Trump Supporters Split on COVID-19

[lpetrich]

Trump finds his MAGA movement fracturing over coronavirus - POLITICO - "The president’s red-capped followers were united against a socialist candidate. And they had economic winds at their backs to propel Trump toward reelection. Now everything is suddenly scrambled."

On one side are those like Bill Mitchell, who dismiss it as nothing worse than the flu, and the drive to eradicate it as “climate change 2.0” — as in, a media-lefty mass hysteria. On the other side are pro-Trump fixtures like Trump campaign adviser Jason Miller, who have been sounding alarms on the coronavirus since January, and are calling for harsher lockdowns and social distancing.

While the MAGA movement is divided over how seriously to take the coronavirus threat or how to tackle it, the message among his supporters is increasingly unanimous: If Trump fails to control the virus, prevent its spread and prove his leadership, much less save the economy, he will lose the election and cripple his movement.

...
The divide was in stark contrast on Fox News last week, as the crisis snowballed into the public eye. One host, Tucker Carlson, delivered grave warnings about the coronavirus. He accused officials — who his conservative audience “probably voted for” — of minimizing “what is clearly a very serious problem.” Another host, Sean Hannity, called it “fear-mongering by the deep state.”

Some of the more complacent ones blame the Democrats and the news media for "hysteria" about the virus.

Anti-Trump conservative group's ad targets coronavirus messaging

The ad from the Republicans for the Rule of Law, who backed the president’s impeachment, shows Trump speaking about the issue in January, when there was just one confirmed case. Trump said then he was not at all concerned about a pandemic striking the U.S.

The video moves through a timeline of the morphing messaging from Trump and members of his administration on the coronavirus as cases in the U.S. dramatically increased.

Bill Kristol on Twitter: "This new ad from @ForTheRuleOfLaw will run Friday morning on Fox and Friends.
"We pretty much shut it down...It'll be down to close to zero...It's really working out...No, I don't take responsibility at all."
America needs a president who tells the truth. Our lives depend on it. https://t.co/l8pzdbItrk" / Twitter
From dismissing it as a non-issue to claiming that he was aware of it before anyone else.

 

[Horatio Parker]

In the new poll, 55% of Americans approve of the president's management of the crisis, compared to 43% who disapprove. Trump’s approval on this issue is up from last week, when the numbers were nearly reversed. Only 43% approved of Trump's handling of the pandemic and 54% disapproved in last week's poll.

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/cor...lives-changed-pandemic-poll/story?id=69696172

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

That just induces my brain to implode. His approval on his response should be no higher than 10%. Thousands of Americans are going to die. They already have the disease and are on a path to death. Thousands. No fewer.

And there still isn't a nation wide organized response and Trump is bullshitting about a drug has shown no benefit on this disease... and how the media is to blame for all of this. This is Iraq all over again.

 

[Half-Life]

That just induces my brain to implode. His approval on his response should be no higher than 10%. Thousands of Americans are going to die. They already have the disease and are on a path to death. Thousands. No fewer.

And there still isn't a nation wide organized response and Trump is bullshitting about a drug has shown no benefit on this disease... and how the media is to blame for all of this. This is Iraq all over again.

Yeah! How dare Trump not come up with a vaccine on his own! How dare Trump create this virus in the White House all by himself and then blame the Chinese! How dare Trump enact a travel ban to stop the spread! How dare Trump want to give free money to Americans affected by the layoffs!

Wat would Obama have done differently? He would've never enacted a travel ban because he would say, "It's racist!" and many more Americans would be dead already. According to Obama cultists, he probably would've created a vaccine all by himself on the first day of the outbreak and showed it on TV on a silver platter with a ray of light shining on it.

 

[Horatio Parker]

That just induces my brain to implode. His approval on his response should be no higher than 10%. Thousands of Americans are going to die. They already have the disease and are on a path to death. Thousands. No fewer.

And there still isn't a nation wide organized response and Trump is bullshitting about a drug has shown no benefit on this disease... and how the media is to blame for all of this. This is Iraq all over again.

