Trump’s COVID Message, Despite 210,000 Dead Americans: Eh, Relax, People (UPDATE ADDED)
[guest post by Dana]
I will be leaving the great Walter Reed Medical Center today at 6:30 P.M. Feeling really good! Don’t be afraid of Covid. Don’t let it dominate your life. We have developed, under the Trump Administration, some really great drugs & knowledge. I feel better than I did 20 years ago!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 5, 2020
While I understand that Trump wants to project optimism and strength at this time, we remain, nonetheless, in a pandemic with no end in sight. And given that we aren’t children, it seems to me that if you are the President of the United States and currently have COVID and 210,000 Americans have died from the virus inside of a year on your watch, Americans want need to hear a realistic message reflecting the seriousness of the virus. This especially as the President is still well within the 14-day case rate.
Perhaps, though, the President hasn’t seen the poll numbers indicating that a majority of Americans believe he has mismanaged the pandemic and don’t believe what the White House is saying about his health:
With Trump hospitalized at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, 69% of Americans said they trusted little of what they heard from the White House about the President’s health, with only 12% saying they trusted almost all of it.
Disapproval of the President’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak stands at a new high in the survey, with 60% saying they disapprove. Additionally, 63% say his own infection is unlikely to change anything about the way that he handles the pandemic.
And that’s the thing: his own infection has not changed his views of the disease and its impact on Americans. I suppose it was foolish to think that it would. He remains as cavalier as ever, all the while seeming to not understand that, while he has top-notch medical care 24/7 available to him to address any concerns with immediacy, most Americans aren’t afforded that same luxury.
But as far as re-election goes and political strategies, it’s foolish for Trump to not even pretend that this experience has changed his views and caused him to take it more seriously. Given his high disapproval numbers, you would think that he would want to use this opportunity to try and increase his support by telling Americans that he will lead by example and practice social distancing measures, including hand-washing and masking-up when in close contact with people other than his immediate family, as well as make sure that all employees at the White House follow his lead, without exception. Instead, his almost-blasé attitude will only resonate with his like-minded base. The rest of America is more grounded in reality.
The view that Trump acted irresponsibly regarding the risk of coronavirus to others around him cuts across most demographic lines, and is particularly strong among several groups whose support could be critical to Trump’s re-election bid. Among women, 72% say Trump acted irresponsibly. That stands at 66% among those 65 and older as well as among independents, and 65% among Whites with college degrees. The President’s supporters (79%) and Republicans (76%) are about the only groups among which a majority say Trump acted responsibly…
There is agreement across party lines, though, that Trump’s diagnosis will not change the way he handles the pandemic. Most Democrats (70%), independents (59%) and Republicans (62%) agree on that.
The uptick in disapproval of Trump’s handling of coronavirus comes more among women (from 63% disapprove to 69%) than men (48% last month, 51% now), and among more people of color (from 65% to 73%) than Whites (52% then, 53% now), and has increased among seniors (from 57% to 62%) and those under age 35 (from 59% to 67%), while holding roughly steady among those between 35 and 64.
It doesn’t get much clearer than this:
ADDED: Here is Trump at the White House and taking off his mask for photos:
Here it is. The moment Trump (who has coronavirus) gets back to the White House, strips off his mask and poses for photos. !! pic.twitter.com/qjEWrVLPYC
— Ben Riley-Smith (@benrileysmith) October 5, 2020
UPDATE:
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 5, 2020
–Dana
Business as usual.
Dana (292df6) — 10/5/2020 @ 2:47 pmAnd he’s bad at business.
Colonel Klink (Ret) (1367c0) — 10/5/2020 @ 3:02 pmI don’t understand all the strum and drang over this tweet.
What’s so objectionable about it?
I mean, I don’t recall him saying that you don’t need to be masked, or don’t need to wash your hands or don’t need to practice social distancing.
Is it possible that your attributing the worst possible meaning due to your anti-Trump bias?
whembly (c30c83) — 10/5/2020 @ 3:05 pmA major reason the USA is doing poorly is we aren’t working together on things like masks and distancing, and the president should be a leader on that.
LOL thanks for your concern about bias.
Dustin (4237e0) — 10/5/2020 @ 3:14 pmMaybe Atlas has talked Trump into herd immunity, because they’re not contact-tracing…
This is malevolent. The Trump White House has the resources.
Paul Montagu (cbbfc4) — 10/5/2020 @ 3:18 pmC’mon! Have you ever seen a virus?!? They why are you so worried!
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 10/5/2020 @ 3:28 pmNone so blind as those who refuse to see…
Dave (1bb933) — 10/5/2020 @ 3:30 pmThe real problem is that the people who die are usually not the ones being irresponsible. Much like drunk driving, where the guy driving his Ford 350 the wrong way on the freeway is unharmed, but the family in the Prius doesn’t stand a chance.
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 10/5/2020 @ 3:31 pmPerhaps if there was a study to come out that says that Covid often leads to sterility and impotence people would take notice. Mere death doesn’t seem to scare them.
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 10/5/2020 @ 3:32 pmDespite almost daily disclosures of new coronavirus infections among President Trump’s close associates, the White House is making little effort to investigate the scope and source of its outbreak.
Trump may be afraid it was that bat that he, um, ate in China that was the start of it all.
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 10/5/2020 @ 3:34 pmmost Americans aren’t afforded that same luxury
For example, those “great drugs” are generally not available yet to the public but Trump was able to jump the line.
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 10/5/2020 @ 3:37 pmIf there is any workplace that could be sued for
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 10/5/2020 @ 3:37 pmnegligencerecklessness with the health and safety of employees, it would be the White House and the boss there, personally.BTW, for those that have been listening to me over the last forever, I’d like to announce that Trump has managed to do the impossible. I will now be voting for Biden/Harris.
Ufcking unbelievable.
I will vote for every R down-ballot, from Senate down to judge (partisan in this state), sheriff and dogcatcher. But I cannot in good conscience take any chance that my vote would the the vote that caused Trump to eke out a victory.
No mas!
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 10/5/2020 @ 3:43 pmThere’s a real thing with Dexamethasone, and all corticosteroids, called steroid euphoria (steroid-induced psychosis too), it’s also an immunosuppressant and anti-inflammatory. So it can make you feel better, and get sicker.
