Amber Phillips explains in the Washington Post why Trump will continue holding indoor rallies to mostly maskless people, despite the warnings of public health officials.
The president held an indoor rally Sunday in Nevada and a large indoor event in Phoenix on Monday. More could be coming.
And reporting indicates that he thinks flouting public health advice is the right way to rally his base.
But that probably comes at the expense of picking up moderates. Polls show a majority of Americans support wearing masks and taking precautions against the virus. Not to mention hat this indoor-rally-practice creates the very real risk that the president is helping spread coronavirus in key swing states rather than slow it. But it’s what Trump wants, so it looks like it will continue. The Post’s Anne Gearan and Josh Dawsey report:
“Many around the president are acutely aware that a potential surge in coronavirus cases and deaths close to the election could be disastrous, according to campaign and White House aides, but they are mostly bowing to Trump’s desire to pack the house.”
In other words, he is endangering the lives of his most ardent supporters because he wants to impress them with his heroics. He is removed feom the crowd and is not in danger. They are in danger, not him. He doesn’t press the flesh. Their exhalations do not reach him. His friend Herman Cain died of coronavirus shortly after attending Trump’s rally in Tulsa. Coincidence? Tulsa exoerienced a surge in cases two weeks after the rally.
Trump may be a one-man super spreader.
Not a good look after 200,000 Americans have died.
But maybe this bravado impresses his MAGA base.
America sure is #1.
And for all the wrong reasons, too.
“His friend Herman Cain died of coronavirus shortly after attending Trump’s rally in Tulsa.”
The far R is insisting that Cain died of cancer, not COVID-19.
I don’t understand the ability to accept the large rallies with no masks BUT, as one Trump lover said, Pelosi had the audacity to go and get her hair cut in a salon WITH NO MASK!!
One person without a mask is absolutely horrible but having rallies with thousands of massless people doesn’t get a peep of negative comment. How does Fox manage to swing that?
I believe Herman Cain did have cancer at one time. Just an FYI….his family is maintaining his Twitter Acct and post often. They may be the ones denying the Covid 19 death? It is likely that his death certificate listed his cancer as a contributing factor to his death.
Cain’s presidential campaign was dumb. Nobody would want a 9-9-9:tax plan. He stole Empowerment Zones from Bill Clinton. His book was bogus too, because he never became president. 😐
Trump loves chaos. Spreading COVID-19 creates chaos through the country
Sending in unmarked federal law enforcement troops to disrupt peaceful protests, creates and spread chaos.
Telling his base the repeated lie that Antifa is setting wildfires and causing riots, brings out his armed base to help spread more chaos throughout the country.
Trump’s base may be small compared to the total population but they still number in the millions and can still cause a lot of chaos and destruction that Trump will, again blame on liberals, Democrats, the Clintons, and Biden. Trump’s base believes what Trump tells them. His base is very easy to rile up so they grab their AR-15s and travel hundreds of miles to “save the country” that Trump says he will make great again.
Trump doesn’t care how many Americans die. He has no conscience. He has no concept of right and wrong.
I think Trump is betting that the deaths and chaos he is spreading will give him the opportunity to declare martial law and take over the country with help from his AG William Barr.
Trump is playing a dangerous game. If he loses, he will pay a price (go to prison, and/or go bankrupt fighting all the court cases waiting for him when he leaves the White House), but what price will the American people pay?
How many Americans have to die and lose their homes and health so Trump can win another fight? Trump hates to lose and will do anything to win.
And, if Trump wins the election in November due to him spreading death and chaos throughout the country, everyone else loses.
“Why Is Trump Holding Dangerous Indoor Rallies?”
Dementia?
Just kidding — I have read that no one without a mask is allowed to be seated near Trump and that his visitors to the White House must be tested that day. So Trump clearly knows of the dangers of close exposure – he just only cares about that danger to himself.
