Who benefits from Trump’s Covid infection?

[Stockdale for Veep]

The worst possible outcome would be Trump recovering, but Biden dies after getting infected by Trump at the debate.

Harris would win by 15.

[BaldEagle1991]

This is like if a politician who fought tooth and nail against mandatory seatbelts in cars ended up in the hospital with serious injuries because he got in a car accident while not wearing a seatbelt.

There will be no sympathy bump.

Tell that to Johnson and Bolsonaro

Whatever sympathy approval rating they had, went down after recovery.

[Horus]

Oh. My. God.

You just know the usual characters in this thread pushing a Trump sympathy vote would be raining doom and gloom about Biden's electoral prospects down on all of us if this had happened to Biden instead.

Well, there are different standards for Democrats. When one party is broadly and subconsciously viewed by many as the "caregiving, maternalistic" party and the other the "entrepreneurial, paternalistic" party, standards will be different.

[Calthrina950]

Honestly, the only person who benefits is Dr. Fauci.

Just yesterday (before news of Trump's diagnosis), Dr. Fauci was reiterating the importance of mask wearing, and urging for it to become universally adopted throughout the United States, an appeal which he has been making for months. And people on the right have been denouncing him and generating conspiracy theories about him. Well, now that the man who they support as President has contracted the virus, Dr. Fauci has been vindicated.

[Hammy]

I think it benefits Trump for a few reasons.

First, call it sympathy voting or rally around the flag, most people have empathy (even some republicans) and that could give Trump a bump, just like it did with the similarly idiotic right wing populists Bolsonaro and Johnson. Remember that they also botched the covid response, like Trump.

Second, it will make it harder for democrats to push the case against Trump, which is largely based on how imcompetent and anti-democratic Trump is. Those attacks will seem mean if Trump is hospitalized, essentially handicapping democrats messaging.

Third, Trump is losing this election. He needs a gamechanger. This might not be it, but it COULD be. Worst case for him is that he still loses. Best case is that this turns it around.

Overall, unless he dies, I don't see how this is bad for Trump.

Honestly this is the best case for Republicans because if Trump isn't in the picture a lot less people will be motivated to vote. Pence seems like he's able to fake being a decent person to most of the less observant voters.

Though obviously dying would certainly be bad for Trump himself.

[Horus]

This is like if a politician who fought tooth and nail against mandatory seatbelts in cars ended up in the hospital with serious injuries because he got in a car accident while not wearing a seatbelt.

There will be no sympathy bump.

Tell that to Johnson and Bolsonaro

Whatever sympathy approval rating they had, went down after recovery.

A temporary bump is all he needs, this is all about timing.

[Gass3268]

Stuff like this is why Trump won't gain. The majority of Americans see this as stupid behavior.

https://twitter.com/NinaBernstein1/status/1311908447684890625?s=20

[#TheShadowyAbyss]

I predict polling will be 47-46 Biden-Trump next week after the sympathy bump

[BaldEagle1991]

This is like if a politician who fought tooth and nail against mandatory seatbelts in cars ended up in the hospital with serious injuries because he got in a car accident while not wearing a seatbelt.

There will be no sympathy bump.

Tell that to Johnson and Bolsonaro

Whatever sympathy approval rating they had, went down after recovery.

A temporary bump is all he needs, this is all about timing.

Keep in mind a temporary bump is just temporary. It can fizzled out fast.

[soundchaser]

Honestly this is the best case for Republicans because if Trump isn't in the picture a lot less people will be motivated to vote. Pence seems like he's able to fake being a decent person to most of the less observant voters.

Though obviously dying would certainly be bad for Trump himself.

People are not going to magically forget that Trump’s president because he’s quarantining. If anything, he’ll just make some ridiculous tweet.

[Blair]

I don't get who the potenial voters are who are changing their mind solely because of this.

[Interlocutor is just not there yet]

Stuff like this is why Trump won't gain. The majority of Americans see this as stupid behavior.

(snip)

"Boris Johnson also attended a fundraiser"

[WD]

I predict polling will be 47-46 next week after the sympathy bump

You people are unbelievable. Everything must help Trump, huh? If Biden got COVID, you’d all be declaring his campaign DOA. Stop it.

[Horus]

This is like if a politician who fought tooth and nail against mandatory seatbelts in cars ended up in the hospital with serious injuries because he got in a car accident while not wearing a seatbelt.

