It started with these tweets this morning:

….It is the decision of the President, and for many good reasons. With that being said, the Administration and I are working closely with the Governors, and this will continue. A decision by me, in conjunction with the Governors and input from others, will be made shortly!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 13, 2020

Then boy did he just dig the deepest constitutional hole in the world with this one.

TRUMP: "When somebody is the president of the United States, the authority is total. And that's the way it's gotta be. It's total." pic.twitter.com/zIuiBn1Mhw

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 13, 2020

Lady reporter kept asking him, “Who told you that? That’s not true.”

Then Pence took the podium, was asked if that’s what he thought too, and cited the “national emergency.”

Mostly they were just bullshitting. They’re not going to try to order the governors to obey any lifting of the lockdowns. But it does go to show how easy it is for them to reach for such framing.

(It was hilarious to see liberal-media boy in the audience immediately invoke the 10th Amendment against Trump, who just shrugged it off. Jeez, what do you support slavery now too?!)