Wednesday, October 7, 2020

Trump reverted to Trump-ness


 He tried being nice for a day. Nah.


He is back. 


He staged a photo op: The balcony shot. We can look up at his greatness. The strong, triumphant leader. 




On Saturday night he tried something new: Mr. Nice Guy. It lasted for one day. 

This blog described his presentation. This blog speculated that it was an effort to re-connect with a group that he is losing badly, women, especially women with college degrees. He spoke to a camera and sounded genuinely grateful to the medical staff. He said COVID really knocks people back and he now better recognized that it was serious. He didn't seem angry. He called it the coronavirus, not the China virus. He said we needed to work cooperatively with other nations to defeat the disease. He acknowledged the bipartisan thoughts and prayers, and the good wishes from around the world, and said he would remember it.

No.

It just isn't his style. The next day he took a trip outside the hospital in a sealed up car, endangering the driver. Then he returned to the White House, stood on a balcony, took off his mask, and re-entered the White House virus infection pit. He had words to go along with the photo op:

"I learned so much about coronavirus. And one thing is for certain. Don't let it dominate you. Don't be afraid of it. We're going to beat it. We have the best medical equipment. The best medicines. All developed recently. And you're going to beat it."

He said he feels great, better than twenty years ago and again advised "Don't let it dominate. Don't let it take over your lives. Don't let that happen. We have the greatest country in the world. We're going back to work. We'll be out front."

The message was back to Mr. Strong, the indomitable, fearless leader. He embraced the political cliche of the man on the balcony. Trump as Caesar. As Mussolini. As Eva Peron. Trump has likened himself to wartime Lincoln, and then Churchill. We will beat this virus on the beaches, on the landing fields, in the countryside. 



 Click: 90 seconds

His critics jumped on this. 

The mainstream critics said he was modeling the behavior of virus scofflaws at a time when the infection rate was growing. They said his political events were super spreaders. He endangered people at the fundraisers, the Secret Service, his staff, Chris Wallace, and Biden. They say he and his family were acting entitled. There is a daily update of staff who report being infected, a scorecard of failure.

A tweet from The Lincoln Project, a group of anti-Trump Republicans, takes 30 seconds of Trump's "Don't let it dominate you" and sets it to somber music and scenes of COVID victims. It is scathing.


https://twitter.com/ProjectLincoln/status/1313305671438229504?cn=ZmxleGlibGVfcmVjcw%3D%3D&refsrc=emai


The grand gestures by Trump invite parodies. The Lincoln Project created an ad with Trump's climb to the balcony, with new words to the Eva Peron anthem "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina" changed to "Don't cry for me, White House staffers. The truth is I will infect you."


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tZVnbDq9B4



And this one, mocking the Trump "Recovery":


The Biden campaign itself pulled its negative ads. It doesn't need them. The news of new infections in the White House cluster, plus ads from groups like the Lincoln Project, make the case against Trump. Trump has lost credibility on COVID. Only 31% of Americans say they trust Trump to tell them the truth about COVID. Only 65% of people who identify as Republicans trust him.










4 comments:

TuErasTu said...

I have been so thankful these four years that Trump does not drink. Now, I worry. His brain has not been trained to handle anything like the steroids he's been given, and I fear the delusional mania will unleash more havoc. Man, these three weeks cannot move fast enough!

John Flenniken said...

From the day Trump took office he became a danger to this nation. Through his obvious behavior now it is clear that Trump and his Republican enablers have wrecked havoc on our great nation. There is no one in place to challenge his reckless behavior. Trump and his Republican enablers have become a disgusting stain on the history of this nation. November 3rd can not come fast enough to bring down the curtain on tragedy befalling the nation. In the meantime the damage to the nation continues,

Diane Newell Meyer said...

Watch Randy Rainbow for more fun parodies.

Well, Peter, you are a good predictor. Are you ready to call it yet?

bison said...

The only thing we gave to fear is Trump himself.