October 6, 2020

Americans are tired of the chaos

I know, I know we aren't allowed to talk about how Trump is virtually guaranteed to lose in a massive landslide because then we won't vote or something. Fine, yes, vote, pretend it's a tie, don't get complacent, all that good stuff.

But let's take a step back for a second, assume this one post won't cost Biden the election, take away all of the emotion, and look at things objectively. The Republicans are heading for an electoral bloodbath in a few weeks and Trump, assuming he even survives his steroid induced manic coronavirus episode, is going to go down in flames as well. Throughout the spring, summer, and even up until this weekend, part of me took seriously the idea that Trump is electorally invincible. It wasn't a big part, mind you. I was about 90% certain that the US had not lost all sanity and that Trump was a temporary aberration. 2016 was a perfect storm of fucked up events that landed a dangerously unqualified man in the White House. He stumbled into the presidency on dumb luck alone.

But still, part of me wondered. He did win in 2016, even though some people said he couldn't. I wasn't one of those people but still, many did underestimate him. Maybe his supporters were right. Maybe polls aren't capturing a huge groundswell of support. Maybe Trump's stupid "law and order" message would resonate with voters. Maybe coronavirus would peter out and the economy would come roaring back. Maybe Trump would crush Biden in the debate. A small part of me wondered. Maybe I'm the one out of touch and the MAGA crowd was more in touch with what Americans want than I am.

But alas that part of me died over the past few days. Everything from the last week has made me realize that the red hats are indeed delusional, their confidence in Trump is horribly misplaced, and the results of this election have been a foregone conclusion for a longtime now.

I've heard predictions from them for months that coronavirus would just disappear and that most Americans just want to go back to normal, virus be damned. None of that was true. I heard predictions that Trump's "law and order", pro-confederate campaign would appeal to Americans real interests. No, not even close. I heard about how the Republican Convention was going to fire up conservatives and independents, make people excited about Trump again. Nope. I heard predictions that the debate would be a disaster for Biden. Joe is too feeble and Trump is too dominating and strong. Then people would see. It was a disaster alright but definitely not for Biden. And this weekend I heard that Trump becoming severely ill and his entire administration and campaign being out of commission for the next month, at best, would make Trump more sympathetic to voters. Polls show by a margin of 3 to 1 that is not at all how Americans are reacting.

There was a point, until very recently where a small part of me did wonder "what if all of that is true?". But seeing Trump gasping for air last night, making claims about his health and coronavirus that as a doctor I know are 100% untrue, seeing polls out over the past few days showing Biden consistently up by double digits nationally, I now realize, it's over. It has been over for a long time. None of the bluster, the ultra right wing messaging, the race baiting, the downplaying coronavirus, the cult like behavior of the Republican party, Trump screaming like a madman at rallies, ramming through an ultra right wing justice, the state of the economy, sending out secret police to beat protesters, the yelling about voter fraud, that insane debate performance, Trump "beating" coronavirus, none of that was ever going to work.

I can say with absolute certainly that Americans are beyond sick of Trump, his psychotic enablers and fans, and all of the corruption, incompetence, and chaos that he brings. There is no brilliant plan for Trump to win the election. There is no untapped, ultra right wing groundswell of support. Americans aren't taking the dismissive tone about coronavirus seriously. People aren't happy because the Dow jones is doing ok. And the polls aren't wrong and haven't been wrong. And Trump isn't some brilliant political strategist. Americans gave up on Trump years ago, they just couldn't do anything about it until now. When we look back at why Trump lost, badly, we will say that Americans were just tired of the chaos.

October 6, 2020

Trump is out of his fucking mind

Is he really running around, waving to crowds and the media, giving interviews, etc? Not saying anything about running around with a mask off while covid positive, my biggest concern from a medical stand point is that he's going overexert himself while he is already in very, very rough shape and it won't end well. Physically he has been under an insane amount of stress in the last week and he is currently still infected with a very aggressive virus. He's on a bunch of drugs that are suppressing his symptoms. He's going to burn himself out very quickly and his symptoms are likely going to come back with a vengeance in the next day or two.