The total gamble they are taking is that the cocktails he’s getting, which as of today zero other people on the planet have received, will actually have some impact on the actual disease.
Of course he was always probably going to be fine, almost everyone is, this whole escapade just shows how stupid the entire administration is.
Colonel Klink (Ret) (1367c0) — 10/5/2020 @ 3:47 pmHe never had it. Not the First Lady, either. And likely not Cayleigh. It is all pure political campaign stunt.
nk (1d9030) — 10/5/2020 @ 3:47 pmAnybody driving a cuck hybrid deserves to die.
lurker (d8c5bc) — 10/5/2020 @ 3:57 pm“If you like your virus, you can keep your virus.”
Dave (1bb933) — 10/5/2020 @ 3:58 pmTrump, 2014:
lurker (d8c5bc) — 10/5/2020 @ 4:03 pmWelcome to the party, pal!
I feel your pain, because it’s my pain as well.
This man has victimized the entire country, and is determined to keep right on doing it.
He. Must. Be. Stopped.
Dave (1bb933) — 10/5/2020 @ 4:03 pmDon’t miss the Tapper vid. He’s spot-on.
Dana (292df6) — 10/5/2020 @ 4:04 pmIf there’s a silver lining to all the misery Trump is inflicting on those around him, those who serve him, and the country as a whole, I think this latest lunacy is likely to turn the election into a Biden landslide.
Dave (1bb933) — 10/5/2020 @ 4:06 pmThey don’t want anyone to know. Mega-church pastor, Greg Laurie, who hosts the Harvest Crusades at Angel Stadium and elsewhere during the summer (which are attended by mega-amounts of people) tested positive too. He was both at the Coney Barrett reception, unmasked, and prior to that, he was at the March on the National Mall with Mike Pence and Franklin Graham and thousands of others to pray for America. And dang, do we need it.
Dana (292df6) — 10/5/2020 @ 4:09 pmHere’s Trump a few minutes ago after just arriving (6 minutes before) back at the White House from being hospitalized for Covid.
I’m sure he’s wearing a mask and everything to protect all of those other suckers…I mean employees…at the White House, right? Right?
Colonel Klink (Ret) (1367c0) — 10/5/2020 @ 4:14 pmnk’s right, this mommytrucker never had it, we’ve all been had.
Colonel Klink (Ret) (1367c0) — 10/5/2020 @ 4:17 pmI think it’s a bad idea to trivialize his lunacy by pretending it’s just the usual dishonesty.
There *is* obviously a cover-up in progress in regard to the timing, and Dr. Upbeat is the point-man for it, probably the one who hid the first positive test(s) and then accidentally slipped and told the truth on Saturday.
If Trump never had it, they would have no problem telling us the last time he tested negative, since they could pick any test they wanted.
Dave (1bb933) — 10/5/2020 @ 4:32 pmI guess.
Also, if you watch the video, that guy’s panting like he ran a marathon, he just walked up the stairs.
Best case, I don’t know, Trump’s president, there is no best case. It’s idiocracy, the reality show.
Colonel Klink (Ret) (1367c0) — 10/5/2020 @ 4:35 pmIf Trump never had it, they would have no problem telling us the last time he tested negative, since they could pick any test they wanted.
They just couldn’t get their story straight, that’s all. Incompetence at everything defines the Trump White House.
nk (1d9030) — 10/5/2020 @ 4:37 pmIt’s only been five days, right? Six? They don’t even give dexamathasone until the seventh, when the disease is full-blown and anti-inflammation, anti-thrombosis, and anti-cytokine reaction are the concerns. Fake, fake, fake, all three ways. Diagnosis, treatment, recovery.
nk (1d9030) — 10/5/2020 @ 4:43 pmTapper has destroyed his credibility. Giving Jill Biden a pass on a grilling about Joe’s gaffes was the final straw. No Sam Donaldson he.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 10/5/2020 @ 4:47 pmThe Trump campaign is mocking Biden for wearing a mask… Today. How many millions of Americans think masks are a sign of weakness because of this nutty no mask campaign?
Dustin (4237e0) — 10/5/2020 @ 4:53 pmThe Bee nails it again:
Trump Adds ‘Black Lives Matter’ Sticker To SUV So Media Can’t Claim He’s Spreading COVID
https://babylonbee.com/news/outstanding-move-trump-adds-black-lives-matter-sticker-to-suv-so-media-cant-claim-hes-spreading-covid
harkin (7fb4c9) — 10/5/2020 @ 4:55 pm_
In my first job, the head of the firm (who, coincidentally, was related to Trump, actually rather closely), used to say that the number one danger for lawyers is that they start believing their own bulls–t.
Trump is now in that danger zone.
Bored Lawyer (7b72ec) — 10/5/2020 @ 4:56 pm@31
Maybe. But who is the bigger fool — someone who acts stupid because he does not know any better, or someone who knows better, but acts stupid anyway because the first guy did it?
Bored Lawyer (7b72ec) — 10/5/2020 @ 4:57 pmChili and white rice tonight– because Black women kept my grocery store shelves stocked!
Makes ‘ya Joe-proud, don’t it.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 10/5/2020 @ 5:06 pm…the consolation prize if they can no longer be on a box or approximated in bottle form
urbanleftbehind (fa9363) — 10/5/2020 @ 5:16 pmCornyn risking the same late night Cruz had in 2018: https://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_5f7b93bac5b6e5aba0ce8dd3
urbanleftbehind (fa9363) — 10/5/2020 @ 5:17 pmI had chili and white rice for lunch yesterday, with a little corn mixed in with the rice, and flour tortillas. But the stockers at the Jewel are a very diverse group, and the lady at the checkout was white.
nk (1d9030) — 10/5/2020 @ 5:25 pm@37. Just goes to Joe’ya how out of touch bunker life can be, nk.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 10/5/2020 @ 5:29 pmIt sucks when the checkout person is a teen if I’m buying liquor because then they have to summon one of the oldsters for an ID check. I’m thinking certain Winn Dixies are the only ones left in So Fla with black ladies stocking groceries. Publix is faux glam like Marianos and Bravo is a bit too real.
urbanleftbehind (a28617) — 10/5/2020 @ 5:30 pm“There’s lousy commentators; there’s lousy presidents…’- Joe Biden, 10/5/20
There he Beaus again…
DCSCA (797bc0) — 10/5/2020 @ 5:31 pmMSNBC Town Hall w/Joe… attacking ‘whitey’ in the dark, eh Joe?
