Trump says he minimized coronavirus, didn't want to create panic: Woodward book

[The Barmbeker]

4 hours ago, Damual Travesty said:

My character is fine. How about yours? I oppose a party that puts forward a candidate suffering from mental deficiencies of age, that promotes an open border, that promotes late term abortion, that would wreck the American gas and oil industry,  that promotes the relocation of American Jobs overseas. I support a party that promotes life,  law and order,  a strong defence, and stands up to China in the South China sea and beyond. That is my character. It has always been the same. How about you?

Okay!

Now back to reality!

[pegman]

1 hour ago, cmarshall said:

Trump should be given the Louis XVI treatment.

Or Charles I

[cmarshall]

13 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

Vision and smarts is not exactly Trumps strong suit. He not only has become significantly less convincing over the years (unquestionably, his better years are behind him, and he is fading fast), but he has absolutely no idea how to strategize, nor how to negotiate (unless he is buying small apartment buildings, that is the full extent of his ability in that area). He is a sad relic. A dinosaur. Totally out of touch with not only reality, but with the year 2020. No worries. Only a few months of this miserable soul to endure. 

None of that applies to my comment which was that Trump is just trying to massage Woodward into a higher opinion of him based on the kind of between-us-serious-guys-we-can-talk-frankly-about-the-real-situation. Woodward for his part is going right along with it.  He knows how to give a guy enough rope to hang himself.

 

Trump is doing what psychopaths do, which is to manipulate people.  If rage works, then he'll rage at the guy.  If not, he can switch to charm without missing a beat.  It's all the same to him.  That's what Trump is demonstrating in the clip cited.

[cmarshall]

8 minutes ago, pegman said:

Or Charles I

Or better yet, Nicholas II.

Edited September 10, 2020 by cmarshall

[gazza4]

5 hours ago, PatOngo said:

Yes, magnificent! Only 190,000 dead!

SO FAR!

[malibukid]

9 minutes ago, cmarshall said:

None of that applies to my comment which was that Trump is just trying to massage Woodward into a higher opinion of him based on the kind of between-us-serious-guys-we-can-talk-frankly-about-the-real-situation. Woodward for his part is going right along with it.  He knows how to give a guy enough rope to hang himself.

 

Trump is doing what psychopaths do, which is to manipulate people.  If rage works, then he'll rage at the guy.  If not, he can switch to charm without missing a beat.  It's all the same to him.  That's what Trump is demonstrating in the clip cited.

Trump was no match for Woodward. walked right into the trap.  should have know this, but little lord Jared encouraged the interview.

[2 is 1]

4 hours ago, Damual Travesty said:

That is my character.

You should hide your adress better!!!

 

Edited September 10, 2020 by 2 is 1

[Mavideol]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

"I wanted to always play it down," Trump told Woodward on March 19, days after he declared a national emergency. "I still like playing it down, because I don't want to create a panic."

 

"The fact is I'm a cheerleader for this country. I love our country and I don't want people to be frightened," Trump said at a White House event

 

great U turn, out of desperation he's changing his rhetoric, too late too little, it's not working a "pig" with a suit still a pig

[dexterm]

1 hour ago, KarenBravo said:

You can't have any of those things if you are dead.

How many people died unnecessarily due to Trump not wanting to tell the truth? He knew it was airborne, yet, he still held conventions with no social distancing and denigrated mask wearing. Shows you just how much he thinks of his own supporters.....

Thank you, KB. I was about to say similar.

And he is still holding rallies where he mocks mask wearing and social distancing..sensible precautions that any leader in their right mind should be promoting rather than politicizing. Watch out for the second wave as winter approaches just in time for the election. Lets hope the candidate who treats this pandemic more seriously than his ego wins.

 

195,239 dead Americans would love to have had a bit of panic instilled in them to safeguard against this pandemic..rather than bleach and bright lights.

