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babylonsister
babylonsister's Journal
babylonsister's Journal
October 4, 2020
October 2, 2020
With COVID Hitting the West Wing, What Happens When the President Is a Liar?
Two viruses—the coronavirus and disinformation—collide at the White House.
David Corn
Washington, DC, Bureau ChiefBio | Follow
One of the best weapons to deploy against a killer virus is accurate information—that is, the truth. If the public is fully and well informed about the dangers and the best countermeasures, the better the chances this threat can be arrested. Donald Trump, who with his wife, Melania, has tested positive for COVID-19, recklessly chose not to adopt this fundamental strategy in the face of a pandemic that has claimed over 207,000 American lives and that has yet to be tamed. You know the list: He downplayed the coronavirus (comparing it to the flu), he pronounced it was under control (it wasn’t), he said it would miraculously disappear with warmer weather (it didn’t), he promoted unproven and crackpot remedies (bleach, light, and hydroxychloroquine), he denigrated the most basic means to stop the spread (mask-wearing), and he refused to encourage safe practices (holding rallies with thousands of unmasked supporters).
Trump has mounted a disinformation campaign since COVID-19 landed in the United States. He has undercut and contradicted the guidance provided by his own government’s public health experts. He has fueled the passions of the misguided anti-maskers and provided ammo to fools who believe the pandemic is a hoax. This week a Cornell University study that analyzed 38 million English-language articles about the coronavirus concluded that Trump was the largest driver of the “infodemic.” In other words, he is the chief spreader of the virus of disinformation. That was hardly a shocker. The Washington Post fact-checkers have chronicled over 20,000 false statements and lies from Trump since he stepped into the White House.
So now when the coronavirus hits the West Wing, infects the president, a top aide, his wife, and perhaps others and triggers yet another crisis, a crucial element will be missing: trust. Can the public believe anything Trump and his minions say about this latest development? Of course not.
snip//
When the public deserves the best and most accurate information about the greatest health threat to the United States in a century and about the man who is in charge of protecting the nation from that threat, the person in command is one of the world’s leading disinformation agents. And given that Trump has demonstrated he will do practically anything to win reelection—belittle a pandemic, appeal to racism, encourage confrontation and possible violence, make false charges of voting fraud, use Russian disinformation, debase the discourse, place his own supporters at risk, and crassly exploit the White House and US government agencies—there is no reason to expect he will be honest with the voters about any aspect of the White House coronavirus crisis. But, worse for Trump, his deceitful ways, while they might still be of use politically, will not help him medically. Trump can bullshit a nation. He cannot bullshit a virus. There’s an old cliché—credited to Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis—that sunlight is the best disinfectant. Trump has a dark soul and his White House is a dark place. In such conditions, a virus cannot be stopped.
David Corn: With COVID Hitting the West Wing, What Happens When the President Is a Liar?
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2020/10/with-covid-hitting-the-west-wing-what-happens-when-the-president-is-a-liar/October 2, 2020
With COVID Hitting the West Wing, What Happens When the President Is a Liar?
Two viruses—the coronavirus and disinformation—collide at the White House.
David Corn
Washington, DC, Bureau ChiefBio | Follow
One of the best weapons to deploy against a killer virus is accurate information—that is, the truth. If the public is fully and well informed about the dangers and the best countermeasures, the better the chances this threat can be arrested. Donald Trump, who with his wife, Melania, has tested positive for COVID-19, recklessly chose not to adopt this fundamental strategy in the face of a pandemic that has claimed over 207,000 American lives and that has yet to be tamed. You know the list: He downplayed the coronavirus (comparing it to the flu), he pronounced it was under control (it wasn’t), he said it would miraculously disappear with warmer weather (it didn’t), he promoted unproven and crackpot remedies (bleach, light, and hydroxychloroquine), he denigrated the most basic means to stop the spread (mask-wearing), and he refused to encourage safe practices (holding rallies with thousands of unmasked supporters).
Trump has mounted a disinformation campaign since COVID-19 landed in the United States. He has undercut and contradicted the guidance provided by his own government’s public health experts. He has fueled the passions of the misguided anti-maskers and provided ammo to fools who believe the pandemic is a hoax. This week a Cornell University study that analyzed 38 million English-language articles about the coronavirus concluded that Trump was the largest driver of the “infodemic.” In other words, he is the chief spreader of the virus of disinformation. That was hardly a shocker. The Washington Post fact-checkers have chronicled over 20,000 false statements and lies from Trump since he stepped into the White House.