I think you underestimate the power of acting presidential in a crisis. Granted, Trump is an idiot, but he has, finally, taken the situation seriously and people respond to that.

 

[Keith&Co.]

Wat would Obama have done differently?

Pandemic response team, maybe?

Just spitballin', here.

 

[ideologyhunter]

Obama would never, in 2000 years, have made that ridiculous statement about "15 cases, and it will probably be down to zero in a few days." Maybe because President Obama: actually read things...parsed his words carefully...didn't believe any crazy-ass rumor that floated up from his media sources...cared about the integrity of what he said to the country, as opposed to being a vulgar, mendacious degenerate. It's jaw-dropping how SCROTUS gets away with all his lies and ridiculous statements by constantly throwing out yet more distractions. It says as much about him as the nation.
Democrats apparently fear to make this case because they'll be seen as politicizing a crisis. Republicans (at least in the last 30 years) have never hesitated to do this to Dem. Presidents.

 

[Patooka]

Quick question. Has there been anyone actually calling the travel restrictions during this pandemic racist? Or is this just Half-life sprouting his usual bullshit? I mean I'm skeptical because as usual Half-life is allergic to citing sources but I wouldn't put it past someone being stupid enough to say something so idiotic. I just can't find it. Not even in youtube comments.

 

[J842P]

That just induces my brain to implode. His approval on his response should be no higher than 10%. Thousands of Americans are going to die. They already have the disease and are on a path to death. Thousands. No fewer.

And there still isn't a nation wide organized response and Trump is bullshitting about a drug has shown no benefit on this disease... and how the media is to blame for all of this. This is Iraq all over again.

Honestly, thousands is nothing. A bad flu season is tens of thousands. What we should be trying to avoid is 100s of thousands or millions, which is a worst case, where we have 80%+ infected, and the death rate is as high as 1-2%.

Here's how I see it:

I think inevitably we will see high infection rates. Its hard to tell, but the numbers from other countries seem to indicate it is highly transmissible. I suspect most people who have it will barely notice it, however, some people will be gravely affected. Still, it won't be a death sentence, but if our medical capacity is overextended, then many people will die from lack of treatment, e.g. not enough ventilators.

This death rate is a big open question. Likely, things like the age distribution of the population matter, as well as the underlying health. Honestly, I'm not super optimistic for a lot of America. Americans are riddled with chronic disease, especially the poorer and older they are.

I suspect Koreans have managed to not see particularly grim numbers due to their seniors reaching old age in much better shape than your typical American, mostly due to diet and lifestyle.

But things like rate of smoking, and environmental pollution are going to be factors, I suspect.

And of course, things like the public health response will be paramount. Here, again, I say we should look to a nation like Korea for an example of a good outcome. Quite frankly, Americans are bad at these sorts of things. There is essentially an entire party which outright rejects that the government has much of a role at all to play in anything, or in the best case, cannot help but be terrible and inefficient. The other party slightly disagrees. This is a self fulfilling prophecy.


I tend towards a pessimistic view of things, and I suspect we will see 100s of thousands of deaths. Many of course will be people who are very sick already, people that would have died in a flu season or within a decade or less due to metabolic syndrome. I worry for my parents, particularly my father.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Where in the hell are people getting this whole ‘thousands’ isn’t a big deal? People good with plane crashes now too because many more people die in car crashes?

 

[ZiprHead]

 

[Horatio Parker]

The people getting sick now may be the lucky ones. I.e. while care is still available.

Also, Trump has gotten a boost, but when the system is overwhelmed...

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Amazing how the boost is because of the actions of people not in DC.

 

[Horatio Parker]

Amazing how the boost is because of the actions of people not in DC.

Recall that GW's numbers went through the roof after 911, even when he'd done little more than his blank stare.

 

[mrzyphl]

Quick question. Has there been anyone actually calling the travel restrictions during this pandemic racist? Or is this just Half-life sprouting his usual bullshit? I mean I'm skeptical because as usual Half-life is allergic to citing sources but I wouldn't put it past someone being stupid enough to say something so idiotic. I just can't find it. Not even in youtube comments.