Joe Biden, the people’s choice! 🙂✔️
If people want to become sick, from Trump rallies, let them. We must focus on Biden. 😐
You’re right! But by letting this go on and on, more people who are not going to Trump rallies are dying because of casual exposure to Trumpers who are rallying. That’s the sad thing! I’ve got Covid fatigue and I’m done with this virus….but the virus is not done with me/us yet.
I understand your point. 😐
Trump is desperate. He’s out of money. He’s out of ideas. So, he’s trying what worked for him in the past, and OF COURSE, the fact that this will kill people makes no difference to him at all. TRUMP CARES ABOUT NO ONE BUT TRUMP. Classic psychopath with malignant narcissistic personality disorder.
Why is he so desperate? The moment Trump slithers out of office, he will be subject to an avalanche of civil suits and criminal charges–literally hundreds of these, and many of them very, very serious indeed. Rape. Assault. Embezzlement of charitable funds. Money laundering. Bank fraud. Insurance fraud. And, after a few of these, a new look at conspiracy to obstruct justice and treason.
And he can’t be pardoned by the next president for state crimes. And Joe isn’t going to pardon him anyway.
So, the Don, Cheeto “Littlefingers” Trumpbalone, is looking at serious time.
He’s desperate. Thus the threats about refusing to accept the election results, martial law–because any alternative, to Trump, is better than the one he is in fact facing if he loses.
Trump told a reporter that he is safe, far enough from the crowd. He has no regard for his base or their families other than they are a means to an end. With the rallies the press give him free publicity. If he says something shocking or outrageous, it makes the 6 o’clock news. He thinks any publicity is good publicity, and, yes, he is desperate.
Yes. All publicity has value and if it is bad then he loves to play the viper-entertainer, creating even more publicity from an absurd reply.
I never heard of any former president arrested for anything, once out of office. Trump would be the first. 🤔😮✔️
Ford famously pardoned Nixon, or Nixon would have been.
You are right, Eddie. No former president has been arrested, with one possible exception. Grant was stopped for speeding in his horse-drawn carriage, went to the station, and paid a $20 fine. But this whole episode seems to have been handled in a spirit of fun.
Isn’t there an intentional tort that applies here? After all, he is holding these rallies KNOWING THAT PEOPLE WILL DIE WHO OTHERWISE WOULDN’T HAVE as a result of them.
Flerp?
Bob Shepherd: My Fox watching, Trump lover friend, told me yesterday that people who are dying from other causes are being labeled as dying from COVID-19. [Falsification to make Trump look bad.]
I guess if scientists at CDC are purposefully attacking Trump it makes sense that doctors in hospitals and private care are also attacking Trump. Poor fellow. Science is against him. Time to go rake leaves so that the forest fires will go away. Climate change is a hoax perpetrated by scientists who don’t really know what is happening. Much better to follow Trump whose gut is incredibly intelligent.
Why doesn’t Fox ever get sued for the crap they put out?
Such a big, smart gut and such tiny hands. In fact, the man looks like somebody blew up like a balloon an orange plastic glove, tied off the opening, and stuck some troll doll hair on the knot. Teachers: this is a fun craft you can do with your students–Make a President, Quick and Easy!
Let’s consider a hypothetical. Suppose that I have an office building in, say, Atlanta, built upon stone. An inspection is done, and it is determined that there is so much radon in the building that there is a 99.9999 percent chance that 3 or more people in that building for more than 15 minutes will receive enough radiation exposure to cause them to contract cancer. Despite having read this report, I require my salespeople from around the country to fly there and attend a four-hour sales conference that I will address by video conference. Wouldn’t I be subject to CRIMINAL liability for doing this? Any lawyers out there? What’s the difference between this scenario and a Trump rally during a pandemic in a state that has banned meetings of 10 or more people?
Scientific American just endorsed a presidential candidate for the first time in its 175-year history.
Guess who it wasn’t?
Worth reading, re-reading, and re-re-reading:
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/scientific-american-endorses-joe-biden/
There is only one way to reach the ignorant white people upon whom the Plutocracy depends to maintain its pretense of democracy, and that is to educate their children. We must have education for social justice and economic equity.
