Mega-Thread: Trump Focused Discussion

[Breccia]

Well, you knew this was coming.

Our Ruling

"Does anyone else find it odd that no prominent Democrats have had the virus but the list of Republicans goes on and on?" said DeAnna Lorraine in an Oct. 2 tweet.

NPR has been keeping tabs on specific members of Congress who have tested positive for the coronavirus or quarantined after being exposed to it. According to the list, three Republican senators and nine representatives have tested positive or were presumed to have the coronavirus since the pandemic began. That’s more than the Democrats, who have had no senators and six representatives test positive for the virus.

Polls suggest that Republicans are less likely than Democrats to view the coronavirus as a serious public health threat. Republican representatives have also been less inclined to wear face masks during meetings and hearings, and more likely to hold in-person rallies and events. Both go against what public health authorities have recommended for slowing the spread of the coronavirus.

We reached out to Lorraine for more evidence or a comment. We haven’t heard back.

She's wrong that no prominent Democrats have contracted the coronavirus. We rate her post False.

[DarkTZeratul]

I find it hard to believe even House GOP members would elect a literally unelected Republican to the Presidency for 4 years. That would be depraved, even for them, and everything that President did would be illegitimate and I'd argue illegal, imo. In that scenario, I imagine it will be brokered between Republicans and Dems not to vote anyone into the Presidency, and let Pence pick his VP on the 21st. This is a very different scenario from both candidates barely falling short - this is a scenario where the dead candidate wins and you literally can't elect him because he's dead. The only scenario this plays out differently is if Republicans honestly think Pence's VP won't be approved by the Dem-controlled Congress post Jan 21st.

I suppose technically there's no reason they couldn't still cast their votes for Trump, but they constitutionally cannot refuse to vote and elect no one.

[Tinfoy Lat]

I suppose technically there's no reason they couldn't still cast their votes for Trump, but they constitutionally cannot refuse to vote and elect no one.

Don't forget, 33 states have laws requiring electors to cast their vote the way the state voted. IIRC most of the states' laws cancel the vote and replace the elector upon voting for someone else.

[DarkTZeratul]

Don't forget, 33 states have laws requiring electors to cast their vote the way the state voted. IIRC most of the states' laws cancel the vote and replace the elector upon voting for someone else.

Yeah, more likely than the GOP giving directives to the electors themselves might be a massive write-in campaign if they don't want to roll the dice on "vote for the dead guy."

[Breccia]

I guess on that topic, let's revisit an old friend of ours.

Did President Trump Refer to the Coronavirus as a ‘Hoax’?

What's True
During a Feb. 28, 2020, campaign rally in South Carolina, President Donald Trump likened the Democrats' criticism of his administration's response to the new coronavirus outbreak to their efforts to impeach him, saying "this is their new hoax." During the speech he also seemed to downplay the severity of the outbreak, comparing it to the common flu.

What's False
Despite creating some confusion with his remarks, Trump did not call the coronavirus itself a hoax.

It is the bolded orange on which I want to dwell.

So a number that nobody heard of that I heard of recently and I was shocked to hear it, 35,000 people on average die each year from the flu. Did anyone know that? 35,000. That’s a lot of people. It could go to 100,000, it could be 27,000, they say usually a minimum of 27, it goes up to 100,000 people a year who die, and so far we have lost nobody to coronavirus in the United States. Nobody. And it doesn’t mean we won’t, and we are totally prepared, it doesn’t mean we won’t. But think of it. You hear 35 and 40,000 people, and we’ve lost nobody, and you wonder, the press is in hysteria mode.

That was Feb 28. Over a month after "It's just one person from China".

Trump has repeatedly since said how good of a job he's doing. This often involved moving the goalposts or, as we saw in the debate, saying Biden would have done worse (which is not a defense, it's conjecture). Perhaps he can reflect favorably on his results from his hospital bed as he is the best bestiest best research study project in history. The feeling will keep him warm at night when there's an oxygen tube shoved down his throat.

Semi-related: one of the side effects of remdesivir is increased sweating. Anyone want to see yet another Nixon parallel?

[gaymer77]

One more down and a couple more to announce it soon hopefully. I never thought that COVID would be the thing that brought down this administration but lord help the world, it may just do it!!!

https://news.yahoo.com/kellyanne-con...025139542.html

[nonameelf]

Jesus fucking Christ. Tucker Carlson just compared blaming Trump for getting covid to blaming a sexual assault victim.

How in the fuck does this man still have a fucking platform?

[fwc577]

Jesus fucking Christ. Tucker Carlson just compared blaming Trump for getting covid to blaming a sexual assault victim.

How in the fuck does this man still have a fucking platform?

Unfortunately, many people in America need re-education training. And I'm not talking about some sort of fascist doctrine that they need to learn to follow under threat of death. I'm talking we need to increase their IQ so they can think for themselves and not have some preppy heir to the Swanson fortune struggle to think for them on live television.

[Pannonian]

But there still the majority party and there leader becomes the leader.

Your arguing semantics to try and worm out of what your people did.

And also Bury your head over your rising problem with the AFD.

Own it, Suck it up, and get rid of your new AFD nazis.

You guys owe the world a debt you have barely even started to pay off.

This conversation is over, its off topic and I'm not debating with some one who can't even see the problem with the AFD.

