Covid-19 Versus Donald Trump
“I like the way I look in them”- Donald Trump
Script: The coronavirus pandemic has taken our world by storm, killing over a million people worldwide, with 44 million infected. Our country alone that is being run and delegated by Donald Trump has faced over 200,000 deaths, and almost 9 million cases. The one tool that has been useful in slowing down the rise of cases is wearing a mask. Masks have been proven to slow the spread of the virus and protect others in case you are infected, and stop the transmission to others. We all want to be healthy, and assure that our family’s and elders remain safe. Being cautious about this virus and wearing a simple mask can save lives, but everyone needs to participate in order for it to effective.
Next up is a meme that portrays how Trump not supporting mask wearing has affected our country. This propaganda is beneficial because it shows the public what the results are if you do not wear face protection or be cautious. Trump’s refusal to set an example for America by simply not wearing a face mask and ignoring the evidence behind it has led to an increase of cases as well as being one of the most “effective ways to slow Americas coronavirus pandemic” (CNN)
Our president who is to be setting an example for our country and supposed to be leading us to success does not believe in the mask wearing policy and continues to claim that “he likes masks” and he thinks “he looks good in them” but still does not wear one all the time.
There are countless times where Trump is not wearing a mask in public settings where he is putting others in the room at risk. With such a large fan base and die-hard supporters Trump has set an example for them to also not wear masks, putting our entire country at risk. As you can see in the images on the screen, Trump is seen in various situations where he is not wearing face protection, but the people around him are.
We need to come together as we once were and fight for our country’s health and well-being. Following the directions of someone who has done nothing to keep our country safe is not the route to follow. Wear a mask and follow to the rule for the safety and health of yourself and loved ones, not just to please the public or as Trump says, “Look nice”.
Short Essay Explanation:
When selecting the example of harmful propaganda, I wanted to make sure that it was strong enough to grab the reader’s attention and allow them to rationalize with the reasonings behind it. This particular meme that was chosen to represent the propaganda it is able to represent a timeline for this pandemic that has destroyed our country, and also a timeline for how OUR president has handled the situation.
In the first section of the meme it discusses Donald Trump’s views on masks in the early stages of COVID-19. He expresses that he does not want to participate in wearing them because it makes him look weak and the virus will vanish anyways. This statement is followed by an image of him laughing and smirking, which matches the tone and expression in which he spoke above. This statement causes an uproar in our country because of the loyal following Trump has, which has led to those people also not wearing the one form of protection that is proven to help. Next, we fast forward into a few months later where 100,000 people have died in the hands of this virus and also after following the instructions of the president. Lastly the meme ends with the president claiming that he enjoys masks, and he wears them all the time, followed with an image of a mask across his face. This propaganda is so harmful because it was able to show who our president is and how his actions, or the actions he did not take have been detrimental to our country.
When working through the creative process it was very simple to locate propaganda that involved Donald Trump and his opinions on wearing a mask because it has been seen through time that he does not believe in it and what the results have been due to his opinions. It is seen that Trump’s supporters value his opinion so highly that they truly believe that the virus is not real and that is it is just a ploy to take down the United States. Choosing this meme for my propaganda allowed me to locate many other useful sources including images, videos, and articles that pertained to the topic that I chose. When creating my voice over I used screencastify because I was familiar with the platform. I was able to successfully create my video after a few tries as I seemed to struggle with the time limit set to 3–4 minutes as well as fully gathering my thoughts and not tripping over my words. I enjoyed the process of creating this project because I was able to express my opinions and thoughts as well as project harmful propaganda to an audience of people and explain my rationale. Although I had a few struggles in the beginning stages of this project it felt exhilarating to be able to break through and create something that can hopefully influence people to be more aware of their surroundings and what is going on in our country. I wanted to have a voice and make it prominent that not wearing a mask is extremely detrimental to our country and will do nothing but harm. I wanted to be able to show a dark side but still show the audience that we can come together as a country and we do not need to follow the opinions of someone who does not have the countries best interest at heart. We will fight together and bring our country to the place it once was, and we will do this by being safe and considerate of those around us and the situations they are in.
Works Cited:
“Trump Supporter on Not Wearing a Mask: It’s a Fake Pandemic — CNN Video.” CNN, Cable News Network, 11 Sept. 2020, www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2020/09/11/trump-rally-attendees-michigan-ctn-vpx.cnn.
Collinson, Stephen. “Trump’s Anti-Mask Crusade Is Coming Back to Bite Him.” CNN, Cable News Network, 2 July 2020, www.cnn.com/2020/07/02/politics/donald-trump-coronavirus-masks-politics-joe-biden-election-2020/index.html.
Sopel, Jon. “Coronavirus: From ‘We’ve Shut It down’ to 100,000 US Dead.” BBC News, BBC, 27 May 2020, www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52775216.
Shafer, Jack. “Opinion: Give Trump All the Rallies He Wants.” POLITICO, POLITICO, 19 May 2020, www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/05/19/trump-coronavirus-rally-open-up-lock-down-hydroxychloroquine-266476.
“Politics ‘ Trump in Mask Meme Memes & GIFs.” Imgflip, imgflip.com/m/politics/tag/trump in mask meme.