There will be no sympathy bump.

Tell that to Johnson and Bolsonaro

Whatever sympathy approval rating they had, went down after recovery.

A temporary bump is all he needs, this is all about timing.

Keep in mind a temporary bump is just temporary. It can fizzled out fast.

Trump walking out of the WH in two weeks to cheers with a new plan to take on COVID would create a 2-3 week bump, possibly a big one, at exactly the right time. The man does not want to go to prison and desperately wants to win, far more than any of his supporters even do.

[Alben Barkley]

I think it benefits Trump for a few reasons.

First, call it sympathy voting or rally around the flag, most people have empathy (even some republicans) and that could give Trump a bump, just like it did with the similarly idiotic right wing populists Bolsonaro and Johnson. Remember that they also botched the covid response, like Trump.

Second, it will make it harder for democrats to push the case against Trump, which is largely based on how imcompetent and anti-democratic Trump is. Those attacks will seem mean if Trump is hospitalized, essentially handicapping democrats messaging.

Third, Trump is losing this election. He needs a gamechanger. This might not be it, but it COULD be. Worst case for him is that he still loses. Best case is that this turns it around.

Overall, unless he dies, I don't see how this is bad for Trump.

Yes, yes, everything is good for Trump.

Ruining a debate, good for Trump. Catching COVID, good for Trump. Not denouncing White supremacy, good for Trump.

We get it.

I mean you, Alben and Monstro literally think everything is bad for Trump so...

No, I don’t. Unlike you, I live in the real world where he is down worse than any candidate in decades and has been exceedingly, consistently unpopular his entire term. That means I naturally am skeptical of any claims that something is magically going to save him all of a sudden when everything doomer clowns like you have proclaimed will so far has failed to make his numbers budge at all in his favor. I don’t believe it’s necessarily impossible for anything to help him, but at this stage basically anything would be too little, too late because he is down that badly. And certainly anything that objectively hurts him according to every poll, like the debate, does not somehow in fact do the opposite and HELP him. I din’t live in the bizarro word you live in where up is down and black is white.

[#TheShadowyAbyss]

I predict polling will be 47-46 next week after the sympathy bump

You people are unbelievable. Everything must help Trump, huh? If Biden got COVID, you’d all be declaring his campaign DOA. Stop it.

You will not speak to me in this tone

[LimoLiberal]

The obvious strategy for Biden is just to become the president. Take advantage of Trump’s incapacitation to give daily speeches. Implicitly contrast Trump’s physical absence with a larger physical presence, while publicly wishing the best for Trump’s recovery.

[It’s so Joever]

I predict polling will be 47-46 next week after the sympathy bump

You people are unbelievable. Everything must help Trump, huh? If Biden got COVID, you’d all be declaring his campaign DOA. Stop it.

You will not speak to me in this tone

Lmao are you serious?

[Alben Barkley]

People bringing up Boris, etc.:

1. As noted, he got the spike in the polls BEFORE he got COVID.

2. Trump was notable for being one of the only world leaders who did NOT get such a spike around the same time as a “rally around the flag effect.” Why? People do not like him. His approval rating is historically consistent. People who hate him, who are a majority of the public, are not suddenly going to like him or vote for him. They will just see it as karma for his incompetence and as a result of his own failure that has killed more than 200k better Americans.

[DaleCooper]

This happening right after his almost universally hated debate performance definitely doesn't help Trump either. If this happened early on, when he got his rally-around-the-flag bump, then maybe it'd be a different story. But people are sick and tired of this man.

[Jay 🏳️‍⚧️]

I predict polling will be 47-46 next week after the sympathy bump

You people are unbelievable. Everything must help Trump, huh? If Biden got COVID, you’d all be declaring his campaign DOA. Stop it.

You will not speak to me in this tone

"Waaaaaahhhhhhh you're being mean to me "

[AGA]

I don't think it will change the race much at all. UK and Brazilian electorates are not as polarized as in the US. Trump's initial coronavirus bump was small and short-lived, so I think this just makes him look stupid.

[Co-Chair Bagel23]

I predict polling will be 47-46 next week after the sympathy bump

You people are unbelievable. Everything must help Trump, huh? If Biden got COVID, you’d all be declaring his campaign DOA. Stop it.

You will not speak to me in this tone

He just did, and he will again every damn time he so wishes.