Trump Declares Churches ‘Essential,’ Calls on Them to Reopen
Evan Vucci/AP
We ran the numbers: There are 1554 news articles covering this topic. 27% (421) are left leaning, 53% (825) center, 20% (308) right leaning.
On Friday, President Donald Trump labeled churches and other houses of workshop as “essential,” and asked governors to let them reopen this weekend. While left-leaning articles highlight Trump’s appeal to conservative religious voters despite rarely going to church, right-leaning articles highlight Trump’s argument that if liquor stores and abortion clinics are deemed “essential” by some states, so should churches.
The New York Times published a left-leaning article highlighting that Trump has always been an unlikely champion of evangelicals and conservative religious voters, despite the fact that he rarely goes to church and displays only passing familiarity with the Bible. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also released nonbinding guidelines for places of worship to reopen while still advising them to act “in accordance with the guidance and directives of state and local authorities.”
A centrist article by Associated Press News highlights that while Trump threatened to “override” governors who defy him, it was unclear what authority he has to do so. Recently, churches around the country have filed legal challenges opposing virus closures, as many religious leaders said they would defy the governor’s ban and resume worship services.
New York Post published a right-leaning article reporting that Trump argued that governors have deemed liquor stores and abortion clinics essential but have left out churches and other houses of worship. Trump reiterated that he plans to take “a very strong position” on church reopenings as the country struggles to deal with the coronavirus pandemic.