Trump’s campaign rally in Georgia saw him doing the opposite of his job

Analysis: Instead of rallying the country together, the president appeared at a rally with the specific intent of stoking division

The next few months, with the coronavirus again spreading like wildfire, will be the “worst event that this country will face, not just from a public health side,” Deborah Birx said in her first major break from her boss.

The White House coronavirus task force member delivered that bleak assessment on Sunday during an appearance on “Meet the Press.”

“Yet, we know what behaviours spread the virus and we know how to change those behaviours to stop spreading the virus,” she added.

The latter includes wearing masks and putting plenty of distance between oneself and others, according to health experts. If only there was one person elected by the entire country to help persuade more Americans to practice these mitigation steps 10 months into the pandemic.

That person should be the president of the United States.

But Donald Trump has never fully filled the roles of uniter or health official-in-chief. In fact, with more than a month to go till his inauguration, president-elect Joe Biden is increasingly becoming the leading voice on Birx’s warning, as recently as Friday saying mask-wearing should not be a political issue that further divides red and blue America.

No, Mr Trump is not about to change course. He needs his anti-mask base of conservative Americans to both continue pouring millions into his post-presidency coffers and stand by him should he decide to run again in 2024.

That’s why he jetted to Georgia on Saturday night for a campaign rally ostensibly meant to boost two embattled GOP senators, David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, both struggling in their 5 January runoff races.

As always, Mr Trump spent most of his time on stage complaining about his loss to Mr Biden and uttering falsehood after falsehood, and unsupported allegation after unsupported allegation. Check out 17 of his most eyebrow-raising statements from his first rally since Election Day here.

Official Washington, for some reason, reacted predictably. Democratic lawmakers and former officials tweeted this or that about how Mr Trump is ignoring the spread of a deadly respiratory disease and focusing solely on his grievances.

Media outlets did, too, with headlines like this one: “Of Course Trump Made Georgia Rally All About Himself.”

What did folks expect? Donald Trump is Donald Trump. He is who he is, and he’s not going to change before his term ends on 20 January. The remainder of his presidency will continue to revolve around his so-called “legal fight” to overturn the election – which in fact appears to be just as much about raising hundreds of millions of dollars – before he takes up permanent residence at his South Florida resort.

That leaves Mr Biden to fill the void. He will continue doing so this week when he announces his top health advisers – a team that will help determine whether 2021 will see the country finally escape the clutches of the coronavirus, or simply become all the more paralysed and divided by it.