DCSCA (797bc0) — 10/5/2020 @ 5:34 pmAs an originalist, flour tortillas make as much sense to me as ketchup on hot dogs.
lurker (d8c5bc) — 10/5/2020 @ 5:40 pmJoe had to sit down. Can’t stand too long.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 10/5/2020 @ 5:43 pmWHO sits down without unbuttoning their suit jacket????????
Joe Biden. Whatcha hiden, Biden?
DCSCA (797bc0) — 10/5/2020 @ 5:46 pmHis little woody from seeing some young girls.
Hoi Polloi (acf0e3) — 10/5/2020 @ 5:51 pmNot covid.
Colonel Klink (Ret) (1367c0) — 10/5/2020 @ 5:53 pm@46. Not yet.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 10/5/2020 @ 5:55 pm“Do I look like a socialist?” — Joe Biden
Well, you’ve been feedin’ at the government trough for 47 years, Joe.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 10/5/2020 @ 5:58 pmLike Macarthur splashing ashore in the Philippines, Trump needed two takes get the shot of him walking into the WH without a mask just right for the cameras.
Dave (1bb933) — 10/5/2020 @ 5:59 pmBiden backed the bankruptcy bill that prevented students from BKing their college debt. Now he’s saying he backs forgiving them their loans up to a family earning $125K.
Just goes to Joe’ya.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 10/5/2020 @ 6:00 pmI’ve added a video clip of Trump – who is currently sick – taking off his mask for photographers. I think he clearly looks ill.
Dana (292df6) — 10/5/2020 @ 6:00 pmHis stunt with the SUV yesterday was disgraceful and horrifying.
And then he took his mask off when he got back to the white house. While clearly still infectious.
He doesn’t care if he gets the people he works with day in and day out killed. He belongs in prison, not Mar-a-Lago or the White House.
aphrael (4c4719) — 10/5/2020 @ 6:02 pmKevin M, at 13 — my condolences, that has to be a really difficult place to have found yourself in. And kudos to you, too, for making that decision.
aphrael (4c4719) — 10/5/2020 @ 6:04 pmWelcome to my anti-Trump world, Kevin.
Paul Montagu (ef53a2) — 10/5/2020 @ 6:04 pmI’ll just say that the water is nice in the protest-vote pool. It’s agreeable to vote for neither Trump’s insanity nor Biden’s differences on policy. Just write in a conservative-leaning person who is not in the bag for arguably the worst president in history. Personally, it’s been good for my conscience and soul.
DCSCA: Churchill was a socialist.
lurker (d8c5bc) — 10/5/2020 @ 6:05 pm@55. Churchill was fired.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 10/5/2020 @ 6:06 pm@55-postscript- And for the anglophiles- Churchill was sacked.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 10/5/2020 @ 6:09 pmEh, it really is kinda hard to ignore the big number:
Well, it’s a take…
Here’s the thing: every American is desperately wanting to get back to normal! I don’t believe for a second that there are large swaths of the population who don’t want to get back to normal and have the freedom to be able to come and go as they please without having to worry about getting infected, or experiencing the unrelenting, unprecedented hardship of…wearing a mask. But most of us just want to do it safely. Everyong helping everyone else stay healthy. Why is that just so damn hard for some people? As I’ve said a thousand times before: thank God we’re not being asked to something extraordinary and inconvenient, like fight Nazis. It’s disingenuous to suggest or imply that mask-wearers don’t want to see businesses open, restrictions lifted, and life to go back to normal. We want all of that to happen as soon as is safely possible. And if that happens in your state, just wear a mask and social distance when appropriate.
Dana (292df6) — 10/5/2020 @ 6:12 pmChurchill was a socialist.
No he wasn’t. He railed against socialism.
Bored Lawyer (7b72ec) — 10/5/2020 @ 6:12 pmSo was Evo Morales
lurker (d8c5bc) — 10/5/2020 @ 6:12 pmBTW, for those that have been listening to me over the last forever, I’d like to announce that Trump has managed to do the impossible. I will now be voting for Biden/Harris.
. . .
I will vote for every R down-ballot, from Senate down to judge (partisan in this state), sheriff and dogcatcher. But I cannot in good conscience take any chance that my vote would the the vote that caused Trump to eke out a victory.
As I said before, I have the luxury of living in a very blue state, so whatever I do will make no difference. Thus I will not vote for either Trump or Biden.
Anyone have good suggestions for a write-in candidate?
Bored Lawyer (7b72ec) — 10/5/2020 @ 6:14 pmI thought I saw you there.
My conscience and soul have found peace in these waters.
Dana (292df6) — 10/5/2020 @ 6:14 pmJust write in a conservative-leaning person who is not in the bag for arguably the worst president in history.
Like? Name names.
Bored Lawyer (7b72ec) — 10/5/2020 @ 6:15 pmI agree that it looks like Trump is gasping for air in this close-up video.
Dana (292df6) — 10/5/2020 @ 6:15 pm“No he wasn’t. He railed against socialism.”
He’s using DCSCA’s definition: career politician.
Davethulhu (bd5648) — 10/5/2020 @ 6:21 pmIt’s getting close to two weeks since The Lincoln Project released a new ad.
Since then we’ve had
Parscale goes postal
No peaceful transition
“Get rid of the ballots”
$750 income taxes
Debate meltdown
“Stand back and stand by.”
“Tree cities”
“Cut drug prices 80, 90%”
“They want to take out the cows”
Dr. Upbeat
Signing blank pieces of paper for the cameras
A Sunday coronavirus parade
“If you like your virus, you can keep your virus”
All I can figure is that they’ve made an assessment that it’s impossible to do anything more to discredit and censure Trump than he and his own people are already doing.
It’s hard to disagree, but I think they should try to rise to the challenge.
