United States: demonstrations against containment, a campaign strategy?

Text by: Achim Lippold Follow

The coronavirus crisis is severely hitting the United States, whose toll is now close to 50,000 dead. Despite the calls for caution, some states such as Texas, Vermont and Georgia have decided to reopen some of their businesses. In recent days, demonstrations have multiplied against containment, as in Pennsylvania or this Friday in Wisconsin. Far-right supporters have called for a rally outside the governor's seat in Madison, saying health security measures clash with basic rights of freedom. Corentin Sellin, associate professor of history, specialist in the United States and columnist on the lesjours.fr website analyzes these latest manifestations.

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RFI: Are these demonstrations spontaneous or do they pursue a particular political objective?

Corentin Sellin: It's the same questioning we had about the emergence of the Tea Party. Today, the American experts evoke two elements of answers. There were spontaneous calls on Facebook to protest against confinement as it would interfere with fundamental freedoms. But it must be said that these demonstrations are for the moment characterized by a very weak mobilization. In Texas, at a demonstration that was talked about a lot because of the presence of a conspirator, there were barely 300 people. What we observe, however, is a form of professionalization of these events thanks to digital platforms, with the support of radical conservative organizations funded by major donors. We are witnessing the creation of national movements that bring together all these local groups and demonstrators. It is a more political offensive which aims to target the democratic governors in particular in the states of Wisconsin and Michigan, two very important states in the presidential election of 2020. The governors took severe measures of containment and it is for these well-funded associations to weaken them, it is a medium-term political objective which therefore goes beyond the coronavirus crisis.

And what impact can these gatherings have?

In Minnesota, Governor Tim Walz backed off a bit by easing containment. But I insist on the two states, Wisconsin and Minnesota. Certainly the governors are democrats, but the assemblies are republican. And in Michigan, the Conservative Parliament could vote to lessen the power of the governor. A sort of constitutional coup, supported by demonstrators. The goal is to delegitimize on the one hand these democratic governors (who were elected in the wave of mid-term elections in 2018) and on the other hand to re-mobilize all this conservative electoral base as the Tea Party was able do it 10 years ago. The coronavirus serves as a tool, a lever for popular mobilization in these key states whose victory for Donald Trump in 2016 was played out, it should be remembered, with a few thousand votes. It is therefore very important to be able to count on a radical conservative electorate heated up to white. And that is the aim of these demonstrations.

Events that are currently localized. Can they converge on a national conservative movement?

The ambition is certainly to make a sort of Tea Party bis. But for the moment we are still far from it. According to a CBS poll, it doesn't work. Even Republican voters discourage Donald Trump from supporting these protests. And it must also be said that containment measures are very popular, including within the Republican electorate. For the moment, one would be tempted to say that these demonstrations "make pschitt". So the ambition is certainly to make all these events a big national movement but for the moment, it is far from being successful.

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