Laura Ingraham: At some point Trump needs to tell Fauci and Birx that we’re reopening on May 1

The dirty little secret about Fauci s visibility lately is that he now commands enough of an audience nationally that Trump might struggle to convince even many Republicans that it s safe to go back to work if Fauci didn t endorse the idea. He s followed a shrewd media strategy of appearing in unorthodox formats with big audiences like Barstool Sports podcast that Trump would never patronize in order to get the word out to as many cultural niches as possible that social distancing is essential. I don t think that was a political decision; it was a straightforward recognition of reality that if you have an urgent message to the entire country, a Fox & Friends interview isn t going to transmit it. The practical effect, though, is that he s now sufficiently well known and trusted that if Trump demanded resumption of business in regions with fewer cases and the science brain trust in the White House, led by Fauci, couldn t endorse it in good conscience, most Americans simply wouldn t heed Trump s request. And of course, because ultimately governors and mayors have authority over lockdowns, not the president, populous left-leaning states like New York and California would ignore Trump and follow their own health experts advice even if Fauci bit his tongue. All Trump can do, really, is lean on red-state governors to allow local businesses to take their chances in an economy that s destined to be sluggish for many months, especially near-term.

via hotair.com