New protests against the containment measures took place in Pennsylvania and Tennessee on Monday. In Harrisburg and Nashville, the capitals of these two states, thousands of demonstrators gathered in front of the capitols to denounce measures according to them both liberticide and dangerous for the economy.
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Several similar protests had already taken place over the weekend in several states, including Ohio, Michigan, Virginia, Minnesota, Texas, Florida, Colorado and Illinois.
In Washington state, on the Pacific coast, where the first case of Covid-19 infection was recorded last January, and the first deaths in February, protesters asked Governor Jay Inslee to lift measures social restrictions. Their gathering was called "There are dangers in freedom, let's defend the constitution".
Media magnifying glass effect
In Denver, Colorado, protesters protested while driving their cars. Some nurses working in the hospitals where the patients of Covid-19 are treated symbolically blocked the way to these protesters in order to remind them of the lethality of the virus. On a video widely shared online, a protester yelled from her vehicle against one of these nurses: "Go to China if you want communism!" .
The slogan Go to China (#GoToChina) has since flourished on social networks as a rallying signal for a movement that continues to gain momentum.
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Gathering a few thousand people, and therefore quite marginal by their number, but with the effect multiplied by television and social networks, these movements have had a huge impact across the United States where the health crisis has become largely a subject of political debate.
Go to China if you want communism!
A protester against containment in the United StatesThese protests have received support from Donald Trump. The American president, who since the beginning of the health crisis let the states take at their level the measures which they consider necessary, as envisaged besides by the American constitution, supported last Friday the first demonstrations by calling via messages on Twitter to "liberate" three Democratic states: Michigan, Virginia and Minnesota. On Sunday, he accused some states of having imposed excessive restrictions.
"Some governors have gone too far," said Trump in his press conference, "some actions were probably not necessary." Trump cited two Democratic governors: Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer, who is frequently the target of presidential ire, especially since his name has been circulated as Joe Biden's possible co-listener for the Democratic presidential bid. next November, and Ralph Northam, Governor of Virginia.