Yes, Biden did call a travel ban racist. The one where Trump banned travel from certain muslim majority countries to prevent terrorists coming to the USA based on no evidence.

Meanwhile Saudi Arabia is the biggest exporter of terrorists in the world but Trump is a great admirer of their megalomaniac princeling so they get a pass.

 

[Patooka]

Quick question. Has there been anyone actually calling the travel restrictions during this pandemic racist? Or is this just Half-life sprouting his usual bullshit? I mean I'm skeptical because as usual Half-life is allergic to citing sources but I wouldn't put it past someone being stupid enough to say something so idiotic. I just can't find it. Not even in youtube comments.

Yes, Biden did call a travel ban racist. The one where Trump banned travel from certain muslim majority countries to prevent terrorists coming to the USA based on no evidence.

Meanwhile Saudi Arabia is the biggest exporter of terrorists in the world but Trump is a great admirer of their megalomaniac princeling so they get a pass.

During this pandemic crisis. I specifically said during this pandemic crisis.

 

[southernhybrid]

Quick question. Has there been anyone actually calling the travel restrictions during this pandemic racist? Or is this just Half-life sprouting his usual bullshit? I mean I'm skeptical because as usual Half-life is allergic to citing sources but I wouldn't put it past someone being stupid enough to say something so idiotic. I just can't find it. Not even in youtube comments.

Yes, Biden did call a travel ban racist. The one where Trump banned travel from certain muslim majority countries to prevent terrorists coming to the USA based on no evidence.

Meanwhile Saudi Arabia is the biggest exporter of terrorists in the world but Trump is a great admirer of their megalomaniac princeling so they get a pass.

During this pandemic crisis. I specifically said during this pandemic crisis.

I have not heard anyone call it racist, but I have heard some medical professionals say that the travel ban isn't going to make any difference because the virus is now rampant in the community. Still, whether or not it's helpful, most countries are currently closing their borders. I guess the fear is that no Western country seems able to care for its own citizens, so why allow more people into the country during a time when healthcare systems are totally inadequate to care for their own. That's not just an American problem.

The thing that has been called racist, is Trump's use of the term, "Chinese virus", instead of calling it by its name.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Amazing how the boost is because of the actions of people not in DC.

Recall that GW's numbers went through the roof after 911, even when he'd done little more than his blank stare.

The difference is the war mindset. It wasn’t like terrorists kept on blowing stuff up and his ratings continued going up.

Trump has done almost nothing but impede this crisis response. Oh and praise how wonderful he has done. And the death toll and exposure continues to rocket it up. Could approach 30,000 Monday.

 

[Horatio Parker]

Amazing how the boost is because of the actions of people not in DC.

Recall that GW's numbers went through the roof after 911, even when he'd done little more than his blank stare.

The difference is the war mindset. It was like terrorists kept on blowing stuff up and his ratings continued going up.

Trump has done almost nothing but impede this crisis response. Oh and praise how wonderful he has done. And the death toll and exposure continues to rocket it up. Could approach 30,000 Monday.

We all know about his early clowning wrt coronavirus. But now he's taking it seriously, acting presidential, at least for him.

 

[mrzyphl]

Quick question. Has there been anyone actually calling the travel restrictions during this pandemic racist? Or is this just Half-life sprouting his usual bullshit? I mean I'm skeptical because as usual Half-life is allergic to citing sources but I wouldn't put it past someone being stupid enough to say something so idiotic. I just can't find it. Not even in youtube comments.

Yes, Biden did call a travel ban racist. The one where Trump banned travel from certain muslim majority countries to prevent terrorists coming to the USA based on no evidence.

Meanwhile Saudi Arabia is the biggest exporter of terrorists in the world but Trump is a great admirer of their megalomaniac princeling so they get a pass.

During this pandemic crisis. I specifically said during this pandemic crisis.

Sorry, I was referring to Sean Hannity accusing Biden of calling the current travel bans racist which he never did.