So now when the coronavirus hits the West Wing, infects the president, a top aide, his wife, and perhaps others and triggers yet another crisis, a crucial element will be missing: trust. Can the public believe anything Trump and his minions say about this latest development? Of course not.
snip//
When the public deserves the best and most accurate information about the greatest health threat to the United States in a century and about the man who is in charge of protecting the nation from that threat, the person in command is one of the world’s leading disinformation agents. And given that Trump has demonstrated he will do practically anything to win reelection—belittle a pandemic, appeal to racism, encourage confrontation and possible violence, make false charges of voting fraud, use Russian disinformation, debase the discourse, place his own supporters at risk, and crassly exploit the White House and US government agencies—there is no reason to expect he will be honest with the voters about any aspect of the White House coronavirus crisis. But, worse for Trump, his deceitful ways, while they might still be of use politically, will not help him medically. Trump can bullshit a nation. He cannot bullshit a virus. There’s an old cliché—credited to Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis—that sunlight is the best disinfectant. Trump has a dark soul and his White House is a dark place. In such conditions, a virus cannot be stopped.
October 4, 2020
Trump Faked Photos Showing Him 'At Work'
Of course he did. We all know how much he "works". 
https://politicalwire.com/2020/10/04/trump-faked-photos-showing-him-at-work/
Trump Faked Photos Showing Him ‘At Work’
October 4, 2020 at 7:05 am EDT By Taegan Goddard
The White House has released photos which purport to show President Trump “at work” at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
However, a close up of one photo shows Trump signing his name to a blank sheet of paper.
However, a close up of one photo shows Trump signing his name to a blank sheet of paper.
October 3, 2020
It’s Time for Trump to Resign and Drop Out of the Race
By Ben Mathis-Lilley
Oct 03, 20201:22 AM
After six months in which the government he leads has failed to prevent the spread of the coronavirus to an extent that has no parallel in any other wealthy nation, Donald Trump was diagnosed with COVID-19 Friday and has been hospitalized.
Trump’s wife, Melania, has also tested positive for the disease, as has his close adviser Hope Hicks, his former counselor Kellyanne Conway, his campaign manager Bill Stepien, the chairwoman of his party (Ronna McDaniel), and two of the senators from his party who are supposed to be preparing to confirm a new Supreme Court justice (Mike Lee of Utah and Thom Tillis of North Carolina).
A number of these individuals attended outdoor and indoor events at the White House last Saturday that were related to the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court. Attendees at the events did not follow the basic social distancing and mask-wearing guidelines that are recommended by health authorities all over the world. Nor did Trump or the members of his inner circle follow those guidelines during his subsequent trip to Ohio to debate Joe Biden, or at an indoor event in New Jersey he attended Thursday despite exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms and having already been told Hicks had tested positive. Biden has since tested negative but could still develop the disease in coming days.
Trump , in sum, has not only failed in the practical execution of his duty to administer the government, and has not only failed to set an example for the country in his personal behavior, but has done all this in a way that now threatens to incapacitate his political party, the executive and legislative branches of government, and the man who is currently likely to be the next president as the country attempts to hold an election while managing multiple crises.
There have been failures and breaches of the public trust by American presidents that were so severe the leaders in question resigned or chose not to stand for reelection. Were any of them more senseless than what Donald Trump is putting the country through now?
It's Time for Trump to Resign and Drop Out of the Race
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/10/donald-trump-should-drop-out-of-the-presidential-race-and-resign.htmlIt’s Time for Trump to Resign and Drop Out of the Race
By Ben Mathis-Lilley
Oct 03, 20201:22 AM
After six months in which the government he leads has failed to prevent the spread of the coronavirus to an extent that has no parallel in any other wealthy nation, Donald Trump was diagnosed with COVID-19 Friday and has been hospitalized.
Trump’s wife, Melania, has also tested positive for the disease, as has his close adviser Hope Hicks, his former counselor Kellyanne Conway, his campaign manager Bill Stepien, the chairwoman of his party (Ronna McDaniel), and two of the senators from his party who are supposed to be preparing to confirm a new Supreme Court justice (Mike Lee of Utah and Thom Tillis of North Carolina).
