Coronavirus & 2020

[Fmr. Gov. NickG]

It’s way too early to tell, but I think we can rule this out:

• Trump could handle the virus well in the US similar to Obama and Hurricane Sandy

[Fmr. Gov. NickG]

What are you trying to show here?  That Trump's supporters are much more likely to die if it becomes a pandemic?

[Fmr. Gov. NickG]

Yes, he will be blamed and he should be blamed.

If he did show good leadership on this issue, he should be credited.  But he has shown terrible leadership, and nothing in his character or history suggests he will be able to be a good leader going forward.

His speech last night showed that he has absolutely no clue about what is needed to mitigate the effects of the virus.

He should have led with -testing-.  Instead, of course, he led with xenophobia.

There are probably 100,000 Americans who have coronavirus right now and have no idea they have it.  A ban on European travel will do nothing about this.  The solution is to test them.

The disparity here is especially stark when you consider that Korea is doing this so much better than we are and it seems like they are seeing almost miraculous results.  But of course Trump will never admit that a foreign country is doing something better than us.

[Fmr. Gov. NickG]

Yes, he will be blamed and he should be blamed.

If he did show good leadership on this issue, he should be credited.  But he has shown terrible leadership, and nothing in his character or history suggests he will be able to be a good leader going forward.

His speech last night showed that he has absolutely no clue about what is needed to mitigate the effects of the virus.

He should have led with -testing-.  Instead, of course, he led with xenophobia.

There are probably 100,000 Americans who have coronavirus right now and have no idea they have it.  A ban on European travel will do nothing about this.  The solution is to test them.

The disparity here is especially stark when you consider that Korea is doing this so much better than we are and it seems like they are seeing almost miraculous results.  But of course Trump will never admit that a foreign country is doing something better than us.

The ban on travel from Europe = xenophobia?

It’s not so much that the travel ban is xenophobic, though I think it is likely to be ineffective, and the fact that the UK is exempted does call into question its motivation.

The whole tone and emphasis of the speech was xenophobic.  Within the first minute of the speech, he describes it as “coming from China” and “a foreign virus” and talks about the failures of the European Union.  These are all dog whistles to his xenophobic and racist supporters.

And the travel ban is the policy that Trump discussed first, longest, and in the greatest detail.  Whether or not it is justified, it is clearly not the MOST important thing the government should be doing.

The most important thing the government should be doing is much, much, much, more testing.  Trump barely discussed this at all because he knows his supporters would like this crisis to be addressed with racism rather than more (necessary) government involvement in their daily lives.

[Fmr. Gov. NickG]

I don’t tend to put much stake in the prediction markets, but for those who do, it is notable that Trump’s reelection price on PredictIt has dropped from 53% to 44% in the last 5 days.

[Fmr. Gov. NickG]

Yes, he will be blamed and he should be blamed.

If he did show good leadership on this issue, he should be credited.  But he has shown terrible leadership, and nothing in his character or history suggests he will be able to be a good leader going forward.

His speech last night showed that he has absolutely no clue about what is needed to mitigate the effects of the virus.

He should have led with -testing-.  Instead, of course, he led with xenophobia.

There are probably 100,000 Americans who have coronavirus right now and have no idea they have it.  A ban on European travel will do nothing about this.  The solution is to test them.

The disparity here is especially stark when you consider that Korea is doing this so much better than we are and it seems like they are seeing almost miraculous results.  But of course Trump will never admit that a foreign country is doing something better than us.

The ban on travel from Europe = xenophobia?

It’s not so much that the travel ban is xenophobic, though I think it is likely to be ineffective, and the fact that the UK is exempted does call into question its motivation.

The whole tone and emphasis of the speech was xenophobic.  Within the first minute of the speech, he describes it as “coming from China” and “a foreign virus” and talks about the failures of the European Union.  These are all dog whistles to his xenophobic and racist supporters.

1). Those are accurate statements. It did come from China. It is a foreign virus. (but please, tell me if I am inaccurate; please let me know if the disease didn't come from China)

2).The West Nile virus got its name because it was first spotted in the West Nile area of Uganda. Similarly, the Ebola virus got its name because it was discovered near the Ebola river in the Congo.

Was it racist and insulting to the people of Africa when we named it "West Nile Virus" and "Ebola Virus"?

Whether something is accurate doesn’t determine whether or not it is xenophobic.  If every time Trump criticized the Senate Minority Leader, he described him as “the Jewish Chuck Schumer”, that would be an accurate statement, but it would also obviously be an anti-Semitic dog whistle, as it is certainly not relevant. 

Describing the virus a “coming from China” and “foreign” is not relevant to how people should be responding to the threat of the virus in their daily lives; it will only make them likely to discriminate against foreigners and Chinese people specifically.

In any case, this is all much less important than substance of the fact that Trump has chosen to respond to the virus by discriminating against foreigners rather than testing the tens of thousands of Americans who likely already have the virus and are spreading it without knowing it.

[Fmr. Gov. NickG]

Trump did at great job today. Market was up big. If Trump prevents an Italy or Korea he will get big marks from the public and will possibly ensure his re-election

As this point, there is almost zero chance that our situation will resolve itself better than Korea.  We will probably pass Korea in Coronovirus deaths within the next three days.

[Fmr. Gov. NickG]

So Trump says he was tested for coronavirus but was very vague about when to expect the results.
What's the chance he already knows he's positive but is just trying to hide his illness as long as possible, like most elderly authoritarian leaders?