Mega-Thread: Trump Focused Discussion

[Breccia]

Well it's Sunday, and you know what that means -- everyone is on TV.

1) The director of the Center for Health Security at Johns Hopkins said that large events (cough rallies cough) should just not take place.

I think there is clear danger in having events where there are many people close together without wearing masks for a long period of time, especially where loud voices are used

He also said Pence should be in quarantine, which he is not. Also, he said it on FOX News.

2) Steve Cortes was the sacrificial lamb that Trump's campaign threw at Chris Wallace and, oh boy, did he draw the short straw.

“Do they think that the health and safety rules for everybody else do not apply to them?” Wallace asked Cortes on “Fox News Sunday.”

“Everybody was tested before that event, as you well know,” Cortes responded.

“It doesn’t matter, everybody that was in that room was tested and the Cleveland Clinic’s regulation was that it didn’t matter,” Wallace said. “Everybody was tested beforehand, everybody was told to wear a mask, why did the first family and the chief of staff feel the rules for everybody didn’t apply to them?”

“We also believe in some element of individual choice … people were distanced and they had been tested,” Cortes responded.

“They weren’t distanced and there were rules and there was no freedom of choice …they broke the rules, why did they break the rules?” Wallace pressed.

And it went downhill from there. What kind of fucking idiot would dare say "masks aren't that important" to Chris Wallace's face right now?

2a) Another Trump campaign advisor tried the same trick with George Stephanopoulos.

Advisor: I’d push back on that because President Trump is one of the most tested people in the entire country, and there’s a lot we still don’t know about this virus.

Stephanopoulous: So even with all of these things in place, we’ve seen where President Trump did contract COVID but he’s one of the most safe people that’s out there

That same advisor actually said

You know, I would say that with regard to Joe Biden, I think too often he's used the mask as a prop. A mask is very important, but even if he's — he could be 20, 30 feet away from the nearest person and still have the mask on

No really, wanna see the video? He actually said that while Trump was in the fucking hospital.

3) Ohio governor DeWine went on CNN and said, basically, we should all learn from Trump's mistakes.

"Which ones? There are thousands."

Hardee har har.

What I hope is what we've seen with the president is a cautionary tale.

This should be kind of an alert to everybody, that anybody can get the virus — even the president of the United States.

So people who maybe haven't worn masks in the past, I'm hoping they'll look at this and say, ‘the president can get it, I can get it.’ It can happen to anybody, I hope that's what happens and that's what comes out of it

DeWine went on to say that the White House has yet to offer any help with contact tracing despite effectively intentionally bringing infected people to his state, lying about it, then leaving. Maybe "despite" is the wrong word.

Ohio is a tossup state.

4) Sen. Klobuchar also went on FOX News, because at this point why not bring in Democrats, and called for the postponing of the SCOTUS vote because

We’ve got the fact that three senators have it, two are on the Judiciary Committee … we don’t know how many other Republican senators had it

Circle the part where she's incorrect. Oh, she's fearmongering, but she's correct. And considering what McConnell just did with floor votes, it's hard to argue against that, other than "we're willing to risk your lives to be hypocrites".

5) One of Biden's advisors says they are not concerned, because they are being safe.

That was fucking stupid.

6) It's time again for Guess the Speaker!

You can trust me because I believe in science and karma. Now, just imagine if science and karma could somehow team up and send us all a message about how dangerous this virus can be. I’m not saying I want it to happen. Just imagine if it did.

-- Jim Carrey as Joe Biden on SNL

7) Before Chuck Todd interviewed the same guy that "Biden's mask is a prop" guy, he said "We should note, the White House would not provide a doctor or a senior White House official to offer an update on the president’s condition"

Hmm. Subtle.

8) This ABC News poll says that 72% of people believe Trump didn't take the COVID-19 outbreak seriously, and did not take appropriate precautions. That means there's some 10-15% out there, minimum, who said that but will still vote for him anyway during the outbreak Trump caused.

