President Trump: Making America Great Again...

[Northwestcoug]

I guess he thinks if he talks this down, then the Dow will not dive again, or even go back up.

He is probably right that the mortality rate is lower than 3.4%; more likely somewhere around 1%. Talking it down like this undermines the directives coming from his coronavirus team. COVID-19 is highly contagious and spreads pretty quickly. U.S. population is 327 million. If by talking it down people decide not to institute countermeasures, it will spread. By how much, we don't know. The 1918 flu affected one third of the world population. If COVID spreads to one third of the U.S. population (109 million people), we could expect 1 million deaths. Think about that. 1 million deaths. Even if it spreads to only 5% of the population (16.4 million people), that would be 164,000 deaths.

The economic costs are already mounting. Airlines are cutting routes. Hotel bookings are going to tank. People are going to stop going to retail establishments, especially large purchases. People will start hunkering down to wait it out, probably for 2-3 months. That will help to stem the spread, but the economy will feel it. People will be out of work for two weeks if they get it. Korea is estimating a 0.5% decrease in economic growth because of COVID-19.

Trump should focus on calming people, staying on message with the experts, and start looking at some kind of economic plan to counter the effect of the "corona flu" instead of trying to glad talk his way out of this.

As far as I can tell, the mortality rate of ~3% is based on the Chinese data. Yes, it is doubtful that the mortality rate will be as high in some of the developed countries. But it could also be worse in other developing countries. That doesn’t change how ignorant it is for a president to declare it’s his ‘hunch’ that official estimates are too high.

What an ass clown he is.

[myboynoah]

As far as I can tell, the mortality rate of ~3% is based on the Chinese data. Yes, it is doubtful that the mortality rate will be as high in some of the developed countries. But it could also be worse in other developing countries. That doesn’t change how ignorant it is for a president to declare it’s his ‘hunch’ that official estimates are too high.

What an ass clown he is.

You get no argument from me on any of that. People wondered how Trump would handle a real crisis. We knew then, and now we know for sure.

Just woke up this morning in Korea and turned on the news. First two reports:

• HHS Sec Azar not committing to making a future coronavirus available to everyone.
• VP Pence telling people that we don't have enough test kits.

This the clown squad.

[myboynoah]

The latest Death Star attack.

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[UVACoug]

Trump should focus on calming people, staying on message with the experts, and start looking at some kind of economic plan to counter the effect of the "corona flu" instead of trying to glad talk his way out of this.

I agree completely that Trump should focus on calming people, something he has done a terrible job at. I also think, however, that the media has some responsibility to not sensationalize things and fear monger in order to score points against Trump (who they almost uniformly hate). If you actually listen to the interview, Trump never "suggested" that people that are infected should still go to work. It seems like he was actually being descriptive -- saying that there are probably people that are infected who are going to work because they don't even realize it (although his words, as usual, were incoherent). I think its incredibly irresponsible, and even dangerous, for media members to use coronavirus as another club to bash Trump was. If people actually think Trump said that you should still go to work when you are infected, there are (unfortunately) a lot of morons that will do exactly that. Given that it doesn't look like he actually said that at all, I think its incredibly irresponsible for media members to tell people that he did.

[myboynoah]

I agree completely that Trump should focus on calming people, something he has done a terrible job at. I also think, however, that the media has some responsibility to not sensationalize things and fear monger in order to score points against Trump (who they almost uniformly hate). If you actually listen to the interview, Trump never "suggested" that people that are infected should still go to work. It seems like he was actually being descriptive -- saying that there are probably people that are infected who are going to work because they don't even realize it (although his words, as usual, were incoherent). I think its incredibly irresponsible, and even dangerous, for media members to use coronavirus as another club to bash Trump was. If people actually think Trump said that you should still go to work when you are infected, there are (unfortunately) a lot of morons that will do exactly that. Given that it doesn't look like he actually said that at all, I think its incredibly irresponsible for media members to tell people that he did.

He doesn't get a pass because the media reported what he said. He fully downplayed the seriousness of the situation, suggesting that people have it, go to work, and that is okay. That is clear. The media should report that so that it can be corrected. He is the President of the United States.

You know what he didn't say? The simple dictum that if you are sick, stay home! Don't potentially spread this further, eventually to the most vulnerable parts of our population. Instead he downplayed it, misquoting the numbers, and suggested that people that have it go to work and all is fine. That is egregious. It's gross. It's incomprehensible. The media should report that.

But it plays to a very reception audience to blame this whole thing on the media. Meanwhile, COVID spreads.

