The Trump Presidency: Part 20

[BrooklynBaby]

Trump's popularity rises as fake news and the Democrats try their best to trash him 24/7. Must be frustrating to see a real leader like Trump in time of crisis being praised by Cuomo and Newsom. He's a cinch to be reelected now. Anyone seen Biden, the invisible man? Haven't heard from him since he plagiarized all of Trump's virus decisions and declared that was what he would do if he was POTUS. What a loser.

 

[Cain]

On the issue of whether Trump downplayed the virus, there's this NYT opinion piece, which at least might have a list of his statements.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/15/opinion/trump-coronavirus.html


But I can't see it, have to subscribe.

There has been some surprising dispute about this.

I'd love it if someone can read this article and simply post here a list of trump's statements in public, with dates.

That should settle it. Not the writer's opinion, but the quotes.

Here's a pretty good clip:

https://twitter.com/andylassner/status/1241533348742180864

Here's another one with some overlap from Republicans for Rule of Law

 

[Andy_Ross]

Trump Tweets

Will be having a News Conference from our beautiful White House at 5:00 P.M. Many things to discuss. Thank you!

 

[calebprime]

Here's a pretty good clip:

https://twitter.com/andylassner/status/1241533348742180864

Here's another one with some overlap from Republicans for Rule of Law

Yeah, I posted the text excerpts up-thread. They were the same.

Now, why is anyone here saying that Trump didn't downplay the epidemic?

It doesn't matter about 1 "hoax" statement he made about the Democrats, because he made so many other statements.

I'm mystified why anyone here is arguing about this. It's right there in the record.

 

[Stacyhs]

He's there because no one in the military or law enforcement has the guts to remember their oath to the Consitution and the people, take out their service weapon, and say "Donald J. Trump, you are under arrest and hereby removed from office."

Their Oath is to protetct us from all enemies "forgeign AND DOMESTIC". Trump and the treasonous GOP are classic Domestic Enemies of the nation. It literally IS their job to do this. And the Peoples' job to do if they fail or refuse to do so.

May be mixing up oaths here. You quoted part of the military oath, not the one politicians take. Just a nit.

No, CP was referring to the military and its oath, not the one politicians take. "Their" in his second quote is referring to military too. He quoted the first part of the military oath and I added the part he left out:

I, (NAME), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed ...

 

[dudalb]

I know. It's a royal PITA on this tablet.

Jan 22: We have it totally under control ... it's going to be just fine.

Jan 24: It will all work out well.

Jan 30: We have it very well under control. We have very little problem in this country at this moment — five. And those people are all recuperating successfully.

Jan 31: We pretty much shut it down coming in from China.

Feb 10: Looks like by April, you know, in theory, when it gets a little warmer, it miraculously goes away.

Feb 19: I think the numbers are going to get progressively better as we go along.

Feb 23: Very much under control.

March 2: It's very mild.

March 7: I'm not concerned at all.

Oh, I am sure the Demcorats have an ad using those all ready to go....

 

[Bob001]

....
It doesn't matter about 1 "hoax" statement he made about the Democrats, because he made so many other statements.
....

It's a very thin line between claiming that the virus is a hoax, and claiming that the Democrats are exaggerating it as a hoax. You can be sure the Trumpers knew what he meant, even if he didn't literally say "the virus is a hoax." And when he said "And we have it totally under control. It’s one person coming in from China, and we have it under control.", that's not much different.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-calls-coronavirus-democrats-new-hoax-n1145721
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/02/28/trump-south-carolina-rally-coronavirus-118269

 

[Stacyhs]

That does seem to be something of recursive loop, a Catch-22, a suicide pact. Elect he who would destroy the Nation, but who must also must be obeyed. That's the basis of Robocop's programming; you can't go after your 'master' no matter how corrupt or culpable. Taken literally, this oath would seem to invite a dictator. And today's GOP is testing it out.

It would seem so except for the fact that a soldier can disobey any unlawful order. So if the president issued an unlawful or un-Constitutional order, it could be disobeyed and not betray the oath.

 

[Bob001]

Trump's popularity rises as fake news and the Democrats try their best to trash him 24/7. Must be frustrating to see a real leader like Trump in time of crisis being praised by Cuomo and Newsom. He's a cinch to be reelected now. Anyone seen Biden, the invisible man? Haven't heard from him since he plagiarized all of Trump's virus decisions and declared that was what he would do if he was POTUS. What a loser.

You're kidding, right? If Trump had reacted responsibly, like a "real leader," he would have started acting almost two months ago, and we wouldn't be where we are today.

U.S. intelligence agencies were issuing ominous, classified warnings in January and February about the global danger posed by the coronavirus while President Trump and lawmakers played down the threat and failed to take action that might have slowed the spread of the pathogen, according to U.S. officials familiar with spy agency reporting.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nati...9d8cda-6ad5-11ea-b5f1-a5a804158597_story.html

 

[Horatius]

You're kidding, right? If Trump had reacted responsibly, like a "real leader," he would have started acting almost two months ago, and we wouldn't be where we are today.

The sad/scary part is, he isn't kidding. I've seen the same stupid pro-Trump BS on Facebook. There really is a hard core of morons who believe he's doing a great job.

This is what we're up against.

