Trump exults in rocket launch as chaos unfolds around the country
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — On a day of chaos across the country, President Donald Trump and his top aides orchestrated a brief escape from their problems on the ground.
Eager to recapture the nation’s attention with the momentous launch of NASA’s SpaceX capsule — the first attempt to send American astronauts into space from U.S. soil in almost a decade — the president made his second trip to the Kennedy Space Center in a week after the initial launch was postponed on Wednesday. The historic feat offered Trump the patriotic backdrop he’s been yearning for — on the heels of troubling developments this week surrounding the deadly coronavirus outbreak and the killing of George Floyd, a 43-year-old African American man who died in the custody of police in Minneapolis.
“We suffered something that was terrible,” Trump said, speaking from the rooftop of a building on the Kennedy Space Center campus moments after the rocket took off around 3:24 p.m. ET. “That’s one of the reasons why I wanted to be here today, and I think any one of you would say that was an inspiration to see what we just saw.”
The building rattled as the Falcon 9 rocket blasted off into orbit over crowds of onlookers gathered at nearby beaches beneath the hot Florida sun. And the president joined an entourage of Republican lawmakers and Cabinet secretaries in cheers and applause. No more than a minute after blastoff, Elton John’s 1972 hit “Rocket Man” — a staple of the president’s campaign rallies — flowed out of speakers on the rooftop.
“They have a long way to go, but that’s a very dangerous part of it there,” Trump said of the two NASA astronauts aboard the capsule, Douglas Hurley and Robert Behnken. “When you see a sight like that, it’s incredible. When you hear that sound — the roar — you can imagine how dangerous it is.”
The president described the mission as an “inspiration” for Americans at a time when the country has been ravaged by Covid-19 and faces a once-in-a-generation economic disaster. The number of coronavirus-related deaths in the U.S. topped 100,000 earlier this week, a grim milestone that overlapped with the outbreak of violent protests in response to Floyd’s death, which began in Minneapolis Thursday night and spread to other parts of the country late Friday.
Trump cast the successful launch on Saturday as a triumphant moment for the country – one that showcases American might and the powerful capabilities of public-private partnerships. The mission marked a first for corporate-driven space exploration, the result of a collaboration between tech billionaire Elon Musk’s SpaceX company and NASA.
As Trump made his way to Florida, where stormy forecasts initially threatened to postpone the rocket launch a second time, his attorney general was left to respond to the protests that erupted overnight in response to Floyd’s killing, including outside the White House complex.
"Unfortunately, with the rioting that is occurring in many of our cities around the country, the voices of peaceful protests are being hijacked by violent radical elements," Barr said.
Prior to leaving Washington Saturday, Trump warned demonstrators in a tweet that they would face “vicious dogs” if they breached the White House fence. He thanked U.S. Secret Service personnel for controlling the “antifa and radical left” demonstrators. He also said he looked forward to seeing his supporters gather outside the White House Saturday evening, as part of a planned counter-protest.