Unless he is somehow on the road to recovery (highly doubtful) holy shit, he is out of his fucking mind. The implications of his behavior today are likely going to catastrophic. This is absolutely horrifying to watch.

October 5, 2020

Most Americans say Trump acted irresponsibly and distrust White House on his health

Source: CNN

(CNN)Two-thirds of Americans say President Donald Trump handled the risk of coronavirus infection to others around him irresponsibly, according to a new CNN Poll conducted by SSRS in the days following the announcement that the President had contracted the virus that has disrupted everyday life for millions of people for more than half a year.

With Trump hospitalized at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, 69% of Americans said they trusted little of what they heard from the White House about the President's health, with only 12% saying they trusted almost all of it.

Disapproval of the President's handling of the coronavirus outbreak stands at a new high in the survey, with 60% saying they disapprove. Additionally, 63% say his own infection is unlikely to change anything about the way that he handles the pandemic.



Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/05/politics/cnn-poll-coronavirus-trump/index.html

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I don't think Trump leaving the hospital today is going to help him. People already think he is being irresponsible. These moves that are clearly politically motivated to claim he is doing great and that he is good to go back home is going to backfire badly. Mark my words.

October 5, 2020

This likely won't end well

Just saw Trump is leaving the hospital. After reports earlier today that he is bored at the hospital and is getting agitated by how weak he looks on news coverage, I can guarantee him leaving is not based on any medical advice. This is entirely based on him being afraid of how this all looks and still not taking this virus seriously, at all. If the guy was having trouble breathing just a day or two ago, and is on experimental drugs, he should not be leaving the hospital. He's also contagious still. I can tell you right now this is a massive mistake on Trump's part. At best he will have to be transferred back to Walter Reed in the next day or so.

This is 100% political and something that Trump and his doctors will very likely end up regretting. Absolutely dumb decision. My fucking God.

October 4, 2020

Post Trump infection polls show no "sympathy vote" bump for Trump

I've been hearing from some Republicans this weekend that Trump becoming severely ill due to his own stupidity and arrogance would somehow help his polling numbers. We've been told tales of a "sympathy vote" or rally around the flag kind of reaction to Trump being in the hospital.

Yeah, no. Some of the first polls out conducted completely after news broke of Trump catching coronavirus and how it has affected the presidential election are here. And they ain't looking good for President Superspreader. It is just two polls so far but any predictions that this would somehow help Trump are of course proving to be total fantasy on the part of the very desperate MAGA crowd.

Here's what the numbers say

ABC News: Has Trump been taking coronavirus seriously/did he do enough to protect himself from infection?

27% yes
72% no

ABC News: Are you concerned about contracting coronavirus?

72% before Trump infection
80% after Trump infection


Reuters/Ipsos: Has Trump taken proper precautions to protect himself?

Yes: 36%
No: 64%

Reuters/Ipsos: Is Trump telling the truth about coronavirus in general?

Yes: 34%
No: 55%

Reuters/Ipsos: General election

Pre-Debate/Trump infection: Biden +8
Post-Debate/Trump infection: Biden +10


https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-virus-precautions-poll/story?id=73411221&cid=clicksource_4380645_4_heads_hero_live_hero_hed

https://www.reuters.com/article/usa-election-poll-idUSKBN26P0DT

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/10/polls-biden-lead-widens-trump-coronavirus-seriously-avoided.html

October 3, 2020

Trump's administration will be a frightening morality tale for generations

Maybe I'm just really high but if Trump's saga starts with a conman getting elected to be president, does a bunch of horrible things, replaces competent people with dangerously unqualified friends and family, ignores and mocks a pandemic, gets very sick along with all of his enablers at a ceremony celebrating their cold and ghoulish power grab, and then......?

If this all plays out in a very certain way, Trump's entire presidency turns into an horrific morality tale.