OK, third graders understand more science than Trump does. COVID-19, he said yesterday in his typical Toddler English, will be stopped by “a herd mentality”:
“And you’ll develop, you’ll develop herd–like a herd mentality. It’s going to be–it’s going to be herd developed–and that’s going to happen. That will all happen.”
Lying is Trump’s special ability. My Trump lover friend told me yesterday that a vaccine might be available before the election. [She didn’t specify which year this election might take place nor, if necessary, which foreign country was might be having this crucial election.]
[The Washington Post] Analysis | Trump’s ABC News town hall: Four Pinocchios, over and over again
September 15, 2020 at 10:32 p.m. CDT
At the ABC News town hall Tuesday night, President Trump was challenged by ordinary voters in ways that he rarely experiences in the safe spaces of Fox News, where he regularly answers questions. But he still retreated to false or misleading talking points that he offers in his usual venues. Here’s a quick tour through 24 claims made at the Philadelphia town hall, in the order in which he answered questions.
“We’re very close to having the vaccine. If you want to know the truth, the previous administration would have taken perhaps years to have a vaccine because of the FDA and all the approvals, and we’re within weeks of getting it. You know, could be three weeks, four weeks, but we think we have it.”
Most experts believe a scientifically credible vaccine for the novel coronavirus will not be available until at least early in 2021, and vaccine manufacturers insist they will not be rushed for political considerations. In any case, it will take months to make a safe vaccine available to most Americans….
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/09/15/trumps-abc-news-town-hall-four-pinocchios-over-over-again/
ABC anchor cuts Trump off in the middle of a stream of lies to deliver a brutal fact-check
Written by Cody Fenwick
September 16, 2020
ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos cut off President Donald Trump on Tuesday during an egregious string of lies about health care at an event with voters.
…“What we’re is we’re going to be doing a health care plan protecting people with pre-existing conditions,” he said. “We’re going to be doing a health care plan very strongly and protect people with pre-existing conditions. I will say this: They [Democrats] will not do that. Because they have socialized —”
At that point, Stephanopoulos felt compelled to cut in and correct Trump’s lies.
“I just have to stop you there just on a couple points,” Stephanopoulos said. “Number one, Joe Biden has run against Medicare for All in the primaries. But much more importantly, Obamacare guaranteed people with pre-existing conditions could buy insurance. Guaranteed they could buy it at the same price as everyone else. Guaranteed a package of essential benefits. Guaranteed that insurance companies couldn’t put a lifetime limit on those benefits.”
He continued: “You fought to appeal Obamacare. You’re arguing in the Supreme Court right now to strike it down. That would do away with pre-existing conditions.”
“No,” Trump said, with irritation in his voice. “So that we can do new health care.”
“But you’ve been promising a new health care plan!” Stephanopoulos shot back. “I interviewed you in June of last year. You said the health care plan would come in two weeks. You told Chris Wallace this summer it would come in three weeks. You promised an existing order on pre-existing conditions.”
“I have it already! I have it already,” Trump said. He does not, in fact, have a health care plan, and the fact that he has lied about it continuously since becoming president indicates that he has no intention of ever developing one.
“But you’ve been trying to strike down pre-existing conditions,” the host responded.
“It doesn’t matter,” Trump said. “I have it already, and it’s a much better plan for you. And it’s a much better plan.”
Again, he doesn’t have a plan.
“I have to stop you there—” he began.
“George, they have socialized medicine,” Trump continued…
https://www.alternet.org/2020/09/abc-anchor-cuts-trump-off-in-the-middle-of-a-stream-of-lies-to-deliver-a-brutal-fact-check/#.X2H_x1Optr0.gmail
It’s true in a way….”they” (all of the politicians) HAVE socialized medicine for the wealthy….the rest of us get medical care that has been privatized by “the industry” and we pay out the nose for it. I’m not trying to defend him, because he is so stupid and narcissistic that he can’t see beyond his own little hands, but he is repeating information that has been fed to him….and he believes it. He really is a puppet and has no brains or moral compass.