[UVACoug]

He doesn't get a pass because the media reported what he said. He fully downplayed the seriousness of the situation, suggesting that people have it, go to work, and that is okay. That is clear. The media should report that so that it can be corrected. He is the President of the United States.

You know what he didn't say? The simple dictum that if you are sick, stay home! Don't potentially spread this further, eventually to the most vulnerable parts of our population. Instead he downplayed it, misquoting the numbers, and suggested that people that have it go to work and all is fine. That is egregious. It's gross. It's incomprehensible. The media should report that.

But it plays to a very reception audience to blame this whole thing on the media. Meanwhile, COVID spreads.

Where did he say it was "okay"? Here is the transcript:

https://factba.se/transcript/donald-...e-march-4-2020

Trump deserves plenty of criticism for the way he has handled this outbreak, and for pretty much everything else he does. But it is not accurate to say that he encouraged people to go to work that are infected or that doing so would be "okay." It's irresponsible for the media to be spinning this that way in order to score points against them. There are plenty of points that have already been scored, and that will be scored, against Trump in the future. No need to cause panic, or to actually mislead Trump supporters into believing he said something dangerous when he didn't.

[falafel]

The latest Death Star attack.

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Looks like Facebook has agreed to remove the ads as misleading.

[myboynoah]

Where did he say it was "okay"? Here is the transcript:

https://factba.se/transcript/donald-...e-march-4-2020

Trump deserves plenty of criticism for the way he has handled this outbreak, and for pretty much everything else he does. But it is not accurate to say that he encouraged people to go to work that are infected or that doing so would be "okay." It's irresponsible for the media to be spinning this that way in order to score points against them. There are plenty of points that have already been scored, and that will be scored, against Trump in the future. No need to cause panic, or to actually mislead Trump supporters into believing he said something dangerous when he didn't.

Hence the word "suggest." Trump was clearly trying to understate the seriousness of COVID-19. More importantly, he didn't tell people not to go to work if sick. He just nonchalantly said that people get better, and even go to work when sick. Then they get better. That was it. We can certainly criticize him, the President of the United States, for mudding the message at times like this.

Everyone knows that if you are potentially sick with COVID-19, you shouldn't go to work. Everyone except Trump, apparently.

[Commando]

Hence the word "suggest." Trump was clearly trying to understate the seriousness of COVID-19. More importantly, he didn't tell people not to go to work if sick. He just nonchalantly said that people get better, and even go to work when sick. Then they get better. That was it. We can certainly criticize him, the President of the United States, for mudding the message at times like this.

Everyone knows that if you are potentially sick with COVID-19, you shouldn't go to work. Everyone except Trump, apparently.

There you go again Always holding the fact that Trump is a goddamn moron against him.

[myboynoah]

What i find odd about Trump's attempts to understate the COID threat is his reference to "20,000 to 70,000" deaths from the flu. Okaaayyyyyyy. So, he's not at all worried about the deaths of up to 70,000 more Americans?

[myboynoah]

The Trump administration’s greatest obstacle to sending a clear message on coronavirus may be Trump himself

The president has repeatedly misstated the number of Americans who have tested positive for the virus and claimed it would “miraculously” disappear in the spring. He has given a false timeline for the development of a vaccine, publicly questioned whether vaccinations for the flu could be used to treat the novel coronavirus and dismissed the World Health Organization’s coronavirus death rate estimate, substituting a much lower figure and citing a “hunch.”

On Wednesday night, Trump made an uncritical reference to people who continue to go to work while infected with the coronavirus — placing himself at odds with doctors who have strongly urged those with even minor symptoms to stay home.

. . . . . . .

In an interview last week with Politico, Fauci acknowledged the tension between maintaining his credibility with the public and not getting crosswise with Trump.

“You should never destroy your own credibility. And you don’t want to go to war with a president,” he told Politico. “But you got to walk the fine balance of making sure you continue to tell the truth.”

[wuapinmon]

What i find odd about Trump's attempts to understate the COID threat is his reference to "20,000 to 70,000" deaths from the flu. Okaaayyyyyyy. So, he's not at all worried about the deaths of up to 70,000 more Americans?

Since the elderly are especially hit hard, that’s his “constitchency.”

[myboynoah]

Since the elderly are especially hit hard, that’s his “constitchency.”

People aren't going to be happy if mammaw or peepaw kick the bucket because there goes those social security checks.

[falafel]

Since the elderly are especially hit hard, that’s his “constitchency.”

Maybe he should get him some of that re-form. People love that re-form.

[Lost Student]

Maybe he should get him some of that re-form. People love that re-form.

He's not bona fide.