You're still ignoring how conservative politicians who were afraid of the left got rid of checks and balances as they thought they could control Hitler. While a big part of the population was enthusiastic for Hitler, a lot of them weren't. The german population was deeply divided. Hitler wasn't elected to be supreme leader, it was a coup with the help of conservatives, to install business friendly conservative politics and get rid of the left... Somehow reminiscent of another nation right now.

And while there is still some resentment against germans, it vastly depends on the country. The UK is not a good example for european feelings towards germany.

And ... aren't you British? In that case i wouldn't really start with debts owed to humanity due to the past..

[Zaydin]

So, I had a bit of a macabre thought: A lot of MAGA cultists I've seen have argued all the COVID deaths don't really count since most of the dead were old and had comorbidities and were going to die eventually anyways. Using their logic, if Trump does end up dying from COVID, will his death not really count since he was old and had comorbidities and was going to die eventually anyways?

[Elegiac]

So, I had a bit of a macabre thought: A lot of MAGA cultists I've seen have argued all the COVID deaths don't really count since most of the dead were old and had comorbidities and were going to die eventually anyways. Using their logic, if Trump does end up dying from COVID, will his death not really count since he was old and had comorbidities and was going to die eventually anyways?

Iirc he and Melania have already been added to Florida's COVID count since they are both officially residents of that wretched hive of scum and villainy, we must be cautious.

[nonameelf]

Because Fox is trash propaganda. It's also fucking hilarious how the right are clutching their pearls over "oh look at everyone else being happy he got the rona, how awful", when he has actively harmed the US people and the rest of the world with his garbage. His whiny arse followers can fuck right off.
A tweet that barely sums it up: https://twitter.com/michaelharriot/s...37306556190721

They try to frame it as a disagreement over politics when it's not that. It's about the real harm that Trump has done to people and the country. Trying to say this is about politics is just dishonest.

People aren't mocking Trump getting coronavirus because they hate his tax policy or hate his foreign policy, we're mocking him because he did real harm to real people with his coronavirus denialism. And not just in America either, his bullshit hurt people all over the world as he is the leading source of coronavirus disinformation.

[Paranoid Android]

Minnesota's three Republican congressmen flew home on a Delta flight from Washington, despite airline restrictions on passengers recently exposed to COVID-19 positive people. https://t.co/nJJPNljB0F https://t.co/jElsvFvRDQ

https://twitter.com/StarTribune/stat...374803969?s=19

Shocking. Our asshole Republican Representatives did not give a crap about safety to others and following guidelines.

[Poopymonster]

Tomorrow's headlines:

PRESIDENT TRUMP DEAD FROM BLEACH POISONING

Biden/Harris campaign spiked the presidents New Treatment, from the Makers of Clorox.

- - - Updated - - -

Imagine if the last thing he sees is Biden's smiling face. It would be darkly poetic.

Now is when that Biden Warchest could be spent. On Fox News ads. All Fucking Day. What else is Donnie gonna do all day? Stroke out when ever 12 and a half minutes a Biden ad appears?

- - - Updated - - -

Preface: I'm not wishing death on anyone.
With 3 weeks until I turn 42, this might be the best birthday ever.

Side note: I may have to join a religion. Promises were made.

[Gelannerai]

Well, you knew this was coming.

Our Ruling

Gee, it couldn’t possibly be because the GOP and Q morons purposefully turned a medical precautionary measure into a literal political mouth breathing party, could it?

- - - Updated - - -

Jesus fucking Christ. Tucker Carlson just compared blaming Trump for getting covid to blaming a sexual assault victim.

How in the fuck does this man still have a fucking platform?

Remember, legally no one sane takes Tucker Carlson seriously.

[Machismo]

Jesus fucking Christ. Tucker Carlson just compared blaming Trump for getting covid to blaming a sexual assault victim.

How in the fuck does this man still have a fucking platform?

That's easy, he panders to white supremacists. It's rather profitable.

[rayvio]

Voting really just needs to be mandatory. Solves this problem of why should I bother, AND makes our democracy actually representative. I don't understand why this isn't talked about more. At least on the left, cause of course the right wants to continue minority rule as long as they can.

you can force people to vote but you can't force them to make an informed vote. if someone doesn't vote it should just be counted as a null vote that lets all sides know that they're not managing to convince these people that there's somebody worth voting for
a lot of people are very jaded about politics these days, there's been far too many unfulfilled promises, revelations of corruption (not to mention getting away with it) and bigotry and none of the politicians seem to be considering what they can do to reassure people that their promises hold more value than all those previous ones. hell, a large part of the people who originally supported trump claimed to be doing so because he wasn't a politician (he's proved to be at least as corrupt and untrustworthy as them though) and they were 'protesting the system' or something

[Felya]

And ... aren't you British? In that case i wouldn't really start with debts owed to humanity due to the past..

I’ve pointed this out in a very similar argument about US. His fingers can only point in one direction.

[Azadina]

So...Why isn't Donny being treated with the BS drug he has been pushing the entire pandemic?

[Felya]

So...Why isn't Donny being treated with the BS drug he has been pushing the entire pandemic?

Because he is being treated by doctors, not politicians.

- - - Updated - - -

If... god forbid, as I said many times, him dying would be the worst... but, if he or members of his team die. Do we get to remove a few numbers from those ‘socialist killed X’ memes? You know... since if he listened to the socialist, communist, crazy antifa, they wouldn’t be sick? Does that work that way or do they get added to the capitalism memes? I’m old, not sure on the process of having those memes updated...