Trump defends downplaying virus by invoking Churchill but gets the history wrong

[groundloop]

Source: ABC News

President Donald Trump has taken to comparing himself to legendary British Prime Minister Winston Churchill to defend why he intentionally minimized the threat of the coronavirus in public earlier this year even as he privately acknowledged that the danger was grave.

<snip>

But the president’s dubious comparison mischaracterized his blunt frankness about the dire situation with the British people, even as Churchill encouraged resolve.

Historian Jon Meacham, who authored the book “Franklin and Winston” about the friendship between the two wartime leaders, countered the president’s assertion by offering up a quote that more accurately embodied Churchill’s tone at the time.

“The British people can face any misfortune w/ fortitude & buoyancy as long as they are convinced that those in charge of their affairs are not deceiving them, or are not dwelling in a fool’s paradise,” Meacham quoted Churchill as saying.

Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-defends-downplaying-virus-invoking-churchill-history-wrong/story?id=72950343&cid=clicksource_4380645_1_heads_hero_live_hero_related

[Laelth]

1. Trump is the definition of "a fool's paradise." n/t

-Laelth

[BootinUp]

2. Damn, that nailed it. nt

[Grokenstein]

3. Guess I missed the part where Churchill encouraged Brits to

turn on all their lights and run out into the streets during the Blitz.

[AZ8theist]

4. OF COURSE HE GOT IT WRONG...

HE'S A FUCKING IMBECILE.

[demosincebirth]

5. I wonder if he puts his shoes on the right foot?

[smb]

6. I Remember...

...how Churchill dismissed the Blitz as a hoax, declared that the Nazis would disappear like a miracle when the weather got warmer, touted quinine as a miracle cure for shrapnel wounds, urged citizens to liberate their towns from the air raid wardens....

[Kitchari]

9. Ha!

Exactly

[bucolic_frolic]

7. If Churchill had had to deal with Trump instead of FDR

the Allies would have lost the war, and Churchill would have gone insane.

[BlueIdaho]

8. Trump's reality is like gazing into a fun house mirror.

Churchill was a rock, Donny is a coward.

[DallasNE]

10. Fool's Paradise Precisely Defines Trump

So why would he want to call attention to Churchill.

That is about as sensible as calling Bob Woodward and saying I'd like to talk to you about some things and bring your tape recorder.

[ck4829]

11. Kick