Dave (1bb933) — 10/5/2020 @ 6:27 pmPatrick Frey
Dave (1bb933) — 10/5/2020 @ 6:30 pm“Patrick Frey”
A Swiss writer? He doesn’t even qualify.
Try again.
Bored Lawyer (7b72ec) — 10/5/2020 @ 6:41 pm@64
Do you know where and when that video was taken?
Bored Lawyer (7b72ec) — 10/5/2020 @ 6:42 pm> every American is desperately wanting to get back to normal!
I was ok for a while. But the last month, this is all my therapist and I talk about — I’m *done*. I want things to return to normal *now*. I’m exhausted and want this crisis to be over.
But that doesn’t mean I get to delude myself into thinking it is and then behave in ways that will get other people hurt or killed.
aphrael (4c4719) — 10/5/2020 @ 6:44 pmSame. Just goes to show, we’re not like Trump.
Dana (292df6) — 10/5/2020 @ 6:48 pmSir Donald the Black Knight vs. Coronavirus
‘Tis but a scratch!
Dave (1bb933) — 10/5/2020 @ 6:48 pmSeriously? You couldn’t come up with 50 names yourself?
Here, I’ll start you off with 25 off the top of my head: David French, George Will, Jonah Goldberg, Orin Kerr, Jim Comey, Tom Nichols, Rick Wilson, Evan McMullin, Micheal Steele, Justin Amash, Jeb Bush, John Kasich, John Warner, Jeff Flake, Michael Hayden, William H. Webster, Jim Mattis, John Bolton, Nicole Wallace, Bill Kristol, Mona Charon, Steve Schmidt, Stuart Stevens, Max Boot, Jennifer Rubin.
lurker (d8c5bc) — 10/5/2020 @ 6:53 pm69, Bored Lawyer,It’s the same time, just closer up. He’s wearing the same suit and tie, and standing in front of the same pillar, with the stairs off behind him to the right. Here’s another clip. He looks unwell.
Dana (292df6) — 10/5/2020 @ 6:53 pmNot sure if serious…
Dave (1bb933) — 10/5/2020 @ 6:54 pmThere’s a real thing with Dexamethasone, and all corticosteroids, called steroid euphoria
Yes. I’ve a standing order for prednisone (correlates well with why I wear a mask and want you to). From time to time, I will get a buzz when I start a course.
I’ve never had it hit me so hard I lost the plot though. Maybe he got some dandy pain meds too, for some reason.
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 10/5/2020 @ 6:54 pmI’ve updated the post with video of Trump giving a message to the American people upon his return to the White House from Walter Reed.
Dana (292df6) — 10/5/2020 @ 6:57 pmJust write in a conservative-leaning person
You miss my point, I think. That was the OLD position. Now I actively have to vote for Biden. It sucks. But I’ll vote twice for every Republican down-ballot to make up for it.
Wait .. what?
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 10/5/2020 @ 6:58 pmJoe Biden. Whatcha hiden, Biden?
A wire.
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 10/5/2020 @ 6:59 pmChurchill was a socialist.
Churchill wanted to intervene in the Bolshevik revolution.
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 10/5/2020 @ 7:00 pmDavid French, George Will, Jonah Goldberg, Orin Kerr, Jim Comey, Tom Nichols, Rick Wilson, Evan McMullin, Micheal Steele, Justin Amash, Jeb Bush, John Kasich, John Warner, Jeff Flake, Michael Hayden, William H. Webster, Jim Mattis, John Bolton, Nicole Wallace, Bill Kristol, Mona Charon, Steve Schmidt, Stuart Stevens, Max Boot, Jennifer Rubin.
Twenty-five people who could have started a new party in 2017, and made damn sure Trump would lose, while also putting the gun to the GOP’s head.
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 10/5/2020 @ 7:02 pm59 & 80: You understand I said DCSCA thinks Churchill, who served around 50 in public office, was a socialist, only to show the absurdity of his suggestion that Biden’s 47 yrs in Congress make him a socialist.
lurker (d8c5bc) — 10/5/2020 @ 7:06 pmSir Donald the Black Knight vs. Coronavirus
‘Tis but a scratch!
Very revealing, Dave. Covid as King Arthur to Trump’s Black Knight. The virus has certainly come to the rescue of Trump’s critics, like a White Knight when all was thought lost. What a godsend. I’m sure that’s not how you meant it, except maybe subliminally.
beer ‘n pretzels (9a2559) — 10/5/2020 @ 7:07 pm@76 Pure oxygen is supposed to eventually make you high as well.
Nic (896fdf) — 10/5/2020 @ 7:09 pm81. I didn’t say you’d like them, only that they’re conservative-leaning Trump opponents. Any one of them should serve the purpose for someone who can’t bring themself to vote D, but wants a write-in alternative to Trump.
lurker (d8c5bc) — 10/5/2020 @ 7:10 pmThe Black Knight’s delusional attempts to taunt and gaslight, even as he’s being slowly dismembered, are an excellent metaphors for Trump’s inability to accept reality or learn anything from his mistakes.
Plus, Arthur’s wearing a crown, and it’s the coronavirus… get it?
Dave (1bb933) — 10/5/2020 @ 7:16 pm
Dave (1bb933) — 10/5/2020 @ 7:17 pmanBusiness as usual:
Dana (292df6) — 10/5/2020 @ 7:27 pmBiden’s 47 yrs in Congress make him a socialist.
Yeah, but Churchill wasn’t the Labour Party leader.
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 10/5/2020 @ 7:28 pmNeither is Biden. He just plaigarizes from them.
aphrael (4c4719) — 10/5/2020 @ 7:29 pmPlus, Arthur’s wearing a crown, and it’s the coronavirus
Yes, but Arthur in that movie was a buffoon, unable to even count to three.
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 10/5/2020 @ 7:30 pmBiden’s party is as Left as the last Labour government, if not more so.
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 10/5/2020 @ 7:32 pmThe joke is on the Democrats, though. At this point Bernie would win.
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 10/5/2020 @ 7:33 pmAnd the coronavirus is an inanimate speck of RNA.
But it has somehow still outwitted the 14-dimensional chess player, Trump.