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/us/#:~:text=United States Coronavirus%3A 6%2C549%2C475 Cases and 195%2C239 Deaths - Worldometer

 

Edited September 10, 2020 by dexterm

[Walkabout]

. . . and he blamed the Chinese for having delayed (hiding) the "Wuhan" virus for a couple of weeks . . . US logic

[chilli42]

Yes, Trump could have done a much better job in leading the fight against the virus.  Had Hillary or Joe been in office I am certain they would have done a magnificent job.  Strikes me the the greater failing in all of this was how unprepared the public and community health organizations were to combat the virus.  No masks, no ventilators, no tracing plans, painfully slow get decent tests into the hands of healthcare providers etc etc.  Was this Trumps fault?  Well maybe some of it.  What is clear is that the US really was unprepared to handle any kind of public health issue on a mass scale.  That unpreparedness has been in the making long before Trump came on the scene.

[Chomper Higgot]

13 minutes ago, chilli42 said:

Yes, Trump could have done a much better job in leading the fight against the virus.  Had Hillary or Joe been in office I am certain they would have done a magnificent job.  Strikes me the the greater failing in all of this was how unprepared the public and community health organizations were to combat the virus.  No masks, no ventilators, no tracing plans, painfully slow get decent tests into the hands of healthcare providers etc etc.  Was this Trumps fault?  Well maybe some of it.  What is clear is that the US really was unprepared to handle any kind of public health issue on a mass scale.  That unpreparedness has been in the making long before Trump came on the scene.

Shipping essential medical supplies to China.

 

Failing to act on any level for months.

 

Dismissing the advice of scientists and medical professionals.

 

Actively undermining efforts to combat the disease.

 

Calling on his supporters to ignore lockdowns.

 

Deliberately making ‘not wearing a mask’ a statement of political allegiance to himself. 

 

Promoting ‘snake oil’ cures and remedies.

 

Lying and hiding the truth of the risk this disease posed from the American people. 

 

Over 194,000 dead Americans, a number that is tragically increasing at around 1000/day.

 

Oh, and ‘I take no responsibility at all’.

[2 is 1]

25 minutes ago, chilli42 said:

Yes, Trump could have done a much better job in leading the fight against the virus.  Had Hillary or Joe been in office I am certain they would have done a magnificent job.  Strikes me the the greater failing in all of this was how unprepared the public and community health organizations were to combat the virus.  No masks, no ventilators, no tracing plans, painfully slow get decent tests into the hands of healthcare providers etc etc.  Was this Trumps fault?  Well maybe some of it.  What is clear is that the US really was unprepared to handle any kind of public health issue on a mass scale.  That unpreparedness has been in the making long before Trump came on the scene.

You have point. There don't have any coundry who prepared for this covid! But anyway like Trump had say him self: he had plenty time to do something , before hole sht was already in fan! He wait until it was in face! And full face coz nobody wear mask! And still he not do nothing much, only let sht still fly!

Edited September 10, 2020 by 2 is 1

[cmarshall]

7 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Shipping essential medical supplies to China.

 

Failing to act on any level for months.

 

Dismissing the advice of scientists and medical professionals.

 

Actively undermining efforts to combat the disease.

 

Calling on his supporters to ignore lockdowns.

 

Deliberately making ‘not wearing a mask’ a statement of political allegiance to himself. 

 

Promoting ‘snake oil’ cures and remedies.

 

Lying and hiding the truth of the risk this disease posed from the American people. 

 

Over 194,000 dead Americans, a number that is tragically increasing at around 1000/day.

 

Oh, and ‘I take no responsibility at all’.

Sure, all bad, but Trump's biggest failing was to shut down the US CDC's Beijing office in 2017, an important part of whose function was to surveil China for emerging pathogens.  Trump reduced the staff from 47 to 14 including getting rid of the last epidemiologist.  He similarly cut other offices of US agencies in China which also played a role in disease management, such as USAID.

 

That was the last, best chance for the US to be S. Korea or Taiwan, both of whom were closely monitoring the new virus in China and kicked off their carefully prepared plans in Dec. 2019.

[Mavideol]

26 minutes ago, chilli42 said:

What is clear is that the US really was unprepared to handle any kind of public health issue on a mass scale.  

on/with some type of situations, virus outbreaks, hurricanes, public (peaceful) demonstrations, etc., a country needs a leader with a head on the shoulders with the main concern being to make citizens fell safe/secure and not create havoc divisions, citizens need a leader with knowledge that should put aside his/her egocentric personality and should accept  others views/advise mostly when it comes to proven science, a leader who doesn't blame others for his/her own failures....

