2020 election: Trump to restart MAGA rallies despite risk crowds could spread coronavirus

President is keen to fire up base as polls show him falling behind Joe Biden

Donald Trump’s re-election campaign is preparing to hit the road again, and is planning to stage the president’s first large rallies in months within just a few weeks – even as coronavirus infections appear to rise or plateau in much of the US.

“Americans are ready to get back to action and so is President Trump,” campaign manager Brad Parscale said on Monday, in a statement to NPR. “The Great American Comeback is real and the rallies will be tremendous. You’ll again see the kind of crowds and enthusiasm that Sleepy Joe Biden can only dream of.”

It is as yet unclear exactly where or when the events will take place, or whether crowds will be expected to abide by strict social distancing or lockdown rules in states that have them in place.

Mr Trump has not held a rally since March. However, he finds himself increasingly lagging behind Joe Biden in almost every major poll, including in key swing states such as Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin. In fact, Mr Biden is polling noticeably ahead of Hillary Clinton’s numbers at this same point in the electoral cycle.

Meanwhile, with his preference for spectacular, large-scale events in mind, Mr Trump has been agitating to move the summer’s Republican National Convention away from its planned site in Charlotte, North Carolina after the state’s governor, Roy Cooper, insisted that the event abide by social distancing rules, with attendees required to wear masks.

The strictures so chafed with Mr Trump that he has now declared he is seeking another state in which to hold the convention – one that will not impose social distancing rules limiting the size of the crowd.

Mr Biden, meanwhile, has also not held rallies since before he clinched the Democratic nomination, and is now broadcasting from what has effectively become a home studio in his basement.

While some Democrats have worried that he and his team are failing to make the most of the “virtual campaign” enforced by the coronavirus outbreak, Mr Biden’s poll numbers and fundraising totals do not appear to have been negatively affected.