Mega-Thread: Trump Focused Discussion

[Zaydin]

Yeah...this might be part of it. I'm about 75% confident that Team Trump will hold him back, if they agree that's the problem.

If they allow Trump to fire Fauci now, during the worst of the outbreak, then they have admitted they're going to lose the re-election.

I think Moscow Mitch has probably told Trump that if he fires Fauci in the middle of the Trump Virus outbreak in the US the only way he will avoid being impeached twice is for him to resign immediately after.

[Breccia]

we're at 20,602 now

Total rises to 22,079 and a break from the two-thousand-a-day streak, aligning with models suggesting social distancing is working. Let's hope that trend continues without, you know, people being rushed back to work without safety precautions, or running to crowded religious events.

[Dontrike]

So the dingleberry has now resorted to retweeting threats to fire Fauci....it just keep getting worse.

https://www.businessinsider.com/trum...e-fauci-2020-4

And there it is, the moment Trump goes against him. We all saw this coming, honestly I thought it would have happened weeks ago.

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Total rises to 22,079 and a break from the two-thousand-a-day streak, aligning with models suggesting social distancing is working. Let's hope that trend continues without, you know, people being rushed back to work without safety precautions, or running to crowded religious events.

I fully expect this virus will come and go in waves. Some states will break the social distancing early and then we will all have to do it again, and then repeat.

[Zaydin]

And there it is, the moment Trump goes against him. We all saw this coming, honestly I thought it would have happened weeks ago.

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I fully expect this virus will come and go in waves. Some states will break the social distancing early and then we will all have to do it again, and then repeat.

Yep. ANd the states that took this seriously and didn't rush to reopen will have to close again too due to red states infecting everyone all over again.

[Acidbaron]

And there it is, the moment Trump goes against him. We all saw this coming, honestly I thought it would have happened weeks ago.

He should have walked away Fauci is a fool as all he really was doing there was propping up an administration that was going to try to justify their actions because they had a doctor in the room. He called this on himself. Now this is going to be spun in such a matter that Fauci was giving bad advice and dumbo had it all planned better if he wouldn't have been around, either on the medical front or the economy whatever does worse.

[Kiri]

He should have walked away Fauci is a fool as all he really was doing there was propping up an administration that was going to try to justify their actions because they had a doctor in the room. He called this on himself. Now this is going to be spun in such a matter that Fauci was giving bad advice and dumbo had it all planned better if he wouldn't have been around, either on the medical front or the economy whatever does worse.

Let's be fair, they would have spun it that way anyway. This administration believes - to some extent rightfully so - that they can rewrite past statements to begin with.

[Trunksee]

And there it is, the moment Trump goes against him. We all saw this coming, honestly I thought it would have happened weeks ago.

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I fully expect this virus will come and go in waves. Some states will break the social distancing early and then we will all have to do it again, and then repeat.

In a country the size and the way the US is set up this isn't going anywhere for a long time. The way we have states structured and with states having their own rights we are going to be dealing with waves until this time next year. Unless states lock their borders to anyone from people from other states entering their borders this is just going to keep rearing its head. Same goes with the world as a whole. This thing is just going to keep coming back. The best we can do is prep the hospitals for a huge influx and get this over with. I don't know how any country can say they have it contained with the way the world economy works. I say at this point lets get the hospitals built up and ready for whats to come and send everyone back to work. The faster we get herd immunity with the hospitals ready the faster we get back to our lives. We cant survive like this until a vaccine is ready.

[PosPosPos]

Well, I guess if you think about it, a golf ball is basically what the coronavirus would look like if it had spikes instead of dimples.

[Felya]

If I'm reading this correctly, Washington has 292 cases. Scaling Washington's population up to NYState's, they'd still be under a thousand.

Washington State did a great job.

Yep, we closed the stadium that was converted to a hospital and have been sending our supplies to rest of country.

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He won't be fired right now but his name will be added to the shit list and he'll be given the boot when Trump thinks it's safe to do it without it hurting him. Just like he did with the AG that blew the whistle on his Ukranian blackmail/extortion attempt.

Actually, after yesterday’s tweet storm and Fox reporting on it, I don’t think he will last past this week. Yeah... I changed my mind...

[Breccia]

As nice as it would be for a wonder drug you just happen to own to magically end the COVID-19 outbreak, the NYTimes reports that another study into the anti-malarial was stopped, because the patients' heartbeats started going wonky to the point the doctors said "If we keep this up, they'll get worse or die. As doctors, we're not allowed to do that, and also as human beings, we wouldn't want to, that's just common sense." In Portuguese. Because the study was in Brazil.

This isn't a movie or TV show, people. We don't just happen to have vast reserves of a pill that just happens to cure the plague on its first try with no side effects. Even if chloroquine turns out to be useful in treatment, there are still other factors in play, such as proper dosage and drug interactions.