A number of these individuals attended outdoor and indoor events at the White House last Saturday that were related to the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court. Attendees at the events did not follow the basic social distancing and mask-wearing guidelines that are recommended by health authorities all over the world. Nor did Trump or the members of his inner circle follow those guidelines during his subsequent trip to Ohio to debate Joe Biden, or at an indoor event in New Jersey he attended Thursday despite exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms and having already been told Hicks had tested positive. Biden has since tested negative but could still develop the disease in coming days.
Trump , in sum, has not only failed in the practical execution of his duty to administer the government, and has not only failed to set an example for the country in his personal behavior, but has done all this in a way that now threatens to incapacitate his political party, the executive and legislative branches of government, and the man who is currently likely to be the next president as the country attempts to hold an election while managing multiple crises.
There have been failures and breaches of the public trust by American presidents that were so severe the leaders in question resigned or chose not to stand for reelection. Were any of them more senseless than what Donald Trump is putting the country through now?
October 3, 2020
White House Completely Misused Rapid Covid-19 Tests to Avoid Face Masks
By Daniel Politi
Oct 03, 2020
6:35 PM
Whenever anyone raised any concerns about the way in which the White House was lax on wearing masks and social distancing, members of the administration immediately fired back by saying everyone is tested regularly. President Donald Trump raised that argument numerous times, including during the debate. But turns out the White House gave itself a false sense of security by using a rapid test in a way that was never intended. The Abbott Laboratories test was used to test staff and others who came into contact with the president as a filter and those who tested negative proceeded to go about their day without masks and few other precautions. What administration officials ignored though is that the test is known to deliver incorrect results, particularly when dealing with people without symptoms.
The White House may have ignored that little crucial fact about the test that can give results in 15 minutes, but it wasn’t exactly hidden. When the Food and Drug Administration gave emergency use authorization for Abbott’s ID Now test, it made clear that it was to be used “within the first seven days of symptoms.” When it is used in people who don’t have symptoms, it can give a false negative in as many as one in three cases, notes the New York Times. “It’s helpful to keep in mind that tests discover the presence of coronavirus once there’s enough viral material in a person to be able to detect it,” John Koval, spokesman for Abbott Labs, said in an email to the Washington Post. “No test detects the virus immediately after the person becomes infected. There is no such thing as a 100 percent perfect and instantaneous test — for any disease.”
Beyond the specificity of any test in particular, experts say that testing can be part of a broader strategy to ward off the coronavirus, but isn’t protection by itself. “I don’t think any experts recommend that you use medical screening tests as a replacement for social distancing, or masks, or other kinds of mitigation efforts,” Dr. Ben Mazer, an anatomic and clinical pathologist at Johns Hopkins Hospital, told CNBC. “They all think this should be done in combination with masks, social distancing and all the other recommended measures.”
White House Completely Misused Rapid Covid-19 Tests to Avoid Face Masks
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/10/white-house-misused-rapid-covid-19-tests-face-masks.htmlWhite House Completely Misused Rapid Covid-19 Tests to Avoid Face Masks
By Daniel Politi
Oct 03, 2020
6:35 PM
Whenever anyone raised any concerns about the way in which the White House was lax on wearing masks and social distancing, members of the administration immediately fired back by saying everyone is tested regularly. President Donald Trump raised that argument numerous times, including during the debate. But turns out the White House gave itself a false sense of security by using a rapid test in a way that was never intended. The Abbott Laboratories test was used to test staff and others who came into contact with the president as a filter and those who tested negative proceeded to go about their day without masks and few other precautions. What administration officials ignored though is that the test is known to deliver incorrect results, particularly when dealing with people without symptoms.
The White House may have ignored that little crucial fact about the test that can give results in 15 minutes, but it wasn’t exactly hidden. When the Food and Drug Administration gave emergency use authorization for Abbott’s ID Now test, it made clear that it was to be used “within the first seven days of symptoms.” When it is used in people who don’t have symptoms, it can give a false negative in as many as one in three cases, notes the New York Times. “It’s helpful to keep in mind that tests discover the presence of coronavirus once there’s enough viral material in a person to be able to detect it,” John Koval, spokesman for Abbott Labs, said in an email to the Washington Post. “No test detects the virus immediately after the person becomes infected. There is no such thing as a 100 percent perfect and instantaneous test — for any disease.”
