proved to be effective in slowing the rate of the virus’ spread, the not-unexpected happened: The infection rate began to accelerate again. By circumstance, the Trump campaign staff had decided to reboot the campaign with a large rally in Tulsa, a city in the midst of a rapid increase in the number of Covid-19 cases and street protests associated with the nationwide demonstrations against police violence and racial inequality. 

With the BOK Arena less than one-third full, Trump reverted to the only approach he knew when it came to the pandemic- he put his head in the sand and became an ostrich.

The funny thing about reality is that even if you don’t see it, it’s still there. There’s a good chance that a sizable number of the 12,800 persons who chose not to attend Saturday’s rally were intent on keeping their heads- and the rest of their bodies- above ground.