[Orbitus]

As nice as it would be for a wonder drug you just happen to own to magically end the COVID-19 outbreak, the NYTimes reports that another study into the anti-malarial was stopped, because the patients' heartbeats started going wonky to the point the doctors said "If we keep this up, they'll get worse or die. As doctors, we're not allowed to do that, and also as human beings, we wouldn't want to, that's just common sense." In Portuguese. Because the study was in Brazil.

This isn't a movie or TV show, people. We don't just happen to have vast reserves of a pill that just happens to cure the plague on its first try with no side effects. Even if chloroquine turns out to be useful in treatment, there are still other factors in play, such as proper dosage and drug interactions.

Don't worry, Fox News and their personalities will keep pushing it til Trump stops pushing it. Wouldn't be surprised if they all bought stock in companies that make it.

[Thekri]

Actually, after yesterday’s tweet storm and Fox reporting on it, I don’t think he will last past this week. Yeah... I changed my mind...

It has been pretty easy to tell that Trump has desperately wanted to fire Fauci for some time now. However someone is telling Trump that he can't, and he is getting increasingly resentful at being told he can't. So now he is lashing out on social media because he isn't being allowed to actually fire him. Weather or not Trump actually fires Fauci really depends on who is telling him that he can't, and how much leverage they have on Trump. If it is Mulvaney, Fauci would probably already be fired. If it is Pence, Fauci will probably get fired in the coming days. If it is McConnell, Fauci is probably safe for the duration of the crisis.

Trump has three "Solutions" to every problem he has ever faced.
1) Fire somebody
2) Sue somebody
3) Loudly complain about it in public

His attempts to resolve the Coronavirus by complaining about it haven't been successful (Something it has in common with Trade, the Afghan War, the Syrian War, NATO, The Economy, The immigration crisis...), and he doesn't really have anyone to sue. So he REALLY wants to start firing people, but someone is telling him he can't.

[kaid]

If I'm reading this correctly, Washington has 292 cases. Scaling Washington's population up to NYState's, they'd still be under a thousand.

Washington State did a great job.

As sad as what happened in that nursing home was I think it was the wake up slap needed for them to take what was happening as seriously as it deserved.

[Breccia]

If it is Pence, Fauci will probably get fired in the coming days.

For the 24 hours, or whatever it was, between Trump putting Pence in charge and Trump basically saying "Nah, just kidding, I'm going to keep hogging the spotlight", Pence was actually direct, competent, and effective. First thing he did was get as many doctors who weren't nailed down to help. And Pence has a pretty powerful weapon up his sleeve, too: the 2020 election.

Trump can't fire Pence. That's legally impossible. But also, he doesn't want to. Pence not only represents the last remaining tie between the Party of Trump and the rank-and-file GOP, many of whom are having second thoughts, but also Pence represents Trump's ability to pick the right people for the job. Yes, Trump at this point has possibly fired more people than Obama ever hired, but admitting before the election that he made a mistake and wants a new VP will easily cost him the few people in the few states that let him barely carry the Electoral College.

Pence knows this.

Which is why Pence, if Trump does something to intentionally harm the country, can always just leave.

I've said, multiple times, that anyone who intentionally sides with Trump is clinging on for dear life, because they know they won't have a job afterwards. And I stand behind that, for the most part. From their point of view, it's better to stay on the sinking ship and hope for a miracle, than jump into the turbulent sea and definitely drown. Or say "the captain is a bad captain" and be thrown overboard. Until recently, I've had no reason to alter that viewpoint.

However, we're approaching the point where Trump, in this metaphor the captain of the S. S. Abmud (you'll get there), is about to tell his crew "Listen, I know I said we'd make port by Easter Lol, but we're still weeks from land and we're out of food. So in order to get there, we're going to eat the ship's doctor."

Which leaves First Matey Pence with three options.

1) Say "No, we're not killing the doctor" and if necessary threaten mutiny to save the doctor's life.

2) Say "Oh, fuck this, I'm out" and jump overboard, taking the quicker death by drowning over the sin of eating human flesh and/or the chance that Trump would want to eat him next. If enough crew follow him, Trump can't make it back to port and the horror show ends.

3) Sail into port with blood on his hands and lips to explain to the doctor's family "I did what I had to do for my personal benefit".

Pence is a lot of things, many of them objectionable, but I don't believe he hates this country and I don't believe he wants to watch it die. If he bails on the ticket, even if it's in a quiet, restrained way, everyone will know why -- and it's not because he got a better offer. It'd be because he'd rather not have a job than keep one that's murdering thousands of Americans.

