Trump's done pretending--he's just embracing the skyrocketing American death toll now [View all]

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https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/5/8/1943658/-Trump-s-done-pretending-he-s-just-embracing-the-skyrocketing-American-death-toll-now

Trump's done pretending—he's just embracing the skyrocketing American death toll now
Kerry Eleveld
Daily Kos Staff
Friday May 08, 2020 · 3:33 PM EDT


For a brief period, Donald Trump took to pretending he cared about keeping the number of American deaths due to the coronavirus on the low end. In late February, Trump mused, "When you have 15 people, and the 15 within a couple of days is going to be down to close to zero, that’s a pretty good job we’ve done."

It was fanciful, sure, but at least Trump was still on the side of limiting the body count. A little over a month later, on March 31, the White House task force relayed the startling news that anywhere from 100,000 to 240,000 Americans would ultimately die from coronavirus infections. Administration officials were prepping the country for what they believed would be the worst of it over the next few weeks.

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Forget keeping up—it's a moving target that's ultimately ratcheting up, week by week. But one thing Trump has changed is his aversion to the skyrocketing nature of the death toll. Following the advice of aides, he has incorporated into his schtick the notion that even "one is too many," but now his predictions are more of a pro forma part of his mad coronavirus musings—less horror, more fascination with this awe-inspiring and very clever "germ," as he once called it.

"This is a very brilliant enemy," Trump marveled during his Friday therapy session, "And it happens to be invisible."

Having been thoroughly outsmarted by that invisible enemy, Trump is now simply embracing its consequences. "We have to be warriors," Trump told America this week of his macabre push to reopen the country, no matter the costs. And yes, the death toll along with Trump's forecasts will continue to rise. But he's just fine with that and, in his estimation, we should be, too. It’s simply the price America has to pay for his continued leadership.