"Will you shut up, man?" US Politics October 2020

You mean his incompetency at catching a relatively easily transmissible deadly virus while taking no serious precautions.

If you're having health problems, I feel bad for you, son

I can think of approximately 199,999 instances prior to this one that better speak to systemic incompetence. This is just one man's idiocy.

You are drastically underselling both people's inability to grasp large numbers and the ripple effect one moron in a position of prestige and power can have.

Pence is going to try to ropadope the debate into taking a moment of silence to pray for the recovery of this asshole.

Cf how it wasn’t actually a real thing until Tom Hanks had it

xxp I wasn't speaking to public perception. I'm saying it strikes me as odd that someone would saddened by this because it somehow reflects systemic incompetence.

There was an effective system for managing infectious diseases in place that this guy dismantled.

I hear the president is becoming increasingly isolated.

Deep State strikes again

I was unable to sleep at 3 am ET and stupidly looked at my phone. By 4 am this was already a right wing talking point - that forces in the government had deliberately infected the Greatest President Ever.

By 5 am every possible take, and evry possible counter-take, were definitely in play.

It's borderline criminal that Trump was aware he was exposed to the coronavirus by Hope Hicks, who tested positive on Wed., but he still traveled to his club for a fundraiser on Thurs. "where one attendee said POTUS came in contact with about 100 people" & he was having symptoms https://t.co/fRJJuyCQrY

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 2, 2020

We got our asses kicked by this early and are currently one of the best states as far as covid control goes. fucking asshole brought it here!

#BREAKING: New Jersey has started coronavirus contact tracing for people who attended President @realDonaldTrump's fundraiser at his Bedminster golf club Thursday evening, @GovMurphy said Friday morning. https://t.co/1LsVGIC3kF pic.twitter.com/V3Q3bzZwLH

— NBC10 Philadelphia (@NBCPhiladelphia) October 2, 2020

also we don't know that Hope Hicks or anyone else on staff gave it to him...it's just as likely the other way around

BREAKING - Ronna McDaniel, the RNC chairwoman, tested positive for the coronavirus on Wednesday, multiple sources say. She has mild symptoms. She was last with POTUS last Friday and has been in Michigan since then.

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) October 2, 2020

You know, I'm starting to think this covid thing might be serious.

ChiNeSE HoAX

FAkE nEwS

I mean...there's a good chance a ton of high profile people in this administration have it now, correct?

Wait, Chinese hoax, c hoax, coax, coaxial ... the virus is being spread by your TV! Unplug everything!

5G my man

Dana Bash reporting that Hicks, Trump, Stephen Miller, Bill Stepien, Chris Christie, among others were basically in a small conference room, unmasked, for days prepping for the debate.

— Person Woman Man Camera TV (@ClaraJeffery) October 2, 2020

this is all because Biden said Inshallah

so in the last FOUR DAYS you've got a bombshell story about the President committing tax fraud, a diasterous debate in which Trump literally told Nazis to "stand by", Melania saying "fuck Christmas" on tape, his ex-campaign manager going berserk and embezzling $40 million from the campaign, now the POTUS has Covid and we're gonna spend all today finding out which high level officials have it as well? could this be the greatest infrastructure week of all time?

good morning!

Melania saying "fuck Christmas" on tape

ok she's now easily the best trump

he's lying about COVID, like he lies about everything

every single thing he says is a lie, it's so fucking obvious

that being said, I'd love to see these fuckers all die

What does he gain from lying about this? What advantage, what ego-stroking, what self-mythology does this play into?

yeah this is not some orchestrated thing

dominates the news cycle, for starters

"cured with hydroxychloroquine"

Yeah, getting sick is a sign of weakness in Trump's mind...not sure what he would have to gain from lying about it

outpouring of bot-dominated sympathy

I can keep going?

I'd love to see these fuckers all die

Only if they can do so without taking out any of the huge number of innocent people they happen to breathe near

Exhibit A is still "he lies about everything, compulsively"

i do not buy this theory at all

But sympathy, too, is not something he respects. This just brings *more* attention to the one issue he desperately wants to avoid.

That would mean that Hope Hicks is also faking it, and whomever else we've yet to learn about...

Has anyone said if he was tested because of symptoms, or if it was just routine?

I was wondering how long it would take for us to have a truther on this

he "dominates the news cycle" with extensive coverage of an issue, COVID response, that has been absolutely terrible for him and where polls show the public overwhelmingly favoring the other guy. also endless conversation on TV and around virtual water coolers for the next month about how this is the guy who opposed masks, said the virus was nbd, etc. etc. also extensive conversation about the vulnerability of his aging and ill-maintained physical body, not exactly a favorite topic of a man who is visually defined by a toupee and a spray tan.

They tried to keep the fact that hicks had it secret.

People with serious illnesses do not get polling boosts.

Everything about his behavior guaranteed he would get it.

He has it. Absolutely love it.

Trump clearly sees getting ill as a weakness, he mocked Hillary relentlessly for it in 2016, and getting sick means he can't do the thing he loves most, which is hold rallies and get his voting base killed

I think the "conspiracy" here is this - they absolutely knew about this as early as Wednesday night, had news of Hope's diagnosis not leaked out yesterday they would've kept this under wraps

which is fucking stupid, obviously someone close to him would've contracted it and shown symptoms but we all know they are that fucking stupid and selfish

We have some Boris covid truthers too IIUC. Real galaxy brains.

All of his lies are in service of some form of self-aggrandizement. Everything ties back to the narcissistic world view where he is the absolute best at everything. He is the smartest, he is the strongest, he is the cleverest, he is the most insightful, he is the best. This paints him as being like everyone else. He is not built to take a weaker position for long-term gain; it is evident in everything we know about him. He's a bloviating moron so haunted by his father's disapproval that he has to bluster his way through being the greatest at everything and, if something doesn't go his way, it's the fault of everyone around him rather than his. You are projecting cunning and artifice upon him that he is not capable of.

also I would like to point out the way the Dow Futures & betting markets reacted to this news implies that this wasn't some weird ass ploy to help his re-election chances

I'm happy to be proved wrong but y'know we are never gonna see his tests

I sincerely believe he's lying, but also he is very very stupid so I could be wrong! I sure hope so.

ha, xp with DJP, OK yeah I agree with all of that and am not trying to be a truther, but my first reaction was "no way"

so was this was the military coup we've been waiting for?

we can only hope

tbh, I'm surprised he isn't wheezing his way to a podium to strenuously deny these fake reports of his illness

THAT would be a "Trump is obviously lying" conspiracy that I would buy

If he dies before the election, what happens to votes already cast for him?

This is critical. The White House didn’t disclose this. Jennifer Jacobs got the story that Hicks had covid, something the White House had apparently known since the previous day. That put all eyes on the President. https://t.co/r5bnOB96Ob

— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) October 2, 2020