The 25th is likely not an option anymore, Trump filled his cabinet with acting yes-men. But if Pence leaves, either literally or figuratively saying "Trump is a menace and he's getting people killed", that, in addition to all the other votes lost because Trump failed to provide pretty much anything he promised, the remaining members of the Republican Party but not the Party of Trump will also bail, and Trump loses the re-election.

Fauci is bulletproof.

[kaid]

Honestly I don't see what good firing fauci would even do. Okay so you fired him and now every news agency is going to be having him come on to talk about covid non stop for the duration of this pandemic and now he has zero reason to soft ball to appease the president.

[solinari6]

he'll probably just stop inviting him to the daily press conference and refuse to let him go on any shows, sending that other woman instead.

[Thekri]

Fauci is bulletproof.

I get the argument you are making, but I disagree. Trump can't fire Pence, but he can ignore him. I have seen no indication that Pence really has any leverage over Trump, he is a useful asset, but he is just a toady, not a controller. If Pence is telling him not to fire Fauci, Trump may listen to his advice for a while, but unless he threatens to leave, he has no leverage to make that stick.

I do not believe Pence will leave, I do not believe he will do anything other then loyally go down with the ship, no matter how high the body count goes. I don't think Pence hates the country, but I do believe he is fundamentally a coward who refuses to stand up for anything he believes in. The last 4 years of flagrantly ignoring his own religious principles have proved that.

[Breccia]

I have seen no indication that Pence really has any leverage over Trump, he is a useful asset, but he is just a toady, not a controller.

Pence could have changed the way this worked ages ago, and it's too late now. But, he still has the option of threatening to resign, tell everyone Trump is a horrible person and President, destroy his re-election and legacy forever. But he can't/won't use that for every little thing. Murdering thousands of Americans? He'd use it for that.

If your only weapon is a Fat Man, you don't fire it at radroaches. You save it for deathclaws.

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This CNN article, which I'm just going to post while laughing hysterically, lays out the case for who Trump's greatest ally is:

The Fed's Powell.

Who Trump's maligned for years.

The world's most powerful central bank has done more, faster, than any central bank in history as the Covid-19 pandemic has ravaged the US economy, leaving tens of thousands of small businesses on the precipice of implosion and creating a cascade of job losses totaling in the millions each week.

Under Powell -- a former investment banker appointed by Trump, who has since suggested he regretted the choice -- the Fed has pushed the boundaries of actions and power to a degree that was considered exceedingly difficult, unlikely or impossible as recently as the 2008 financial crisis.

"It really is impressive the speed with which they move," David Wessel, a senior fellow in economic studies at the Brookings Institution and the author of the definitive history of the Fed's actions during the 2008 crisis. "They are doing things in days and weeks that it took them months to do during '07, '08 and '09."

The latest blast, announced this past week, would provide up to $2.3 trillion in lending programs for companies, cities and states, a move that extended the scale Fed's efforts to a place they had simply never been before.

Powell, in a conversation with Wessel on Thursday after the rollout of the latest lending bazooka, framed the action -- and everything the Fed has done -- as an effort to match the moment with commensurate action.

"None of us has the luxury of choosing our challenges; fate and history provide them for us. Our job is to meet the tests we are presented," Powell said. "At the Fed, we are doing all we can to help shepherd the economy through this difficult time."

Now the article does go on to point out criticism -- for example, the possible/likely bad actors who are encouraged to lend to struggling companies. But I think it's hilarious that, just like with China, Trump is forced to beg someone for help when he's been bad-mouthing them nonstop.

[Acidbaron]

Let's be fair, they would have spun it that way anyway. This administration believes - to some extent rightfully so - that they can rewrite past statements to begin with.

They would have but he could have made it harder for them, all those times when he did not step in all those times when he did not directly and clearly corrected the president but had to do so in a matter that didn't hurt his feelings. I am sorry but that man doesn't deserve half of the praise he gets. There's a person on stage telling people to take a deadly drug and he goes "oh well yeah better not do it" , simply weak.

[Thekri]

Pence could have changed the way this worked ages ago, and it's too late now. But, he still has the option of threatening to resign, tell everyone Trump is a horrible person and President, destroy his re-election and legacy forever. But he can't/won't use that for every little thing. Murdering thousands of Americans? He'd use it for that.

If your only weapon is a Fat Man, you don't fire it at radroaches. You save it for deathclaws.

I just think it is widely optimistic to think that Pence is saving it for anything. I doubt he sees any red lines at all. To get this far with this administration you have to have rationalized and internalized a lot of shit, I don't think Pence sees the existence of an exit ramp. If Trump fires Fauci against Pence's advice, I don't think that changes anything for Pence.

That said, I am not at all convinced it is Pence that is advocating for Fauci, it could also be McConnell. McConnell is really paranoid about the idea of a Democratic sweep in November on the back of this, and firing Fauci would not help his cause.