Beyond the specificity of any test in particular, experts say that testing can be part of a broader strategy to ward off the coronavirus, but isn’t protection by itself. “I don’t think any experts recommend that you use medical screening tests as a replacement for social distancing, or masks, or other kinds of mitigation efforts,” Dr. Ben Mazer, an anatomic and clinical pathologist at Johns Hopkins Hospital, told CNBC. “They all think this should be done in combination with masks, social distancing and all the other recommended measures.”
October 3, 2020
Alumni at Amy Coney Barrett's undergrad school sign letter of concern
October 3, 2020 / 10:10 AM / AP
U.S. Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett graduated in 1994 with honors from Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee. But more than 1,500 alumni of the small liberal arts school have made it known they are not proud of their ties to the conservative lawyer and judge.
Barrett graduated magna cum laude with an undergraduate degree in English. She was a member of the Honor Council and named the Student Hall of Fame. After her next stop at Notre Dame's law school, Barrett built a career of "professional distinction and achievement," said Rhodes president Marjorie Hass, in a statement issued after President Donald Trump nominated Barrett to replace the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
The statement was dated September 22. Soon after, Rhodes alumni Rob Marus and Katherine Morgan Breslin wrote a letter criticizing Barrett's stances on abortion law, the LBGTQ community and the Affordable Care Act. Signed by 1,513 alumni and posted online, the letter says the alumni are "firmly and passionately opposed to her nomination," declaring Barrett fails to represent their views and values.
more...
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/amy-coney-barrett-rhodes-college-alumni-undergrad-school-sign-letter-of-concern/
Alumni at Amy Coney Barrett's undergrad school sign letter of concern
Alumni at Amy Coney Barrett's undergrad school sign letter of concern
October 3, 2020 / 10:10 AM / AP
U.S. Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett graduated in 1994 with honors from Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee. But more than 1,500 alumni of the small liberal arts school have made it known they are not proud of their ties to the conservative lawyer and judge.
Barrett graduated magna cum laude with an undergraduate degree in English. She was a member of the Honor Council and named the Student Hall of Fame. After her next stop at Notre Dame's law school, Barrett built a career of "professional distinction and achievement," said Rhodes president Marjorie Hass, in a statement issued after President Donald Trump nominated Barrett to replace the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
The statement was dated September 22. Soon after, Rhodes alumni Rob Marus and Katherine Morgan Breslin wrote a letter criticizing Barrett's stances on abortion law, the LBGTQ community and the Affordable Care Act. Signed by 1,513 alumni and posted online, the letter says the alumni are "firmly and passionately opposed to her nomination," declaring Barrett fails to represent their views and values.
"We are likewise firmly and passionately opposed to Rhodes administrators' attempts to embrace Amy Coney Barrett as an alumna of our beloved alma mater," the letter said. "We oppose this embrace because we believe both her record and the process that has produced her nomination are diametrically opposed to the values of truth, loyalty, and service that we learned at Rhodes."
more...
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/amy-coney-barrett-rhodes-college-alumni-undergrad-school-sign-letter-of-concern/
October 3, 2020
What Did You Expect?
October 2, 2020 at 11:30 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard
What Did You Expect?
https://politicalwire.com/2020/10/02/what-did-you-expect/What Did You Expect?
October 2, 2020 at 11:30 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard
David Frum: “Americans are dead who might have been alive if Trump had met the challenge of COVID-19 with care and responsibility—or if somebody else, literally almost anybody else, had been president instead. Millions are out of work, in danger of losing their homes, living in fear. Tens of millions of young people have suffered disruption to their education, which will follow them through life. The pandemic was not Trump’s fault, but at every turn, he made things worse than they had to be—because at every turn, he cared only for himself, never for the country. And now he will care only for himself again.”
“Trump should never have been allowed anywhere near any public office. Wish him well, but recognize that his deformed spirit will never be well—and that nothing can be well for the country under his leadership.”
“Trump should never have been allowed anywhere near any public office. Wish him well, but recognize that his deformed spirit will never be well—and that nothing can be well for the country under his leadership.”
October 2, 2020
Reality Ends The Reality Show
October 2, 2020 at 6:00 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard
Reality Ends The Reality Show
https://politicalwire.com/2020/10/02/reality-ends-the-reality-show/Reality Ends The Reality Show
October 2, 2020 at 6:00 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard
Andrew Sullivan: “It’s a terrible thing for an elderly person to get this disease, and Trump’s obesity puts him in an even more vulnerable category. No one deserves this, even those, like Trump, who openly defied prudent measures to reduce risk, and thereby helped infect and kill countless others. The president, like any human being, deserves sympathy and support.”