9) The CDC projected death by Oct 24 is 232,000 which means the death count is projected to increase. I don't know why Oct 24 is so important, but if I were working for Trump, I would question my life choices that led me there and not expect to be paid absolutely never give any further projection about the deaths further increasing as the flu season goes on.

Several states are already seeing new records.

On Saturday alone, four states - Kentucky, Minnesota, Montana and Wisconsin - saw record increases in new cases and nationally nearly 49,000 new infections were reported, the highest for a Saturday in seven weeks, according to a Reuters analysis. Kansas, Nebraska, New Hampshire, South Dakota and Wyoming also set new records for cases last week.

Welcome back, @Benggaul you're not going to like that part very much.

10) The movie industry and the airline industry are struggling to stay alive, while McConnell refuses any votes. There have been recent stirrings and rumors of progress, but we should have been talking about that months ago.

11) But of course, we still need to talk about Trump's taxes.

The CARES Act allows businesses to carry back losses from 2018, 2019, and 2020 for up to five years. It also removed the maximum that the tax cut for the rich, oddly enough, put in place. If this sounds familiar, Obama basically did the same in 2010 due to W's recession.

Which is when Trump got the massive refund he's being audited for.

Meaning, that since Trump had run out of ability to offset his massive losses because he's such a horrible businessman, he very likely took advantage of the COVID outbreak to retroactively take advantage of them again. We've all seen reports of Trump businesses losing money, even in 2018 and 2019 pre-COVID. Trump is set up to loophole that shit because of a law he signed.

It's also possible Trump lost so much money, he'll get a relief check. No, really. Remember, the NYTimes said he claimed a total loss of $40 million in a year he claimed income of $400 million. If his adjusted gross income is negative again, he'll sign a check and hand it to himself.

None of that affects the House and NYState presses to find out exactly how much Trump owes and to who. Or, you know, if he flat-out lied on his taxes and defraued the government he now runs.

- - - Updated - - -

Sounds like the drs don't want him leaving at time soon.

Trump has played the "they won't let me" for his own decisions in the past. Remember not going to the cemetary?

[kaelleria]

Trump has played the "they won't let me" for his own decisions in the past. Remember not going to the cemetary?

While thats entirely possible, Trump despises hospitals. I don't think he'd stay there anymore than necessary given the choice.

[Breccia]

Not that he needed to, but Biden announces he and his campaign will follow every Committee rule and is ready to proceed with the debates.

- - - Updated - - -

Let's hear from Team Trump, specifically NSA O'Brien.

I spoke with the chief of staff this morning, and the good news is that the president feels very well and he actually wants to ge back home to the White House and get back to work, but I think he’s going to stay at Walter Reed for at least another period of time.

Days seven and eight are the critical days. I think the doctors want to make sure that they're there for the president and he's getting the best treatment, but he's doing well

Days seven and eight. Hmm. Well, seven and eight days from Wednesday or Friday? The WH has been the opposite of clear.

- - - Updated - - -

Good news: Pelosi is receiving updates about Trump's health.

"Oh, good to know that the White House is following the rules and informing the people that need to know."

Oh, no. She's getting the updates by TV. The "most transparent administration" is not telling the head of the House, and I'm just going to say the Senate too prove me wrong, whether he's okay or not.

[Adam Jensen]

I hope a decade from now on they make a movie out of this. Based on true events...

Our kids will watch it, roll their eyes and say "this is too stupid, what really happened?"

[Breccia]

Based on when he was diagnosed Trump will require at least an extra 24 hours before the next “debate”.

Or, bear with me on this one, or Trump broke the rules and infected 11 staffers so he doesn't get to show up at all. Biden can take softball questions for 2 hours.

Yeah...I dare to dream.

Make it virtual. Put them in rooms separated by hundreds of miles and turn their mic on/off when its their turn. If Trump doesn't like it, he can forfeit.

