David Corn: How Donald Trump Plans on Spinning 200,000 Coronavirus Deaths as a Win

[babylonsister]

April 1, 2020
How Donald Trump Plans on Spinning 200,000 Coronavirus Deaths as a Win
Like a virus, the president knows how to adapt.
David Corn
Washington, DC, Bureau ChiefBio | Follow



A virus can adapt quickly, and so can Donald Trump.

Through the course of the coronavirus crisis, Trump has demonstrated the adaptability that has so often helped his career in business and politics, as he shifted from predator developer to scammy brand-marketer to reality-TV celebrity. And one element of that flexibility is Trump’s unparalleled capacity to say whatever he needs at a given moment to gain an advantage or serve a personal interest.

This skill, if it can be called that, was on display at a recent Trump campaign rally, which these days are held daily in the White House, where Trump and members of his coronavirus task force brief reporters and the rest of the world. (Trump has been bragging about the ratings for these briefings, cheering his audience numbers, as Americans perish.) When Trump at this particular session on Sunday wasn’t bashing the media, belittling his perceived foes, or praising himself, he made a startling remark: “So you’re talking about 2.2 million deaths, 2.2 million people from this. And so if we could hold that down, as we’re saying, to 100,000. It’s a horrible number, maybe even less —but to 100,000. So we have between 100 and 200,000, and we altogether have done a very good job.”

At this briefing, Trump 16 times pointed to the 2.2 million estimate. That number comes from a new British study that Trump’s health care advisers had shown him that projects this level of death in “the (unlikely) absence of any control measures or spontaneous changes in individual behaviour.” That is, without social distancing, testing, and the like. (Trump’s experts had put this report in front of him so he would see that his idiotic idea to ease social restrictions by Easter would cause hundreds of thousands of deaths.) Trump, who on February 26, when there were 15 reported coronavirus cases in the United States, said the number would soon be “down to close to zero,” was now tossing out a horrendous number. It was quite the turnaround—and very purposeful.

It appeared Trump had finally realized that the amount of coronavirus death in this country on his watch is going to be astronomical. His weeks of denial, inaction, and dangerous happy-talk—downplaying the threat, claiming the virus would disappear in better weather, saying it was no worse than the flu, hinting social restraints could soon be lifted—had done nothing to stop the lethal threat spreading across the country. (A virus can’t be stopped by BS.) Trump, who originally worried that bad coronavirus numbers would spook the markets and undercut his the-economy-is-great! reelection argument, needed to pivot. To adapt.

Now that Trump could no longer pitch himself as the beautiful-economy president, he recast himself as the great lifesaver of America. And he initiated a cynical and loathsome expectations game. If the coronavirus might kill 2.2. million, then what a hero he would be if it only claims the lives of 200,000 Americans. Should this come to pass, Trump will claim that 2 million Americans owe him their lives.

more...

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2020/04/how-donald-trump-plans-on-spinning-200000-coronavirus-deaths-as-a-win/

[Jim__]

1. Trump has one major concern during this pandemic.

And that is that he comes out of it looking like a hero.

[Wednesdays]

2. Yup

And enough voters will fall for it to re-elect him in November.

[rockfordfile]

8. No way in hell

[Turin_C3PO]

9. I doubt it.

[ThoughtCriminal]

3. IN the end, compare mortality rates to other countries.

I think we will find that 200,000 was nowhere near a "Win".

[treestar]

4. And the media will support him in this

I just hope enough swing state voters see it for the BS that it is.

[gratuitous]

5. Dear Media Folks: Trump can spin this ONLY if you let him spin it

If a quarter million dead Americans looks like something other than winning and competent leadership, you really should frame your stories accordingly, and not let your narrative be set by the man responsible for this mess.

[tinrobot]

6. For comparison, that's four Vietnams. The war he conveniently dodged.

He's not going to be able to shrug it off that easily.

[FM123]

7. "A virus can adapt quickly, and so can Donald Trump."

And we must adapt quickly too!
We must get out in front of this 2.2 million song and dance he does and frame the narrative ourselves. I don't know what the number would have been if he had taken action on Feb 6 (the day after he was acquitted) but THAT is the number that should be thrown out there - how few lives would have been lost (instead of 100,000 - 200,000) if he had taken action earlier!

[kentuck]

10. Every DUer should read this article by David Corn

To understand exactly the strategy that Donald Trump plans to use against the coronavirus in his re-election bid. Very informative,

[ooky]

11. No doubt this is what Trump is trying to do.

But this gives way to a fairly high level of stupid. Who would actually believe that any sane, competent leader in this situation would choose to "do nothing"? He is presenting a false choice in order to claim "he saved millions of lives".

I would venture to say that most people here on DU knew exactly what he was trying to pull the moment this nonsense spilled from his lying lips. We aren't that stupid. Even though I am glad someone is writing about this, we knew what we were seeing in real time. The question is how many Americans are capable of rationalizing this for themselves? Outside of a magat, who is really stupid enough not to comprehend it on their own?

It's a trial balloon to see if it takes, but I don't think its going to fly considering all of Trump's public behavior leading up to the outbreak. There is too much evidence of his own incompetence.