Trump loves it.
The cult thet follows him love it.
They all love in denial and hate.
Trump lovers cherry pick facts.
One of my friends watches Fox faithfully. Her husband died of COVID-19 while in a nursing home. She gets furious at people who go to beaches or in stores without masks and was livid about Pelosi going to a salon and didn’t wear a mask.
There isn’t a peep against Trump who has told people they don’t need to wear masks. He has proven this at his indoor rallies. In Tulsa, people were putting down markers on the auditorium seats so that people would have an empty seat between them. They were told to take down the markers. Trump wanted his followers to sit next to each other and scream their love for him. He wants to see their mouths.
This was true at Mt. Rushmore where people stood next to each other and at his most recent events.
There is no figuring out the mind of a Trump cult follower.
No one who has commented has stated the obvious; perhaps because it is too heinous.
Trump doesn’t care if people die. He’ll deliver a divided, weakened, less populous nation, one whose role on the world stage has been greatly diminished, into Putin’s hands. That’s it. That’s all.
Sarah Kenzior and Andrea Chalupa have been saying this for years on their Gaslit Nation podcast. Both are experts in authoritarian states and due to their expertise they have a near clairvoyance the rest of us lack.
His goal is the appearance or normality to deflect attention from the awfulness of the abmorma reality.
Bernie Sanders:
Yes. This is a presidential election between Joe Biden and Donald Trump.
Yes. This is an election about health care, education, the economy, climate change, criminal justice, and so many other important issues.
More importantly, however, this is an election about whether or not we retain American democracy. This is an election we must not lose.
Today, virtually every national poll and most battleground state polls have Biden ahead. Yet, Trump continues to repeat a message he tweeted several weeks ago: “The only way they can take this election away from us is if this is a rigged election.”
Think about what that means. What he is saying is that if he wins the election, that’s great. But if he loses, it’s rigged. And if it’s rigged, then he is not leaving office. Heads I win. Tails you lose.
Never before in the history of this country have we failed to have a peaceful transition of power from one president to the next. And now, for the first time, we are facing an election where it is not clear that a sitting president will voluntarily leave office if he loses.
I am not in the habit of quoting former President Ronald Reagan, but I think something that he said in his first inaugural address makes the point about how important this part of our heritage is.
Here is what President Reagan said:
“To a few of us here today, this is a solemn and most momentous occasion; and yet, in the history of our nation, it is a commonplace occurrence. The orderly transfer of authority as called for in the Constitution routinely takes place as it has for almost two centuries and few of us stop to think how unique we really are. In the eyes of many in the world, this every-four-year ceremony we accept as normal is nothing less than a miracle.”
Protecting this “orderly transfer of authority,” as President Reagan characterized it, is absolutely essential if all of us — Republicans, Democrats, Independents — want to protect our democracy. And the truth is that Donald Trump poses the biggest threat to our democracy that we’ve ever seen from a sitting president.
Remember: Donald Trump is the president who made the preposterous statement after the 2016 election, which he won, that “millions of people voted illegally.” That’s when he won. What will he say in 2020 if he loses?
This is the president who was asked by Chris Wallace on Fox News whether he would accept the election results. Trump refused to give a straight answer, and said: “I have to see. No, I’m not going to just say yes. I’m not going to say no, and I didn’t last time either.”
This is the president who has talked about delaying the election.
This is the president who’s now talking about a third term, in violation of the Constitution.
And it gets worse.
Last week Roger Stone, a convicted felon who was pardoned by Trump, stated on a right-wing radio show that Trump should declare “martial law” if he loses the election.
Roger Stone continued to say:
“The ballots in Nevada on election night should be seized by federal marshals and taken from the state. They are completely corrupted. No votes should be counted from the state of Nevada if that turns out to be the provable case.”