Dave (1bb933) — 10/5/2020 @ 7:37 pm“Also, if you watch the video, that guy’s panting like he ran a marathon, he just walked up the stairs.”
and
“I agree that it looks like Trump is gasping for air…”
That’s the first thing I noticed. Anyone here who has a history of asthma probably noted the same thing. He is a long way from being well.
John B Boddie (699c63) — 10/5/2020 @ 7:37 pm> Biden’s party is as Left as the last Labour government, if not more so.
I wasn’t trying to make a claim about the party’s positioning vis-a-vis Labour. I was just trying to make a joke about Biden stealing Kinnock’s speech.
aphrael (4c4719) — 10/5/2020 @ 7:39 pmOh you caught him! Dave secretly doesn’t like Trump!
But maybe you should watch the movie. Arthur didn’t save anybody. The fight was without purpose, like many of the painful tragic things in those movies, that’s part of the joke.
Dustin (4237e0) — 10/5/2020 @ 7:40 pmNonsense.
Even the Tories back the NHS, while the Dems have firmly rejected something similar, but less ambitious.
Dave (1bb933) — 10/5/2020 @ 7:41 pm> all was thought lost
hahahahaha. Biden has been leading all summer, and his lead increased after the debate.
you’re pushing an obviously false narrative here. why?
aphrael (4c4719) — 10/5/2020 @ 7:43 pmwhile the Dems have firmly rejected something similar, but less ambitious.
Democrat Party platform, 2020
Not exactly a rejection. At best a “not right away.”
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 10/5/2020 @ 7:50 pmBiden has been leading all summer, and his lead increased after the debate.
Biden has been leading in the national popular vote all summer, buoyed by lopsided margins in a few states. In the states that counted he had been slightly up in enough states to win, but any upset or accident and it could vanish like Hillary’s lead did at the end.
But after that TERRIBLE, NO GOOD, HORRIBLE debate, Biden’s up by landslide proportions. Trump’s antics, playing for “his” crowd with Covid, isn’t going to help.
Trump is like Pauline Kael in that he sees that everyone who comes to his rallies loves him, so he can’t imagine anyone not.
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 10/5/2020 @ 7:57 pm@60 So was Evo Morales.
So was Meat Loaf.
And Gary Busey.
And Gene Simmons, too.
By you-know-who. 😉
“You’re fired!” – Donald Trump, ‘The Apprentice’ NBC TV
DCSCA (797bc0) — 10/5/2020 @ 8:00 pm@81.David French, George Will, Jonah Goldberg, Orin Kerr, Jim Comey, Tom Nichols, Rick Wilson, Evan McMullin, Micheal Steele, Justin Amash, Jeb Bush, John Kasich, John Warner, Jeff Flake, Michael Hayden, William H. Webster, Jim Mattis, John Bolton, Nicole Wallace, Bill Kristol, Mona Charon, Steve Schmidt, Stuart Stevens, Max Boot, Jennifer Rubin.
Bill Buckley’d all.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 10/5/2020 @ 8:01 pmBiden has been leading all summer, and his lead increased after the debate.
Umm… so DontCallItWuhanFlu has only been around since the summer? Are you that ignorant of the timeline, aphrael?
beer ‘n pretzels (69ea8e) — 10/5/2020 @ 8:03 pm> In the states that counted he had been slightly up in enough states to win, but any upset or accident and it could vanish like Hillary’s lead did at the end.
probably true, but there was little sign of such an upset or accident coming.
now, i’m starting to think it’ll be a blowout, and there’s a real risk of a 55-person Democratic majority in the Senate.
aphrael (4c4719) — 10/5/2020 @ 8:04 pmSorry, beer’n’pretzels, I took you as saying that Trump’s illness, hospitalization, and response is the thing that saved Biden’s candidacy.
aphrael (4c4719) — 10/5/2020 @ 8:05 pmaphrael, the host called Trump toast back in March. That was a pretty common sentiment. It was DontCallItWuhanFlu that did that. Nothing else. Trump critics are loathe to admit a virus from a hostile country has been their savior and ally, but once in a while they let the mask slip.
beer ‘n pretzels (69ea8e) — 10/5/2020 @ 8:12 pmIt was obvious that Trump was going to lose in 2018. It was pretty likely in 2017, around Jan 21st.
Colonel Klink (Ret) (1367c0) — 10/5/2020 @ 8:14 pm“The reason I was able to stay home during the pandemic is because Black women were able to keep the grocery shelves stocked.” – Joe Biden 10/5/2020
Malarkey. And you bein’ a good Catholic boy and all. Just goes to Joe’ya…
“Okay Lord – I’m coming out now – and I wouldn’t care if I gained twenty pounds… as long as I’m white.” – Jeff Gerber [Godfrey Cambridge] ‘Watermelon Man’ 1970
DCSCA (797bc0) — 10/5/2020 @ 8:19 pm> It was DontCallItWuhanFlu that did that.
2018 saw a Democratic wave in the House. The repudiation of Trump may have been helped along by sars-cov-2, but it was coming anyway.
aphrael (4c4719) — 10/5/2020 @ 8:21 pmyou’re pushing an obviously false narrative here. why?
It’s his job.
nk (1d9030) — 10/5/2020 @ 8:21 pmHe is a long way from being well.
He would really get sick just to spite me.
nk (1d9030) — 10/5/2020 @ 8:24 pmLol. Assuming Trump would have won otherwise, an entirely speculative assumption, the pandemic isn’t what made the difference. It’s Trump’s mismanagement of the pandemic. There are currently more COVID cases in the White House than there are in Taiwan. Tell yourself that’s because the virus is on Soros’ payroll.
lurker (d8c5bc) — 10/5/2020 @ 8:30 pmIt says it welcomes those whose position is to the left of the nominee’s. It’s a participation award for Bernie’s wing, who lost.
Did you think they’d say “Anyone who supports Medicare for All should find a different party”?
Dave (1bb933) — 10/5/2020 @ 8:48 pmNew Jersey governor: Trump fundraiser ‘put lives at risk’
Time to dust off that reckless endangerment statute, governor. You heard it here first.
Bored Lawyer (7b72ec) — 10/5/2020 @ 8:49 pmAct accordingly because you may still be dealing with a turtle next January.
urbanleftbehind (a28617) — 10/5/2020 @ 9:13 pmIs it possible that Cunningham’s bad behavior single-handedly revived the Republican chances of maintaining control of the Senate? Yes, unfortunately.
