The coronavirus pandemic has put a pause on almost every aspect of life in the United States — including political rallies. But President Donald Trump’s team has reportedly been at work considering possible workarounds. One idea floated involves holding rallies at drive-in theaters around the country.
According to The Daily Beast, Trump’s team plans to pitch the idea to the president as early as next week.
“President Trump is a great campaigner,” Ed Brookover, a 2016 Trump advisor, told the outlet. “Finding new ways for him to connect directly with voters will be very beneficial to his campaign. Selecting drive-in theaters as a rally location makes perfect sense.”
An old-timey drive-in theater would certainly match with Trump’s “Make America Great Again” nostalgia. However, there are a number of issues with the plan, including the logistics of safely maintaining social distancing. Plus, there’s the fact that drive-in theaters just can’t hold as many people as the sports arenas Trump is used to filling. The 73-year-old Starlite Drive-In in Amelia has one screen and was limiting capacity to 300 cars during recent social distancing graduation ceremonies it hosted. The 60-plus-year old Holiday Auto Theatre in Oxford can hold 850 cars and also has one screen. (Although the number of fans in attendance at Trump rallies is a source of frequent debate, it’s probably more than either drive-in could safely handle.)
The proposal follows recent drive-in concerts, like the one announced by improvisational electronic music artist Marc Rebillet, believed to be the first such tour in the U.S.
This article appears in May 6 – Jun 14, 2020.