Stone is following the rhetoric from Trump that mail-in ballots will be “rigged,” and the election should be called into question before a single vote has been counted.
And just the other day Michael Caputo, a right-wing political operative who, incredibly, is the assistant secretary of public affairs at the Department of Health and Human Services, made the outrageous suggestion that left-wing voters are planning an armed revolt following the election. He stated in a video to his social media followers: “If you carry guns, buy ammunition, ladies and gentlemen, because it’s going to be hard to get.”
Think about that. A senior Trump official is telling Trump supporters to purchase ammunition for an armed conflict here at home.
Trump himself has recently threatened to use the Insurrection Act — a law that allows the president to bring in the National Guard to confront civil unrest. If there are protests on election night, Trump says: “We’ll put them down very quickly if they do that. We have the right to do that. We have the power to do that, if we want.”
At a time when Trump is urging tens of thousands of his supporters to intimidate voters by becoming “poll watchers,” he is now threatening to bring in the National Guard if there are protests.
It is becoming clearer by the day that Donald Trump will do whatever it takes to maintain the power of the presidency.
Miles Taylor, a life-long Republican who previously served as chief of staff inside the Trump administration’s Department of Homeland Security, warned that Trump will stop at nothing to defeat Biden.
“Put nothing past Donald Trump,” Taylor told the Associated Press. “He will do anything to win. If that means climbing over other people, climbing over his own people, or climbing over U.S. law, he will do it. People are right to be concerned.”
In addition, after Trump proposed postponing the election, another Republican, Steven Calabresi, one of the founders of the conservative Federalist Society, wrote an op-ed in the New York Times condemning Trump. Calabresi called Trump’s comments “fascistic” and said that his call to delay the election was an impeachable offense.
So, given this very dangerous situation, what are we going to do about it?
Here is what I believe needs to happen in order to prepare for what could be an unprecedented chain of events following the November election:
First and foremost, we must do everything we can to ensure Joe Biden wins by the largest possible margin on November 3. The better Joe Biden does, the harder it is for Trump to overturn the election.
We need to mobilize our movement in an unprecedented way to produce the largest voter turnout this country has ever seen. The future of our democracy depends on it. And if we are successful in defeating Trump, we must also stay vigilant and do everything possible to prevent Trump from staying in power if he loses.
Secondly, we need Congressional hearings with local officials to learn how they plan to handle the Election Day process and the days that follow.
Senator Chuck Schumer, the Democratic leader in the Senate, and I have written a letter to Mitch McConnell urging bi-partisan Senate committee hearings on this issue. At this historic moment we believe that Democrats and Republicans in the Senate must come together to guarantee the integrity of our election process.
Every agency at every level of government must do all it can to ensure that we have a free and fair election where every eligible voter can vote without intimidation, and where no one has to put his or her health or life in danger to cast a ballot. That is why Congress must hear directly from election officials to know what measures are being taken to make voting available to all and to ensure a smooth election process.
Next, with the pandemic and a massive increase in mail-in voting, state legislatures must take immediate action to allow for votes to be counted before Election Day, as they come in.
The longer it takes to count ballots after Election Day, the more we will be seeing chaos, conspiracy theories and social unrest. Faith in the election system will be undermined if election results are not determined as soon as possible.
Further, what studies show is that most Democrats will be voting by mail while most Republicans will be voting in person on Election Day. This could create a scenario on election night where Trump and down-ballot Republican candidates are shown in the lead before all the mail-in votes are counted and final results become available. Trump, of course, will call the newly counted mail-in ballots “voter fraud” and will try to use it as another reason to discredit the results. Counting mail-in votes as they come in leading up to Election Day will help ensure a reliable and dependable election process while guaranteeing that accurate results are reported in a timely fashion.
The news media needs to prepare the American people to understand there is no longer a single Election Day and that we may not know the results on November 3.