On the other hand, there are a lot of dominos to fall, and even in the event Cunningham is down for the count — which isn’t guaranteed at all — but even if, the Democrats only need one of like four currently-close-to-tied-in-the-polls long shots to play out.
aphrael (4c4719) — 10/5/2020 @ 10:00 pmAs of today, it’s between Larry Hogan and Jo Jorgensen.
Paul Montagu (b1e076) — 10/5/2020 @ 10:01 pm@112.He is a long way from being well.
That could make Biden’s tombstone, too.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 10/5/2020 @ 10:39 pmReally? If Tillis wins and Jones loses (he will), that puts the GOP up four. The way I see it, for the Dems to then take control at 50-50 plus a Dem VP, they have to run the table, unseating McSally (likely yes), Collins (leaning yes), Gardner (leaning yes), and Ernst (tossup leaning no). The only other race even plausibly in contention is Montana, where fivethirtyeight has Daines 2-1 to hold his seat. What am I missing?
lurker (d8c5bc) — 10/5/2020 @ 11:26 pmThis should be a reasonably big story: The White House is overruling its regulators in an attempt to get a vaccine approved prior to Nov 3:
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/10/05/white-house-fda-vaccine-standards-426605
Victor (661f31) — 10/5/2020 @ 11:29 pmAlaska and south carolina are unexpectedly in play.
Ossoff was leading in the most recent polls, but i don’t count georgia. If control of the senate is at stake, the republican wins the runoff.
aphrael (4c4719) — 10/5/2020 @ 11:32 pmMost people get really sick and die in about 10 or 11 days so we shall see. By the way if trump lives people will demand the same expensive treatments and drugs that trump got and won’t be to happy when told its for the rich and powerful and is to expensive for YOU!
asset (05cc59) — 10/6/2020 @ 12:50 amI’ll be thrilled if I’m wrong, but I doubt SC is in play. And while I don’t care either way about Alaska, I’ll be surprised if that’s competitive either. I mean I suppose if it turns into a wave election for the Dems, SC and/or AK could get swept along. But in that case I can’t imagine the Dems wouldn’t have won the Senate without them.
lurker (d8c5bc) — 10/6/2020 @ 1:34 amWhoah there, cowboy! “Ignorant” is not a descriptor anyone should use in connection with aphrael. You could have made your point by saying “is the timeline of no import to you?” That would have been apt. Instead, your point, being made crudely, loses its effect.
Aphreal, as usual, demonstrates his earnest friendship with use all, by his thoughtful response on his next comment to you – even apologizing to you when it is he who could take offense. This is class. I tip my hat to you, aphrael.
I don’t provide gentle correction for every commenter, just the ones worth correcting. Please take my comment in that spirit, B&P.
felipe (023cc9) — 10/6/2020 @ 2:56 amThe first reported American death happened two days later, and another 215,038 Americans have died after that. Unfortunately, those victims didn’t “dominate” the virus. They’re just dead. Only heart disease and cancer kill more, and the killing by CV19 didn’t really start until April.
Paul Montagu (77c694) — 10/6/2020 @ 4:22 amI no longer give a rip about Dr. Upbeat hiding behind HIPAA and pom-pomming Trump’s physical condition. I do care about when Trump was tested previously to his positive test last Thursday (since they’re stonewalling, I’m assuming it wasn’t “daily”). I do care that Trump is not ordering contact-tracing for Rose Garden disease fest. I do care that this president is so f*cking delusional that last night he declared “maybe I’m immune”. Oh yeah, he’s immune all right, from a lot of things, but not COVID.
I said earlier that I hope he catches the virus if that would give him more empathy toward the afflicted and the dead, but it didn’t hit him hard enough or nothing will hit him hard enough except death. And now he’s apparently convinced, aided by Chief Medical Nutjob Atlas, that we should get to herd immunity the sooner the better. He already has the blood of tens of thousands on his hands. If he wins, he’ll kill tens of thousands more, maybe hundreds of thousands through his irresponsible buffoonery.
This election isn’t between Trump and socialism, IMO, it’s between Trump’s insanity and Joe’s muddling amidst a divided country. Biden’s right in that hope is not a plan, and we can’t just wish for a miracle without a plan. Trump has no plan, so there will be no miracles from that guy.
@107, BNP
Covid hasn’t really changed Trump’s approval numbers.
He’s been running low 40’s since 2018. There’s some fluctuation, and his highest approval was early march of this year. Probably a rally around the flag effect for CV19, which he squandered by being terrible at his job. During the same timeframe he’s been losing to a generic democrat. Generic Democrat is about as a good a description as any for Joe Biden.
That said more detailed poling shows that CV19 is top of mind for people that currently don’t like him. His getting CV19 represented an opportunity to shift gears without having to admit mistake. He could just start making noises that showed some empathy and concern for others based on his own experiences. But that’s not who he is. So he can’t do it. He remains wedded to the idea if that if you just believe in yourself hard enough and project enough strength to get others to believe it will all work out in the end. So his strategy is to pretend to be stronger then the virus and tell everyone that it isn’t that big a deal. This strategy didn’t work in the spring, i doubt it will work better now.
Time123 (36651d) — 10/6/2020 @ 5:55 amI had written a different reply. I’m glad I didn’t because yours carries the point a lot more effectively. I also thought Aphrael’s generous response was classy and basically the opposite of how I would have reacted.
Dustin (4237e0) — 10/6/2020 @ 6:26 amBen Tracy
@benstracy
I felt safer reporting in North Korea than I currently do reporting at The White House. This is just crazy.
__ _
Katie Pavlich
@KatiePavlich
I remember the days when these reporters were comparing themselves to firefighters…
__ _
𝓛𝓲𝓼𝓪
harkin (7fb4c9) — 10/6/2020 @ 6:32 am@Rockprincess818
·
I feel safer in Juarez , Mexico than I do in democrat run cities.
