What is Donald Trump playing by pressing for a rapid resumption of sports?

• Donald Trump said Tuesday that he wants to see sports resume in America as soon as possible. 
• Its goal is to see the economy recover, but not only. 
• He uses this subject to send messages to voters in view of the presidential election next November. 

The shock of the heavyweights. While the United States recorded a dark record on Wednesday with nearly 2,600 additional deaths from the Covid-19 in 24 hours, President Donald Trump has engaged in a battle with the bosses of the behemoths of US sport (NBA, NFL, NHL, MLB, MLS, etc.) to encourage them to resume as quickly as possible. And with the audience, please.

"Our sports have to start again," he said on Tuesday, saying he is "tired of watching reruns of 14-year-old baseball games." "We want them to come back quickly, very quickly, and for people to sit next to each other," he added. The fans want to come back, too. They want to see basketball, baseball, football and hockey. They want to see their sports. "

No power over Leagues

The American president had already expressed this wish to the bosses of professional leagues and other federations during a conference call on April 4. Obviously, it is not up to him to decide. The Leagues are private entities. Adam Silver for basketball, Gary Bettman for hockey and Rob Manfred, for baseball, took care of reminding him. "The ideas that will materialize [for the recovery] will depend on the restrictive directives and the public health situation," he said.

In the midst of all this, the director of the American Institute of Infectious Diseases, Anthony Fauci, tries to be heard as best he can. Yet a member of the presidential crisis cell on the coronavirus, he is constantly beaten by Donald Trump, who seems to make fun of what he thinks. Fauci gives it back. Barely more than 24 hours after POTUS 'speech, he drew to explain that sport could only regain its rights in camera.

Trump's ambiguous game with Dr Fauci, star of his "task force" https://t.co/Cijw3rdiop

The only viable method, he said, “No one comes to the stadium. Put athletes in big hotels, wherever you want to play. Continue to monitor them closely, test them almost every week, check that they do not end up contaminating each other or that they do not contaminate their families and let them finish the season, "he said. in the "Good Luck America" ​​program, broadcast on Snapchat.

Not sure it moves more than that Donald Trump. In reality, this interference by the president in the sports sphere, the weight of which he discovered only once he arrived at the White House, is just interested. Marie-Cécile Naves, political scientist and specialist in socio-political issues of sport in the United States, explains everything.

"There is a triple issue for Donald Trump on this subject:

• The first is economical. He absolutely wants the economy to leave as soon as possible, and obviously sport represents enormous economic issues, with advertisers, organizers, ticketing, television channels, etc.
• The second is electoral. Sport has this characteristic of addressing all social strata. This allows him to send the message to the entire population that he is busy with the subject and that he is not letting go of things.
• This brings us to the third issue, which is that of leadership. He wants to show, even if he does not have this power, that he can demand that things change. It allows him, thanks to this subject, to go against the advice of the governors who do not have the same political color. It allows him to assert his opposition. "

In summary, Donald Trump "instrumentalizes sport, in defiance of health security", observes the researcher associated with the Institute of International and Strategic Relations (IRIS). This is even the icing on the cheese cake. “He intends to show that he controls things that he does not control at all on the coronavirus. And that allows him to display his distrust vis-à-vis the scientific authorities. With the viewfinder, still, the presidential election of November 3 next. The process is not new, but the businessman does not hesitate to push the plug as far as possible.

Coronavirus threatens Donald Trump's chances of re-election? https://t.co/TeZAzIMHVR

Behind him, his soldiers follow him without complaining. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis - the man who taught his little girl how to build a wall out of foam bricks and dressed her up with “Make America Great Again” pajamas, as Rolling Stone reported in 2018 - , issued a decree at the end of last week registering professional sports as one of the "essential services" in his state, in the same way as hospitals, firefighters and grocers.

World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), the main organizer of wrestling events, has stepped into the breach by organizing fights on Monday. Other sports, such as the Ultimate Fighting Championship, which has a base in Florida, may soon follow.

Sports competitions "should be one of the last things to take back"

Opposite, the rebellion is organized. California Governor Gavin Newsom politely declared that resumption of the sport in the presence of spectators this summer in his state was "unlikely." Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti said his city may not host large gatherings until next year. His New York counterpart, Bill de Blasio, was a little more incisive in saying that sports competitions (and concerts) "should be one of the last things to resume".

What do these three men have in common? All Democrats, of course. In the United States, would the management of the crisis have been the same if this pandemic had not fallen a few months before the presidential election? You have four hours.

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• Donald trump
• United States
• Coronavirus
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