President Trump knocks Democratic governors for keeping states closed amid coronavirus pandemic
Trump visits Ford plant in the swing state of Michigan; reaction and analysis on 'The Five.'
"The Five" co-host Jesse Watters pushed back Thursday against Democrats critical of President Trump's visit to a Ford Motor Company plant in Michigan, arguing that he has to personally tell the story of the "great American comeback."
"We are transitioning to greatness," Watters said. "If you have Air Force One, you can tell a great story. Now he is going to Michigan and the story is the great American comeback. He's the only one telling it nationally."
TRUMP HITS SWING STATES IN CORONAVIRUS LIMBO
The trip was the latest stop on a tour the president kicked off earlier this month to thank businesses producing personal protectice equipment (PPE) and important medical equipment. Trump made similar stops at a medical equipment distributor in Pennsylvania last week. Two weeks ago, he visited a facility in Arizona that is manufacturing surgical masks.
The visits also help Trump spotlight his administration’s efforts in steering the federal response to the coronavirus pandemic, and have allowed him to make visits to – and grab plenty of local media attention in – some of the crucial battleground states in November’s presidential election.
While the White House says the visits are official in nature and there’s absolutely “no involvement or coordination” with Trump’s reelection team, they do have some of the trappings of the Trump campaign rallies that the president seeks to soon resume. And that’s led critics to accuse the president of “wasting taxpayer dollars."
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Watters said Trump's visits paints a stark contrast between his administration's effort to reopen the economy, and Democratic governors who are championing the extended lockdowns.
"Right now it, it seems like all the Democrats are on the sidelines and the ones that are speaking up want to own the lockdown, they don't want to own the comeback," Watters said.
"When he [Trump] goes to places like this, he is setting up great contrasts for himself [with] these lockdown governors, whether it's [Virginia] Gov. [Ralph] Northam, Gov. [Gretchen] Whitmer in Michigan ... doesn't matter. It's a great contrast for him and he's winning that contrast."
Fox News' Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.
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