_
Dana, you should update with is latest tweet where he again equates it to the Flu
Time123 (b0628d) — 10/6/2020 @ 7:13 am@125: You’re right, felipe. I was too harsh, particularly for someone like aphrael. I apologize to aphrael for that. Thanks for noting it, felipe.
beer ‘n pretzels (392e62) — 10/6/2020 @ 7:23 amI’m with Kevin M. on this: I’ll be voting for Biden also. I don’t particularly like Biden and don’t have great expectations of his presidency, but there’s no way it could NOT be better than Trump’s. For a long time I’ve though that perhaps I just wouldn’t vote, that my state (IL) will probably go for Biden anyway so in terms of electoral votes, my casting a ballot might not make much difference. And, as a conservative by inclination, I hesitate to “own” what might come from a Biden presidency. But Trump keeps disgracing himself and humiliating the nation. He simply must be gotten rid of.
Roger (83ed7d) — 10/6/2020 @ 7:23 amClassy response, BoP.
Dustin (4237e0) — 10/6/2020 @ 7:29 amI have no idea why I’ve been using an O. It’s probably because my brain is dried out.
Dustin (4237e0) — 10/6/2020 @ 7:29 amCOVID-19: slayer of millions, or a weekend at the spa?
We report, you decide!
Dave (1bb933) — 10/6/2020 @ 7:29 amI’ll own it. I know it will be frustrating. But Biden’s not the one I really worry about. Harris doesn’t have a lot of experience and she’s all over the map politically. She is ambitious… for what I’m not sure, but probably the kind of leader to make sweeping changes to make her mark on the world.
Voting against Trump comes with a steep price. An unfit leader and a potential disaster VP.
Dustin (4237e0) — 10/6/2020 @ 7:31 am@131, BNP, Agree, class response.
Time123 (36651d) — 10/6/2020 @ 7:32 amThat’s right, Dustin. It’s not Beer or Pretzels. We get both of those good things.
Tim Miller has an excellent timeline on what we know about CV19 testing involving Trump and Hicks. The takeaways:
For contact-tracing reasons alone, we need to know the answers. Given his viral load Friday morning, either (1) Trump tested “positive” prior to Thursday and he lied about it so he could debate Biden or (2) prior to Thursday, Trump hadn’t been tested for days, perhaps not since the Saturday before if he was truthful with the Cleveland Clinic, but he may have been lying about that. Either case, the American people deserve to know.
Paul Montagu (77c694) — 10/6/2020 @ 7:40 amIf Trump’s doctors are giving him dexamethasone as a palliative to make him feel better, they are taking one big gamble with the antibodies they got from Regeneron, because the dexamethasone will suppress the production of his own immune system, and there are nine or ten more days before the fat lady sings.
nk (1d9030) — 10/6/2020 @ 8:33 amPS I still maintain he’s faking it. If Trump told me Chicago was an American city in the State of Illinois, I’d check to make sure our charter was still in force.
nk (1d9030) — 10/6/2020 @ 8:37 am…as if he would let something go that far up his nose without running away like a toddler or ordering the Fifth Avenue treatment for the nurse who got it up that far. Christie would be the bellwether case for whether it is a scam or no scam.
urbanleftbehind (37751b) — 10/6/2020 @ 8:41 amIt’s interesting that there have been zero leaks about the time of the president’s last negative and first positive test.
Interesting for two reasons:
1) We’re regularly told that the media invent anonymous sources out of whole cloth for the express purpose of tarnishing President Trump’s impeccable reputation. And yet here, where “senior White House officials” confirming the worst speculation and extrapolation based on the evasions of Trump’s doctors would be explosive, they haven’t managed to invent any such sources. It’s almost enough to make a reasonable person wonder if maybe they don’t invent these sources after all.
2) The fact that there have been no leaks about this topic of great interest suggests that the truth is a tightly held secret. Trump and Dr. Upbeat might be the only ones with direct knowledge.
Dave (1bb933) — 10/6/2020 @ 8:44 amTrumpsters are putting out a contradictory message:
1) Trump has (supposedly) personally defeated COVID because he’s such an alpha and uniquely invincible.
2) Trump’s (ostensible, at this point) recovery in a few short days proves that COVID was never a big deal and that his handling of it has always been as perfect as it could have been.
Of course, Trump believes both of those propositions himself, but the way his prominent supporters embrace both at once is a sight to behold.
Radegunda (e1ea47) — 10/6/2020 @ 8:58 amExcept that Dr. Fauci has warned against a turn for the worse during the 14-day case rate. IOW, he hasn’t defeated the disease:
Dana (292df6) — 10/6/2020 @ 9:03 amThe next time Trump goes to WR it will be at night with no media coverage, probably in a wheelchair.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 10/6/2020 @ 9:06 amTrump shows no signs of realizing (not that the doctors are necessarily telling him) that the on;y reason he has/d such a mild case is because if the special antibody treatment he got (plus maybe the zinc and the Vitamin D and the Vitamin C)
This is probably not going to be offered routinely, even to members of the military, for months yet – the antibody cocktail is not even approved yet for emergency use. Somebody on Trumps’s coronavirus task force probably called up Regeneron, which they’ve been in regular contact with. They probably called up several companies with promising therapies in the pipeline for approval.
Jake Novak told Mark Simone n WOR yesterday that he had an exclusive that some other companies’ treatments were used, including one Israeli company he named, but they were probably only contacted even if some rumor leaked about it leaked and affected their stock market price. This is the kind of report that if a news media source is the only one it’s probably wrong at least in part.
Sammy Finkelman (4eddd7) — 10/6/2020 @ 9:14 amThis stuff has to be a troll though. The frequent references to Trump’s superiority aren’t meant to get him a single vote and I think they tend to build enthusiasm against him.
I would love to know what Trump’s plan is for the election. The best thing that can be said of his recent screw ups is that they didn’t hurt him much. That’s like a lapped car only losing a little ground on the lead car… that is not a plan to win.
Dustin (4237e0) — 10/6/2020 @ 9:18 amJudging from Twitter, a big part of his fan base really believes that he’s the alpha-est alpha that America has ever seen. They aren’t entirely joking when they say things like: Trump doesn’t need to be defended from Covid; it’s Covid that needs to be defended from Trump. I saw a Ben Shapiro tweet fantasizing that a vaccine will quickly be made from the god-king’s own antibodies and then he’ll win 50 states — which is an indirect admission that the push to get a vaccine approved before November is all about Trump.
