Twitter was blowing up Friday, April 17, after President Donald Trump seemed to encourage American citizens to protest stay-at-home orders put in place to reduce the spread of Coronavirus. Just one day after the commander in chief announced plans to begin reopening the U.S. economy, he sent a series of tweets telling at least three states with Democratic governors to “liberate” themselves.

“LIBERATE MINNESOTA!” the president tweeted, then “LIBERATE MICHIGAN!” For Virginia, the Donald had a stronger message: “LIBERATE VIRGINIA, and save your great 2nd Amendment. It is under siege!” The Old Dominion has been battling gun control laws, and Trump made it clear he wants citizens to continue to fight for their Second Amendment rights.

State capitals are being besieged by citizens tired of stocking up on toilet paper, binging on Netflix, and waiting to go back to work. While governors try to decide when to reopen their states and how long to keep nonessential businesses closed, their constituents are fed up and demanding at least an ease on the restrictions. And it appears the president whole-heartedly agrees.

Liberty Nation’s Graham J. Noble covered Trump’s March 16 announcement on the reopening of America. He wrote:

“The president began Thursday’s press briefing with good news regarding the spread of Coronavirus. ‘Our experts say the curve has flattened and the peak in new cases is behind us,’ he told reporters. ‘Nationwide, more than 850 counties or nearly 30% of our country have reported no new cases in the last seven days.’”

With the economy tanking, millions of Americans seeking unemployment, small businesses folding, and social distancing making it difficult to actively campaign, Trump reached out to three swing states with his tweets. Although he won Michigan in 2016, he still needs to persuade voters to re-elect him. Minnesota hasn’t backed a Republican president in years, and Virginia is going to be a tough win. Could his calls to liberate those particular states be a campaign strategy aimed at gaining support of those fed up with the COVID-19 quarantine?

Twitter commenters were both pleased and enraged with the president’s tweets. “Oh, cool,” wrote one commenter. “A pandemic wasn’t enough, now he’s trying to incite a civil war.” Another disagreed, saying, “Best fighter in the White House ever. Who is with me?!”

The stay-at-home protests are not surprising. What is surprising is that it took this long before Americans got tired of government restrictions. That Trump would want the U.S. to get back to normal as quickly as possible should be no shock either. Before COVID-19 pandemic, America had been prospering unlike anything we’ve seen for years. Then, suddenly, all the president’s hard work appeared to collapse overnight. Perhaps encouraging citizens to protest governors who are dragging their feet in reopening their states is one more step towards getting back to normal.

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Read more by Kelli Ballard.

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