“But there is something salutary in the Trump era about reality reasserting itself in this last twist of the viral knife. The man has spent years at war with reality: living in delusions, perpetuating fantasies, imagining hoaxes, constructing conspiracies, accruing debt, rewriting history constantly as self-serving myth. At some point, reality was going to get personal in return.”
“But there is something salutary in the Trump era about reality reasserting itself in this last twist of the viral knife. The man has spent years at war with reality: living in delusions, perpetuating fantasies, imagining hoaxes, constructing conspiracies, accruing debt, rewriting history constantly as self-serving myth. At some point, reality was going to get personal in return.”
October 2, 2020
The Rude Pundit
Proudly lowering the level of political discourse
10/02/2020
Donald Trump Is Sick and I Really Wish I Could Feel Good About That
SNIP//
And, goddamn, I wanna be able to just say that and feel the warm glow of schadenfreude, the hot blast of karma, pour over me like oil from the supple, strong hands of a skilled masseur. But I can't. It's not that easy. If Trump had had a heart attack or a stroke or if he had gotten cancer, I could have easily gone all Nelson Muntz and moved on.
Because, see, I think about all the people around him. Not his cabinet or any of his advisers. Those fuckers deserve to drown in their own fluids. I'm talking about the people who might have had the virus spread to them, like the staff at the White House - the people serving the president and his family, the lifers, the butlers, maids, and ushers, the people who bring Trump his Diet Cokes and Big Macs. I'm thinking about the people who work at Trump's Bedminster, NJ, golf resort, where he stupidly and greedily went for a fundraiser yesterday even after finding out that his aide Hope Hicks had tested positive for coronavirus. I'm thinking about the crews on Air Force One and Marine One, as well as Trump's Secret Service agents and members of the military at the White House. And I'm thinking about their families, their elderly relatives, their sick relatives.
This is not to mention how much this whole goddamned debacle weakens a nation already weakened by Trump's abject failure to confront the pandemic. If both Trump or Biden get too sick or die, their party's nomination doesn't simply go to their vice presidents. The whole election is thrown into turmoil and, with it, whatever sanity the nation had left. It's enraging to think of how easy it would have been for him to have just worn his fucking mask and told others to do the same. Instead, he turned it into a political statement, a signal of alpha masculinity to go maskless. He deserves our endless contempt, yes, at the very least that, because of the contempt he has for all of us.
Yet I can't compartmentalize Trump's suffering now from the suffering he's caused and from the suffering of the others he may have made ill. Every laugh at his misery is also laughing at their misery. If you can do it, more power to you.
However, I don't see this as a moment for a redemption arc in this terrible time we're damned to live through. Assuming he survives (since, sorry, most do, even with comorbidities), Trump won't come out of this changed and demanding action. He'll go on being the same vile cock he always has been. So when we destroy him at the ballot box, I will luxuriate in his pain.
The Rude Pundit: Donald Trump Is Sick and I Really Wish I Could Feel Good About That
https://rudepundit.blogspot.com/2020/10/donald-trump-is-sick-and-i-really-wish.htmlThe Rude Pundit
Proudly lowering the level of political discourse
10/02/2020
Donald Trump Is Sick and I Really Wish I Could Feel Good About That
SNIP//
And, goddamn, I wanna be able to just say that and feel the warm glow of schadenfreude, the hot blast of karma, pour over me like oil from the supple, strong hands of a skilled masseur. But I can't. It's not that easy. If Trump had had a heart attack or a stroke or if he had gotten cancer, I could have easily gone all Nelson Muntz and moved on.
Because, see, I think about all the people around him. Not his cabinet or any of his advisers. Those fuckers deserve to drown in their own fluids. I'm talking about the people who might have had the virus spread to them, like the staff at the White House - the people serving the president and his family, the lifers, the butlers, maids, and ushers, the people who bring Trump his Diet Cokes and Big Macs. I'm thinking about the people who work at Trump's Bedminster, NJ, golf resort, where he stupidly and greedily went for a fundraiser yesterday even after finding out that his aide Hope Hicks had tested positive for coronavirus. I'm thinking about the crews on Air Force One and Marine One, as well as Trump's Secret Service agents and members of the military at the White House. And I'm thinking about their families, their elderly relatives, their sick relatives.