Radegunda (e1ea47) — 10/6/2020 @ 9:37 amRemember when Obama supporters were characterized as having a messiah syndrome? Good times.
Davethulhu (f7bb9b) — 10/6/2020 @ 9:42 amLOL
Free with your Trump Beats Covid commemorative Silver Dollar.
Dustin (4237e0) — 10/6/2020 @ 9:43 amIt’s not the true believers I mind so much, there are only so many of them and it takes all kinds to make the world go around, it’s the ones who see Trump for what he is and still insist that he will respect such thing as the Second Amendment, religious freedom, and economic freedom, any better than he has respected any other part of the laws, Constitution, or social values.
And then there are the ones who think their AR-15s are worth 210,000 dead Americans and counting whom I’d like to see aborted at any trimester. (Like Trump is going to respect the Second Amendment, anyhow, if it’s not in his own personal interest, like I said above.)
nk (1d9030) — 10/6/2020 @ 9:50 amTrump has slowed down the contact tracing for the White House outbreak (he probably doesn’t want too many people to quarantine themselves) and they are tracing mostly only his contacts in the 48 hours before his positive, leaving himself, by implication, as the superspreader, which he most likely was not.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/05/health/contact-tracing-white-house.html
Well, with that, perhaps they think the odds are against that being the origin – but maybe not.
Now n fact there may be more than one original source. Judge Amy Coney Barrett, by the way, herself had Covid earlier this year.
Sammy Finkelman (4eddd7) — 10/6/2020 @ 10:27 amMore:
Sammy Finkelman (4eddd7) — 10/6/2020 @ 10:30 amTrump didn’t beat this back on his own!
He got artificial antibodies.
He’s not a person with an unusually strong immune system.
Ben Shapiro was not paying attention, and he wasn’t primed to notice something like this in the news stoties.
Now Simon Jester would.
Sammy Finkelman (4eddd7) — 10/6/2020 @ 10:34 amThere was obviously a good bit of that among Obama supporters — depicting him with a halo; saying that he was looking down upon us like God; writing songs for children to sing in praise of him; etc. And Obama did display an inflated sense of his personal merit — saying that he could do anything better than the people he hired to do precisely those things; purporting to honor Rosa Parks by sending out an image of himself on a bus; declaring that he would “fundamentally transform the United States of America”; etc.
But it’s been amazing to see most of the people who criticized Obama’s narcissism and the messiah complex built around him insisting that Trump is really not a narcissist, but just confident, and that their fawning over him is not cultish at all, but just a proper appreciation of a great leader.
I was highly critically of Obama, but on the whole he’s a better person than Trump, and not nearly as narcissistic. He isn’t pathologically self-absorbed in the way that Trump is. And of course he’s smarter, even if he holds views I think are misguided.
It’s odd that so many people don’t acknowledge that Trump’s extremely self-centered view of the world might have serious consequences for the public — and that there’s a rational case to be made for favoring a president he promotes policies they disagree with but doesn’t run everything through the “what’s in it for me?” filter.
Radegunda (e1ea47) — 10/6/2020 @ 10:51 amThank you, beer ‘n pretzels. I accept.
And thank you also for your kind and supportive responses, felipe and dustin.
for me, the most salient thing in beer ‘n pretzel’s response to me was the obvious evidence that i’d misunderstood what they were saying in the first place. the flamboyance of their language doesn’t change my error in interpretation. 🙂
aphrael (4c4719) — 10/6/2020 @ 11:00 amHere’s an interesting Ben Shapiro tweet:
So, maybe starting to realize there’s a case to be made that Trump is actually the worse option.
Radegunda (e1ea47) — 10/6/2020 @ 12:10 pmAphrael, you had asked for a link. I can’t find it and as far as I can tell, those kinds of things went away this year thanks to the economic downturn in that kind of work. I’m sorry about that.
Dustin (4237e0) — 10/6/2020 @ 12:17 pmHi Dustin, thanks for following up! I’m kicking myself for not saving it off when you posted it originally.
aphrael (4c4719) — 10/6/2020 @ 12:27 pmI don’t think it would have made any difference. Anything like that that is successful will also be easy to find.
Dustin (4237e0) — 10/6/2020 @ 12:29 pm139 nk (1d9030) — 10/6/2020 @ 8:33 am
I don’t think they are gambling; I think that for all their real expertise, they are idiots.
They are not attributing any effect to the neutralizing antibodies.
Or perhaps he was given that by different doctors than those who prescribed the dexamethasone so nobody put 2 and 2 together..
In general maybe they give that too much because they are so afraid of a cytokine storm.
Sammy Finkelman (4eddd7) — 10/6/2020 @ 12:57 pm28. nk (1d9030) — 10/5/2020 @ 4:43 pm
Perhaps he was making such a dramtixc recovery that they gave him dexamathasone. Or perhaps nobody ever gave him dexamathasone. Is it official that they did?
Sammy Finkelman (4eddd7) — 10/6/2020 @ 3:02 pm50. DCSCA (797bc0) — 10/5/2020 @ 6:00 pm
And then there was the bill that law.prevented anyone younger than 21 from getting a credit card pn their own if they weren’t working. Schumer is most associated with that law.
But it was perfectly OK to borrow any amount of money as a student loan and have some of the money kicked back to you as cash. That was going on in 1986.
Sammy Finkelman (4eddd7) — 10/6/2020 @ 7:33 pm73.
Remember something: You;re not voting for president, you’re voting for electors pledged to a candidate. (This is not the case in presidential primaries, even though a candidate with no delegate candidates, may also not gain anything, even if they hit the threshhold. Depending on the state.)
If a write in candidate hasn’t got a slate of electors, I don’t know that any write in vote will even be tabulated. It may depend on your state and a state may perhaps just count the fact of a write in and not the names, and maybe only if cast in person.
But you will have shown up at the polls. You could say there is a visible undervote for president, but unless a lot of other people in the same area do it, it’ll just cancel out the undervote of people who vote for president and not down ballot races.
Sammy Finkelman (4eddd7) — 10/6/2020 @ 7:49 pm