Mega-Thread: Trump Focused Discussion

[TigTone]

I see a whole lot of posting about what Trump said but not a ton about the ramifications.

Trump babbles about hydroxychloroquine and people died because they drank fish tank cleaner.

We're not talking about smart people here. I'm comfortable the number of deaths directly due to Trump on this topic will be at least in the double digits from people drinking or injecting things they shouldn't.

What is not only remarkable is his absolute insistence on not shutting the fuck up but continuing to do so after killing people.

In just country he would be held responsible for those deaths but USA is not known for being fair or just.

[Shadowferal]

I hate everything about this timeline.

I'm reminded of the thread we had regarding "Best Decade," and the few that seemed to think this decade was the best.
The word "premature" comes to mind.

[Levelfive]

Apologies if this has already been posted somewhere, but wow: https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/n...sion-is-espers

"Navy Recommends Reinstating Captain Who Warned About COVID, But Decision Is Esper’s"

[Vankrys]

So it turns out that Trump didn't really mean that people should inject bleach. He was being "sarcastic".

So someone has had the guts to point out to him that what he said was spectacularly stupid, and he's lying with the sort of excuse that an 8 year old might come up with. Or a demented old racist idiot. Your call.

He didn't say that.
And if he did, he didn't mean that.
And if he did, you didn't understand it.
And if you did, it's not a big deal.
And if it is, others have said worse.

[Lenonis]

I'm reminded of the thread we had regarding "Best Decade," and the few that seemed to think this decade was the best.
The word "premature" comes to mind.

I don't know what the deal is but the first 4 months of 2020 have been just insane and not just due to COVID. When I was pondering my 2020 with friends at NYE this is not what I envisioned.

[Vankrys]

What truly makes it dangerous is the doctors that are working with him have two choices:
a) say "No, that's a dangerous idea and nobody should do it", or
b) keep their job.

Wouldn't experts like Dr Fauci make in the private sector 3-5 times what they make working for the government anyway.
Maybe money isn't everything, they like their job and want to make a meaningful impact on public health, but why do they bow to such a moron then.

[Breccia]

Apologies if this has already been posted somewhere,

I don't think it was. Thanks for the heads-up.

I'm not done pounding this tent peg into the dirt.

"I was asking a question sarcastically to reporters just like you, just to see what would happen," Trump said on Friday during a bill signing for the coronavirus aid package. "I was asking a sarcastic and a very sarcastic question to the reporters in the room about disinfectant on the inside. But it does kill it and it would kill it on the hands, and it would make things much better."

But the president's comments the day before — a lengthy musing that disinfectant or powerful light could be used to fight the virus — did not appear to be sarcasm; they were in part directed at a Homeland Security official.

Again: he was clearly and obviously talking to the doctor. Trump claimed he was being sarcastic and only joking about injecting bleach, with his doctor, in the coronavirus press conference.

He also asked Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House pandemic response coordinator, to ask doctors whether heat and light could be used to treat the virus.

"Not as a treatment," she said. "Certainly fever is a good thing, when you have a fever, it helps your body respond. But I have not seen heat or light…"

"I think it's a great thing to look at," Trump responded.

Pressed by a reporter on Thursday on offering "rumors" to the American people, Trump said, "I'm the president and you're fake news."

Trump doesn't have answers. That's why it was retroactively a joke about thousands of Americans dying. And when asked a question he can't answer, he doesn't even try. Handwaving. "Fake News".

[Lenonis]

Wouldn't experts like Dr Fauci make in the private sector 3-5 times what they make working for the government anyway.

It probably depends on their specialty. Not all doctors earn equally. You also have to factor in things like malpractice insurance, benefits, and just the desire to run a private practice. Not all people who get MDs decide they like interacting with patients.

[Breccia]

Maybe money isn't everything, they like their job and want to make a meaningful impact on public health.

Which goes right back to my original question. They are forced to make the choice between "making a meaningful impact once, by saying something is dangerous, then being fired" versus "making a meaningful impact by trying to slow the disinformation coming directly from Trump by going on CNN the next day or saying that it's not a standard method and it's not happening yet".

In most situations, you wouldn't have to make that choice.

- - - Updated - - -

Let's throw in FOX News.

On Friday, the president went on to maintain that he was asking his medical officials to “look into whether or not sun and disinfectant on the hands can help us.”

“He came in yesterday saying they did a very big study,” Trump said of Bryan, noting they found that “sun has a massive impact negatively on this virus, in other words, it does not live well with humidity, with sunlight, with heat, and disinfectant.”

He added: “I thought it was clear.”