[jcsmith]

What makes this all the more terrible is that knowing this information he had his staff remove the social distancing empty seats at his rallies because they thought it made the crowd look smaller... He brings his supporters in defiant because he has been a poster boy for not wearing a mask, ridiculing his rivals for wearing them, refusing for months to wear one himself... Then he packs them in like sardines. While privately knowing the seriousness he publicly compared it to the flu. 

 

If you have defended his Covid response to date, this has to be jarring news. And if it's not then you need to wake up.

[JulesMad]

Anytime anything starts with "trump says.....", you KNOW another lie is coming!
It is so predictable

[Srikcir]

In effect POTUS may, according to his position on delaying direct government action against the covid-19 pandemic in the US, have committed negligent homicide against now about 190,000 American deaths and injury to hundreds of thousands Americans. 

In the alternative if his delay was intentional with full knowledge of the disease' infection and mortality rate, he may have committed mass homicide and injury.

In either case the survivors of the deceased and recovered patients might have cause to file a class lawsuit against Trump personally. See www. cochranfirmdc.com, "How to sue the federal government" under the Federal Tort Claims Act. 

As a billionaire, I'm sure Trump can cover the personal cost of litigation and payout any court awarded damages. Or he can get a loan from Putin (again?).

[candide]

7 hours ago, Mama Noodle said:

More revisionist nonsense, but par for the course. In both of those months there was so much disinfo and downplay from literally every side of American politics up to and including the use of masks. Only when NY got bad did the script flip. 

In Feb/March there was a barrage of posts from TVF Trumper's, claiming the left-leaning MSM and Dems were overstating epidemic risk in order to create panic, that is was another hoax, that so-called experts were not experts, it was just another flu, etc...

 

So, according to you, Trumper posters were accusing the Dems and MSM of overstating epidemic risk in order to create panic, while the Dems and MSM were actually unanimously downplaying it? It's completely incoherent.

 

 

[mtls2005]

8 hours ago, webfact said:

"I wanted to always play it down," Trump told Woodward on March 19, days after he declared a national emergency. "I still like playing it down, because I don't want to create a panic."

 

This seems like the defense-du-jour.

 

Imagining past presidents facing monumental challenges trying to minimize a threat? Lincoln, FDR.

 

Yes, Woodrow Wilson massively messed up with the 1918 pandemic, epically so, In fact trump has made some/all fo the same mistakes.

 

Clearly a leader with gravitas can step into the moment and lead. Honestly all trump had to do was like the bare minimum on the pandemic, and he would have coasted to a landslide victory. Instead, he made every single mistake he could, almost as if he wants to fail.

 

Hearing his pitiful, weasely voice on the tapes, all while sniffling endlessly, is quite the eye-opener.

 

 

 

 

[candide]

1 hour ago, cmarshall said:

That was the last, best chance for the US to be S. Korea or Taiwan, both of whom were closely monitoring the new virus in China and kicked off their carefully prepared plans in Dec. 2019.

This is actually not accurate. Of course, they were more apt to decrypt information from China due to geographical and cultural proximity. They were also more sensitive to epidemic risk and more experienced, having been hit by SARS and MERS previously.

 

However, they only started to organise a response after Jan. 20, I.e. by creating a strategic committee, inciting labs and companies to produce tests, etc...

 

What they did in a few weeks, the US could have easily done it in nearly two months.

 

Another good example is Germany. It was exactly at the same level of information as the US at the end of January: both had a seat at the WHO executive board and had access to all information processed by the WHO.

When the outburst occured on Feb. 25/26, Germany was ready (tests, equipment, organisation, etc...). When the outburst started in the US 3 weeks later, the country was not ready.

 

https://ourworldindata.org/covid-exemplar-south-korea

 

https://theconversation.com/what-coronavirus-success-of-taiwan-and-iceland-has-in-common-140455

 

https://www.ft.com/content/cc1f650a-91c0-4e1f-b990-ee8ceb5339ea

Edited September 10, 2020 by candide

[ChouDoufu]

3 hours ago, chilli42 said:

Yes, Trump could have done a much better job in leading the fight against the virus.  Had Hillary or Joe been in office I am certain they would have done a magnificent job.  Strikes me the the greater failing in all of this was how unprepared the public and community health organizations were to combat the virus.  No masks, no ventilators, no tracing plans, painfully slow get decent tests into the hands of healthcare providers etc etc.  Was this Trumps fault?  Well maybe some of it.  What is clear is that the US really was unprepared to handle any kind of public health issue on a mass scale.  That unpreparedness has been in the making long before Trump came on the scene.