Properly setting expectations ahead of time will be crucial. Never before have we depended so heavily on mail-in ballots in a presidential election, and we already know that some states may be counting votes in the days following the election. If we fail to have a national conversation about this reality, we run the risk of people buying into conspiracy theories and other disinformation as we process election results.
Social media companies must finally get their act together and stop people from spreading grotesque levels of disinformation and using their tools to threaten and harass election officials.
It is the responsibility of social media companies to take action against extremists who are spreading disinformation on their websites. We cannot allow any scenario where there is a widespread distribution of disinformation that will harm the integrity of our elections. Further, we need social media companies to prevent users from launching attacks against public officials who are administering the election. Otherwise our whole election process could be compromised.
Let me be very clear:
This is the most important election in the modern history of this country. And for the first time in America, it appears that we have a sitting president who will be reluctant to leave office if he fails to win re-election.
We absolutely must come together in November to defeat Trump by the largest margin possible and stop him from dragging our country in an authoritarian direction. Nothing less than the future of our democracy and our country is at stake.
Over the next 48 days, let us do all we can to deliver a decisive victory for Joe Biden on November 3. And once we do that, let us remain vigilant to see to it that Trump allows for the peaceful transition of power.
In solidarity,
Bernie Sanders
Dr. Robert Redfield, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told senators that the coronavirus could be controlled in six to 12 weeks — if all Americans wore masks.
Then Trump blasted Redfield
Trump loves it.
The cult thet follows him love it.
They all love in denial and hate.
Being mandated to wear a mask is the equivalence of slavery. What an A-hole.
………………………………………
CNN:
Attorney General William Barr is facing criticism for comparing calls for a nationwide lockdown to prevent the spread of the coronavirus to slavery. “Putting a national lockdown, stay-at-home orders, is like house arrest,” he said during an event at Hillsdale College.** “Other than slavery, which was a different kind of restraint, this is the greatest intrusion on civil liberties in American history.”** Barr also launched into a tirade against the hundreds of Justice Department prosecutors working beneath him, equating them to preschoolers and essentially saying the opinions of politically appointed Justice Department leaders are more important than those of career attorneys who have served through multiple presidencies. Barr also recently suggested charging violent protesters with the rarely used accusation of sedition — conspiracy to overthrow the US government.
Trump is a sick creep.
……………………………………
Former Model Amy Dorris Says Donald Trump ‘Shoved Tongue Down Her Throat’ at 1997 U.S. Open
‘
Jamie Ross
Reporter
Published Sep. 17, 2020 6:10AM ET
Reuters/Leah Millis
Former model Amy Dorris has alleged that President Donald Trump sexually assaulted her at the U.S. Open in 1997. Dorris, who was 24 at the time, described her alleged encounter with Trump for the first time during an interview with The Guardian. “He just shoved his tongue down my throat and I was pushing him off,” she said. “And then that’s when his grip became tighter and his hands were very gropey and all over my butt, my breasts, my back, everything.” She alleged she told Trump “No, please stop” but “he didn’t care.” She went on to say: “It doesn’t matter who you are… Any time anyone says no, no means no. And that just didn’t work out for me. It wasn’t enough.” Trump’s lawyers strongly denied that he harassed, abused, or behaved improperly toward Dorris. The former model provided The Guardian with her ticket to the Open and six photos showing her with Trump to support her claim, and her story was corroborated by several people she confided in about the incident at the time.
Read it at The Guardian
I don’t think I can take more “winning”.
This comes from the WH:
West Wing Reads
Israel-UAE-Bahrain Agreements Show Why Trump Was Nominated for Nobel Peace Prize
“President Trump’s unorthodox approach to foreign policy has paid off. While his critics at home would never admit it, not everyone turns a blind eye to his accomplishments,” foreign policy expert James Carafano writes for Fox News.
“For two years running, foreign lawmakers have nominated the president of the United States for the Nobel Peace Prize . . . He has demonstrated the kind of statesmanship that brings real peace without compromise and protects the vital national interests and security of all Americans. The winners are the American people.”