This is not to mention how much this whole goddamned debacle weakens a nation already weakened by Trump's abject failure to confront the pandemic. If both Trump or Biden get too sick or die, their party's nomination doesn't simply go to their vice presidents. The whole election is thrown into turmoil and, with it, whatever sanity the nation had left. It's enraging to think of how easy it would have been for him to have just worn his fucking mask and told others to do the same. Instead, he turned it into a political statement, a signal of alpha masculinity to go maskless. He deserves our endless contempt, yes, at the very least that, because of the contempt he has for all of us.
Yet I can't compartmentalize Trump's suffering now from the suffering he's caused and from the suffering of the others he may have made ill. Every laugh at his misery is also laughing at their misery. If you can do it, more power to you.
However, I don't see this as a moment for a redemption arc in this terrible time we're damned to live through. Assuming he survives (since, sorry, most do, even with comorbidities), Trump won't come out of this changed and demanding action. He'll go on being the same vile cock he always has been. So when we destroy him at the ballot box, I will luxuriate in his pain.
October 2, 2020
more...
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/10/02/biden-campaign-debate-coronavirus-testing-425112
Biden campaign testing those who traveled to debate
Biden tests negative...
Biden campaign testing those who traveled to debate
By NATASHA KORECKI, MARC CAPUTO and CAITLIN OPRYSKO
10/02/2020 10:50 AM EDT
Updated: 10/02/2020 11:03 AM EDT
The Biden campaign is testing those who attended the first presidential debate with the former vice president for Covid-19.
A source familiar with the situation told POLITICO that, in the wake of President Donald Trump’s confirmation that he has tested positive himself, the Biden campaign has “rapid testing capability and is testing everyone who attended the debate.”
It’s unclear how many people that involves.
Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) were among those who traveled with Biden to Tuesday’s debate and both say they have tested negative. Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti were also among those who attended the debate.
Biden has been tested, but the campaign has not said whether he has received results back yet.
Ryan expressed anger at the Trump family for its approach to the virus at the debate, saying the family and campaign should be held accountable for potentially exposing Biden and other attendees to the virus.
Ryan, who sat in the Cleveland debate hall where the Trump family refused to wear masks, said he woke up Friday morning to see the news that the president had tested positive and promptly was tested in Washington D.C. because he would have to fly home soon to be with his wife, a school teacher, and children.
“Not a one of ‘em wore masks. It was obnoxious when I saw it that night, but after having a Q-Tip jammed down my nose again, I’m angry at them,” Ryan told POLITICO, referring to the Trumps. “It’s the height of arrogance. It’s dangerous. They endangered other people. They were up on the stage where Joe Biden was.”
more...
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/10/02/biden-campaign-debate-coronavirus-testing-425112
October 2, 2020
Trump aides reportedly think he'll 'face a harsh judgment from voters' after COVID-19 diagnosis
Really??
https://theweek.com/speedreads/941307/trump-aides-reportedly-think-hell-face-harsh-judgment-from-voters-after-covid19-diagnosis
Trump aides reportedly think he'll 'face a harsh judgment from voters' after COVID-19 diagnosis
9:06 a.m.
After Trump announced that he and first lady Melania Trump had both tested positive for COVID-19, The New York Times reported that "strategists in both parties and even senior aides to Mr. Trump said the president would face a harsh judgment from voters for throwing the country into greater uncertainty after one of the most trying years in American history."
The Times goes on to report that advisers to Trump acknowledge that his positive diagnosis will "remind voters of how dismissive" he has been about the coronavirus. "Mr. Trump's recklessness, one adviser admitted, amounted to a political 'disaster,'" the Times writes. Trump has continued to hold large rallies amid the pandemic and rarely worn a mask, and he told journalist Bob Woodward that he wanted to downplay the risks of COVID-19.
Democratic pollster Geoff Garin told the Times that Trump "is now in the position of becoming exhibit No. 1 for the failure of his leadership on coronavirus, and he runs the risk that his supporters will feel misled by his dismissiveness of the virus and the need for precautions," while Republican consultant Rob Stutzman told the Times that "it's hard to imagine this doesn't end his hopes of re-election."
Ultimately, the Times writes that Trump's "personal indifference toward the virus could threaten his own health, the stability of the country and his already dimming hopes for re-election." Brendan Morrow
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Current location: Florida
Member since: Mon Sep 6, 2004, 09:54 PM
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