 

[The Shrike]

It's a very thin line between claiming that the virus is a hoax, and claiming that the Democrats are exaggerating it as a hoax.

And what would that even mean? People – Democrats, Independents, Republicans in the US and people of all political stripes elsewhere in the world were saying the same thing: "we need to prepare for a pandemic." Trump wasn't claiming they they weren't saying that, so that part can't be the hoax. The only thing that could be the hoax would be the severity of the threat from the virus.

Therefore, even if we tie ourselves into knots to give him the benefit of the doubt for his verbal cole slaw, Trump would still have been projecting to the American people that the threat of COVID-19 was minimal despite the contrary claims of his political rivals. Now that Trump has done a rhetorical 180, that's an admission that the threat was NOT ginned-up political posturing as he had claimed. He was wrong, and more Americans will end up dead because he sucks.

 

[calebprime]

ignore this post

Trump: "Romney's in isolation? Gee, too bad."

dripping with sarcasm

**** him

ETA: I might have to pull an Emily Latella: maybe he said "Ronnie" ? meaning Ron Paul ??

It was a brief exchange and I'd need to go back to the tape to be sure.

 

[Resume]

Trump: "Romney's in isolation? Gee, too bad."

dripping with sarcasm

**** him

nm

 

[sts60]

Trump's popularity rises as fake news and the Democrats try their best to trash him 24/7. Must be frustrating to see a real leader like Trump in time of crisis being praised by Cuomo and Newsom. He's a cinch to be reelected now. Anyone seen Biden, the invisible man? Haven't heard from him since he plagiarized all of Trump's virus decisions and declared that was what he would do if he was POTUS. What a loser.

Do you speak any language other than Bumper Sticker?

Or is this just Poe’s Law at work?

 

[Meadmaker]

Trump's popularity rises as fake news and the Democrats try their best to trash him 24/7. Must be frustrating to see a real leader like Trump in time of crisis being praised by Cuomo and Newsom. He's a cinch to be reelected now. Anyone seen Biden, the invisible man? Haven't heard from him since he plagiarized all of Trump's virus decisions and declared that was what he would do if he was POTUS. What a loser.

Plus, Trump is the one that made sure that anyone who wants a test, gets a test. He should be rewarded for his great work in that department.

 

[Mader Levap]

I want to know criteria for assessment how well Trump did with COVID-19. I mean real criteria, of course, not "he will fail because he is republican" or "he will do good because he is republican". Some people already know everything (though I agree one can predict future performance based on past performance).

For me, pretty good objective critera would be amount of deaths. Certain minimal number is inevitable even with best response, of course. But how much is too much?

I would see it as two numbers. Smaller one is amount of deaths below which USA did very good job and Trump gets credit. Bigger one is number when USA and Trump fails catastrophically. Anything between is "meh, could be better, could be worse".

There are also other considerations - for example if we try to grade USA on curve, we compare it's performance with results from other countries.
Comparing with other countries must take in account differences in population (for example, in more populous country more people will die all other things being equal) to be it of any value.

Obviously, this kind of assessment would be possible only in aftermath, or at least when majority of crisis is over. I think November is sufficiently far away in future. In fact, it is sufficiently far in future to catch screwups like allowing for second wave of infections and things like that.

 

[Tero]

Oh look! The pandemic is about....Trump!
https://www.politico.com/amp/news/2020/03/22/maga-movement-trump-coronavirus-140949

 

[calebprime]

Trump: "Romney's in isolation? Gee, too bad."

dripping with sarcasm

**** him

ETA: I might have to pull an Emily Latella: maybe he said "Ronnie" ? meaning Ron Paul ??

It was a brief exchange and I'd need to go back to the tape to be sure.

nm

Nope, confirmed. I heard right.

The reporter said: "Was that sarcasm, sir?"

What a ******' scumbag.

 

[dudalb]

More bad news on the Economic Front:

https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/22/poli...-coronavirus-negotiations-congress/index.html

Another bloodbath in the markets tomorrow, almost certainly.

 

[Stacyhs]

Oh look! The pandemic is about....Trump!
https://www.politico.com/amp/news/2020/03/22/maga-movement-trump-coronavirus-140949

A segment of American voters, particularly those who sided with Trump through the past three years of scandals, agree.

“We’re Americans, right? We don't live in a communist country, nor do we have to stay indoors,” said Katie Williams, a Las Vegas woman running for Clark County school board, citing Owens as an influence

Williams blamed the media and liberals for pushing things this far.

“I mean, we are just one step away from communism at that point, you know?” she said. “With this media hype about the coronavirus, I think a lot of more democratic politicians, local politicians, are trying to push that agenda into more of a communist rule.”

“I just went to a crowded Red Robin and I’m 30,” Williams tweeted. “It was delicious and I took my sweet time eating my meal. Because this is America. And I’ll do what I want.”

Williams does not believe her tweet was endangering public health.

“I don't have it. I haven't been exposed to anyone who has it,” she said to POLITICO. “I don't have any elderly people in my 10-foot radius of where I would go. And so when people were like, ‘You're irresponsible, you're out there spreading it,’ I'm like, ‘I can't spread it if I don't have it.’”

Please, if there is a God in heaven, keep this idiot off the school board. She's the epitome of stupid.