FOX News is possibly the one outlet that didn't say "it clearly wasn't sarcasm" but they do lay out the same series of events. Including this:

Nevertheless, on Friday, the Environmental Protection Agency warned Americans “do not ingest disinfectant products,” after the president’s remarks.

So if Trump was being sarcastic, why issue the warning? "I thought it was clear" doesn't seem to be the case.

[Vankrys]

It probably depends on their specialty. Not all doctors earn equally. You also have to factor in things like malpractice insurance, benefits, and just the desire to run a private practice. Not all people who get MDs decide they like interacting with patients.

i don't think an expert like Fauci has to see a single patient if he doesn't want to. He has worked under 6 administration and is the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) since 1984.

He can make form himself a giant pot of gold working as consultant for big pharma.

[Lenonis]

i don't think an expert like Fauci has to see a single patient if he doesn't want to. He has worked under 6 administration and is the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) since 1984.

He can make form himself a giant pot of gold working as consultant for big pharma.

OHHHH! I see what you mean now by private sector. Honestly he's probably just so settled into his government post he's just sticking around until retirement. But yes, people with government experience are often highly valued by pharma and other private business.

[Paranoid Android]

A move warranted but I get a deep feeling that Stephen Miller was aroused at this announcement.

I'm good at this.

JUST IN: Stephen Miller tells supporters immigration pause part of a larger strategy to reduce overall immigration: report https://t.co/y7S1BaT4pz https://t.co/GJC1kdlMGJ

https://twitter.com/thehill/status/1...253906944?s=19

So no doubt they are using the COVID-19 for their anti-immigration policy.


https://www.mmo-champion.com/threads...1#post52280170

[Jessicka]

I see a whole lot of posting about what Trump said but not a ton about the ramifications.

Trump babbles about hydroxychloroquine and people died because they drank fish tank cleaner.

We're not talking about smart people here. I'm comfortable the number of deaths directly due to Trump on this topic will be at least in the double digits from people drinking or injecting things they shouldn't.

What is not only remarkable is his absolute insistence on not shutting the fuck up but continuing to do so after killing people.

Even the hydroxychloroquine ramblings were bullshit. More patients died on it than those just getting ventilation in the latest study (though not statistically enough to say it killed them, but enough to say, along with other studies, to say it makes no difference). People have been buying that up and overdosing on it too, because they don't know how to take it and think more = better.

He is not helping. Worse, he's spreading disinformation that's actually killing people. People have been thrown in jail for that.

[thilicen]

Trump evading press questions today tells you everything you need to know about yesterday. Fuck me.

Meanwhile Pence is acting 938329 times as presidential as Trump ever could with the way he's handling these conferences. Despite his religious views he would have been a much more stable commander in chief during a crisis like this. Tragic.

[Paranoid Android]

Man Just Buying One Of Every Cleaning Product In Case Trump Announces It’s Coronavirus Cure https://t.co/3bKatQGz04 https://t.co/0kkhWzjl98

https://twitter.com/TheOnion/status/...924446212?s=19

This was posted on March 25th. Not a day after Trump's press conference.

Not only doesThe Onion headlines have become more true, they predict Trump's idiocy in the future.

[Zan15]

does not get any better than this


https://www.axios.com/trump-daily-co...0ad1d29b0.html

Trump plans to cut daily coronavirus briefings

[Breccia]

" Stephen Miller tells supporters immigration pause part of a larger strategy to reduce overall immigration"

Again, Trump already admitted this is not about flattening the curve, but holding jobs when Americans can return to them.

Which of course implies that companies are taking the opportunity to fire people and trying to hire lower-cost immigrants. Yet somehow this isn't about visas, it's about permanent citizenship immigration.

So yeah, this was just an opportunistic move. Sneaking in racism while everyone's too busy huffing bleach to notice.

[D Luniz]

does not get any better than this


https://www.axios.com/trump-daily-co...0ad1d29b0.html

Trump plans to cut daily coronavirus briefings

Ah, that moment you wonder "seeing it would likely be his own supporters it hurts anyways, is it bad he keeps coming out and politically continues tying his own noose?"

[Beefhammer]

does not get any better than this


https://www.axios.com/trump-daily-co...0ad1d29b0.html

Trump plans to cut daily coronavirus briefings

If any of it was really about infection control and pandemic response we wouldn't see or hear from him at all during these. It would be left up to the scientists/doctors/heads of departments involved. Obama didn't need his face on TV daily back in 2009.

[draynay]

Obama didn't need his face on TV daily back in 2009.

But that's different, Obama had a job.