[Verdugo]

Our kids will watch it, roll their eyes and say "this is too stupid, what really happened?"

Then they will vote for another populist imbecile.

[kaelleria]

Trump was given a pretty hard-core steroid because his oxygen saturation dropped twice.

[Thepersona]

Trump was given a pretty hard-core steroid because his oxygen saturation dropped twice.

And the idiot cannot deny that he was on oxygen yesterday. Meaning, he was

[Thekri]

I hope a decade from now on they make a movie out of this. Based on true events...

Not likely. Have you ever heard of the election of 1876? No? There is a reason for that. America doesn't like talking about its embarrassing bits of history.

Trump isn't going down in History like Abraham Lincoln, he is going down in history as Rutherford B. Hayes. That guy that always shows up on the list of worst presidents ever, but most people don't really know why.

[Clone]

Trump was given a pretty hard-core steroid because his oxygen saturation dropped twice.

lol that's not a good sign for him if he's already receiving extra oxygen and lying around doing nothing.

Edit: I work with people that get lung transplants. Usually after receiving new lungs there is a period where they need to break it in so to speak, same is true for the old set of lungs on its way out. During this time physical activity will drop their oxygen saturation. Sitting around doing nothing and still have it drop is not a great sign.

[Breccia]

Not likely. Have you ever heard of the election of 1876?

I teach that shit in one of my classes. Everyone should read up on it.

[kaelleria]

lol that's not a good sign for him if he's already receiving extra oxygen and lying around doing nothing.

Having to go on remdesivir and Regeneron meant he wasn't doing too well. We're just getting more details now.

I think its pretty clear Trump has diminished lung function. "Expected findings" when your a covid patient means he probably has inflammation and or scarring of the lungs. Going on the steroid support that.

There's no way he's going home any time soon.

[Thepersona]

So umm

"Treatment with dexamethasone at a dose of 6 mg once daily for up to 10 days reduces 28-day mortality in patients with Covid-19 who are receiving respiratory support We found no benefit (and the possibility of harm) among patients who did not require oxygen."


Cytokine storm then?

[Clone]

Having to go on remdesivir and Regeneron meant he wasn't doing too well. We're just getting more details now.

Yeah I was just relating it to personal experiences from work. There is this one nurse who's a hard trump fan that unfriended me from facebook for posting anti trump stuff. Now I regret it because I really want to see what kind of bullshit she would make up to cope with this.

[eschatological]

I don't think this earns its own thread, but I don't know which megathread to really put it in:


Pope Francis says capitalism has failed in the pandemic

Pope Francis literally writes a papal encyclical (highest form of Church teaching) decrying trickle down economics. Direct quote: "The marketplace by itself cannot resolve every problem, however much we are asked to believe this dogma of neoliberal faith..."

He just called neoliberal politics a dogmatic faith that we put too much trust in.....roasted.

Further quote: "The Christian tradition has never recognized the right to private property as absolute or inviolable and has stressed the social purpose of all forms of private property..."

[Breccia]

"dexamethasone"

Oh...so when they said "low oxygen" they weren't fuckin' around.

[TigTone]

Having to go on remdesivir and Regeneron meant he wasn't doing too well. We're just getting more details now.

I think its pretty clear Trump has diminished lung function. "Expected findings" when your a covid patient means he probably has inflammation and or scarring of the lungs. Going on the steroid support that.

There's no way he's going home any time soon.

If he has it that bad then he is going to need weeks to recover.
And even then he many not ever behave or function like he used to.

[Thepersona]

Oh...so when they said "low oxygen" they weren't fuckin' around.

I'd bet 10 bucks he's not out tomorrow. That would be suicidal.

[Breccia]

I'd bet 10 bucks he's not out tomorrow. That would be suicidal.

Wait, who even said that was an option?

[Thepersona]

Wait, who even said that was an option?

The idiot doctor said that they maybe release him tomorrow... While he's having a possible cytokine storm