 

not prepared? 

 

let's not forget the pandemic "playbook" the prior administration prepared and left behind for the incoming officials which was trash-binned, and the lack of interest in participating in training sessions.  there were also the national security guys responsible for pandemic response reassigned by bolton and never replaced, the cutting of cdc staff in china, budget cuts relating to global health response.....

 

winning!

[bronzedude]

It's hard to believe that supporters of our draft dodging little girl, Comrade Donald, still honk their low IQ horns after all those smart people who worked for the loser are coming out in force to tell it like it is. It is what it is.  

Edited September 10, 2020 by bronzedude
misspelled word

[utalkin2me]

Trump trying to sell that he actually cares about how US citizens feel. Now that is a tough sell. 

[candide]

Of course! He's been warned, re-warned, and warned again!

 

FEBRUARY 11, 2020 / 10:28 AM

GENEVA (Reuters) - China’s coronavirus outbreak poses a “very grave threat for the rest of the world” and should be viewed as “Public Enemy Number 1”, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday. WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus urged countries to step up measures to detect and contain the virus....

 

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-health-who/coronavirus-emergency-is-public-enemy-number-1-who-idUSKBN2050YV

[Tie Dye Samurai]

10 hours ago, Mama Noodle said:

Breathe, mate, breathe. I expect nothing less than the usual suspects acting like nobody remembers the early stages of the virus and what was being said at the time. 

I remember Trump calling it a democratic hoax, wanting to open the economy up the country at Easter, mask shaming the media during press conferences and forcing state governors to bid against themselves for PPE because he wouldn't and still hasnt coordinated a national response and I consider him directly responsible for having half the country refuse to wear a mask in the name of FREEDOM while the death toll is knocking 200k door ...yeah Trump crushed it.

 

I get it, there is nothing that could be said....even by Dear President in his own words....that is going to make you swallow your pride and quit defending what is one of the worst presidents in history. You are dug in and I am sure he is right when he said that he could shoot somebody in cold blood on 5th Avenue and you would follow along like a lemming. You, much like Trump, do not care what the price is or the collateral damage to countless millions....as long as you win (or what you think is winning). I am sure in your mind the biggest threat to America is liberals. F'ing sad...

Edited September 10, 2020 by Tie Dye Samurai

[RocketDog]

Check out the first two comments to this post. 

Apparently their first thoughts were to immediately go into sycophantic defense mode. 

Naturally they anticipated the barrage of indignation the post would bring. It's turned into a full time job keeping up with Fearless Leader's gaffs. 

Insecurity much? 

 

But as always, entertaining to witness. 

[mtls2005]

trump doesn't want to panic people...

 

 

 

[xylophone]

10 hours ago, simple1 said:

Yet his supporters still go through amazing contortions to try and support him; bizarre.

And not only his supporters, when truth and reason are obviously missing in anything that Trump says, and what surprises me even more is that his close coterie, including the bimbo Kayleigh McEnamy can actually stand and face the American public and openly lie, so she is either so dumb and on the same level as trump, or she is a persistent liar like her boss......... either way it is absolutely pathetic to watch these liars strut their stuff.

 

America should be ashamed of itself for electing this pile of excrement.

[simple1]

4 minutes ago, xylophone said:

And not only his supporters, when truth and reason are obviously missing in anything that Trump says, and what surprises me even more is that his close coterie, including the bimbo Kayleigh McEnamy can actually stand and face the American public and openly lie, so she is either so dumb and on the same level as trump, or she is a persistent liar like her boss......... either way it is absolutely pathetic to watch these liars strut their stuff.

 

America should be ashamed of itself for electing this pile of excrement.

 

 

Kayleigh McEnamy is not a bimbo, she's highly educated. Why has she gone down the path she's currently on? - no idea.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kayleigh_McEnany