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President Donald Trump accused media outlets of throwing a wrench in his proposal to have the economy up and running by Easter, saying they’re doing so to hurt his chances at reelection.

“The LameStream Media is the dominant force in trying to get me to keep our Country closed as long as possible in the hope that it will be detrimental to my election success,” the president tweeted.

He added: “The real people want to get back to work ASAP. We will be stronger than ever before!”

The LameStream Media is the dominant force in trying to get me to keep our Country closed as long as possible in the hope that it will be detrimental to my election success. The real people want to get back to work ASAP. We will be stronger than ever before! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 25, 2020

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The president has continued to argue that the economy should reopen by Easter, contrary to the warnings from economists and health experts alike who say the novel coronavirus pandemic will cost the United States even more human lives.

“Our country wasn’t built to be shut down,” Trump said during a briefing at the White House this week. “America will, again, and soon, be open for business. Very soon. A lot sooner than three or four months that somebody was suggesting. Lot sooner. We cannot let the cure be worse than the problem itself.”

“It’s such an important day for other reasons, but I’ll make it an important day for this, too,” he added from the White House Rose Garden. “I would love to have the country opened up and just raring to go by Easter.”

Criticism soon rained down on the president, who has continued to attack media outlets even as his capacity for leadership is questioned.

No, the President of the United States is the dominant force trying to open up the country on Easter Sunday so we can “have packed churches all over our country” in the middle of the worst pandemic in modern history—all so he can prop up the Dow Jones and his re-election chances. — Eugene Gu, MD (@eugenegu) March 25, 2020

Translation: Trump is more worried about his poll numbers than your lives. — Nick Jack Pappas (@Pappiness) March 25, 2020

S.Korea flattened its curve & had a 0.7% death rate WITHOUT shutting down their economy. The Great Depression that will ensue if we continue on this path will kill hundreds of millions of lives. 7 million died from starvation alone in 1929 — Melissa A. (@TheRightMelissa) March 25, 2020

President Trump admits that every decision he is making in this ongoing crisis is first about his personal wealth then his power (reelection). Does he consider the health and safety of the 325 million people in the US? Clearly not. — David Rothschild (@DavMicRot) March 25, 2020

Although the president’s approval rating has enjoyed a slight bump amid the pandemic, “the short-term gains, reflecting a possible rally-around-the-flag effect at the time of national emergency, may not hold,” as FiveThirtyEight points out.

The Washington Post reports that the president “is fixated on the economy—alarmed by the effects of the coronavirus so far and concerned about the impact of long-term contraction and surging unemployment on his reelection chances in November.”