October 2, 2020

Total Speculation Alert: I think Trump is very sick

We are obviously very light on details from the White House on what is going on with Trump but there are reports coming out that make me think he is far more sick than they are letting on. I'm not an infectious disease expert, just a GP, but I am seeing some concerning signs that Trump is getting hit hard with COVID. I do 100% believe he has it, BTW. Any speculation that it's all made up seems extremely unlikely to me. Regardless, here are a few things that are concerning me

1. People keep saying Trump hasn't been on Twitter since 1:00am, which is 14 hours ago as I am typing this. However, his tweets since yesterday afternoon don't sound like they were actually typed by him. That is something they have admitted and is pretty standard for politicians. Not every tweet from their account is from the actual politican. And in this case, I think Trump went totally dark over 24 hours ago.

2. The White House has said that they are using experimental drugs to treat Trump. That sounds to me like it's just not a minor set of symptoms. Again, take some of this with a grain of salt but they aren't likely to go straight to experimental drugs just 14 hours after trump supposedly tested positive and last tweeted. And they have been claiming until about a half hour ago that symptoms were "mild". Combined with point 1, I believe he has been showing pretty severe symptoms for the past day at least.

3. The most recent update from Trump's doctor went from "minor symptoms" to "fatigued". Sounds like it's getting worse and quickly.

4. People around the white house are reportedly freaking out and saying the election is lost. If Trump had minor symptoms, like a cold or flu, and was expected to bounce back quickly, why the panic? Keep in mind, it's not panic about themselves getting sick. It's panic that the election is lost. The fact that they were keeping this all a secret until Bloomberg.com got the info leaked about anyone testing positive is also very suspicious. I do wonder if they saw Donald Trump in worse shape than they care to admit over the past day or two.

5. He's clearly a very unhealthy person under a lot of physical and emotional stress. You all know what that points to but it's important to keep in mind he is very high risk, even with a team of doctors with him 24/7.

As I said, all speculation but I'm seeing a lot of warning signs that Trump is in far worse shape and had been so for longer than they are admitting.

October 2, 2020

'We're all f**ked': Trump insiders say that now he has Covid, the election is over

Source: The Independent

Just hours after telling attendees at the Alfred E Smith Memorial Foundation’s annual dinner that an end to the pandemic was in sight, Donald Trump’s name was added to the long list of those who’ve been afflicted by it.

Like so many of the consequential announcements he has made during his presidency, Trump broke the news that he — along with his wife Melania — had tested positive for Covid-19 with a post to his Twitter account shortly before 1am on Friday. An official announcement came roughly ten minutes later, under the signature of Commander Sean Conley, the Navy Medical Corps officer who serves as physician to the President.

According to Trumpworld sources, political strategists, and other Washington insiders, the President’s disclosure of his positive Covid-19 test may well have had another purpose: Announcing the de facto end of his hopes of re-election.

Read more: https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/trump-covid-administration-insiders-mike-pence-election-over-b749588.html?utm_source=reddit.com

October 2, 2020

Utah Sen. Mike Lee tests positive for coronavirus

Source: Market Watch

Utah Sen. Mike Lee, a Republican, said Friday that he has tested positive for COVID-19. Lee said in a statement on Twitter that he'd tested positive on Thursday and would be working from his home while isolating for 10 days. Lee's statement came as news of President Donald Trump's and first lady Melania Trump's positive tests shook U.S. stocks SPX and upended the presidential campaign, with Trump scrapping a planned Florida rally.

Read more: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.marketwatch.com/amp/story/utah-sen-mike-lee-tests-positive-for-coronavirus-2020-10-02

October 2, 2020

'The sheer panic can't be understated': Reporter describes mood in White House

Source: Raw Story

Speaking on ABC News this morning regarding President Trump’s announcement that he and Melania tested positive for coronavirus, reporter John Santucci described the mood inside the White House in the wake of the news.

“I have heard from so many people prior to him testing, everyone thinking that he has to have it in his inner bubble,” Santucci said.



Read more: https://www.rawstory.com/2020/10/the-sheer-panic-cant-be-understated-reporter-describes-mood-in-white-house-after-trumps-diagnosis/amp/