A report card on the Trump administration

We can always hope that Trump's supporters watched Trump's interview with Chris Wallace on Fox Sunday. Of course, we will never know because Trump's followers avoid threads that deal with Trump.

In any case, here is hoping they did. After all, Fox is the network of choice for Trump's fans. Here is hoping they did because Trump made a complete fool of himself on multiple occasions during the interview. Here is just one example.

There have been nearly four million cases of the coronavirus in the U.S., and over 143,500 Americans have died during the pandemic. The U.S. has a quarter of the world's pandemic cases, and a quarter of the world's deaths from the virus. Here is what Trump has said about our national crisis.

Friday, February 7, and Wednesday, February 19 -- "The coronavirus would weaken “when we get into April, in the warmer weather—that has a very negative effect on that, and that type of a virus.”

Thursday, February 27 -- "The outbreak would be temporary: “It’s going to disappear. One day it’s like a miracle—it will disappear.”

Multiple times -- If the economic shutdown continues, deaths by suicide “definitely would be in far greater numbers than the numbers that we’re talking about” for COVID-19 deaths.

Multiple times -- “Coronavirus numbers are looking MUCH better, going down almost everywhere,” and cases are “coming way down.”

There are countless more examples, but the reader gets the point.

Here is what Trump told Wallace Sunday on national television.

"I'll be right eventually. I will be right eventually. You know I said, 'It's going to disappear.' I'll say it again,"

For more on Trump's mental breakdown see: https://www.washingtonpost.com/polit...very-few-have/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/polit...very-few-have/

Little wonder why Trump's followers want no part of Trump.

 

Originally Posted by Sandy Shanks
The Post reports, "Americans’ views of President Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic have deteriorated significantly as cases rise across the country and personal fears of becoming infected persist, a Washington Post-ABC News poll finds.

"The Post-ABC poll shows 38 percent of Americans approve of his handling of the outbreak, down from 46 percent in May and 51 percent in March. Sixty percent disapprove, up from 53 percent in May and 45 percent in March.

"More than half of the public — 52 percent — now disapproves “strongly” of Trump’s handling of the outbreak, roughly double the percentage who say they strongly approve of his efforts and an increase from 36 percent in strong disapproval since March."

For those concerned about Trump's reelection, I don't think we have much to worry about. Trump is so stupid he makes things worse for himself on a daily basis. Trump's worst enemy is Trump.

Also, Trump's own fans have abandoned him. Look at the threads on this forum.

There is not one thread from a Trump supporter concerning what Trump is doing, saying, and tweeting. Not one!

It is about freaking time!

With 58,500 new virus cases, 7,300 in California, 10,350 in Florida, and 6,500 in Texas and with ICU beds in Miami-Dade County at 130% capacity, Trump is doing an about face regarding the pandemic. It only took seven months and horrible poll numbers. His mindless strategy of ignoring the coronavirus while trying vainly to distract Americans from it failed miserably as anyone with a half a brain knew months ago.

That lets out Trump.

He sent out a tweet of his patriotic self in a face mask.



Donald J. Trump

@realDonaldTrump
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump
·
We are United in our effort to defeat the Invisible China Virus, and many people say that it is Patriotic to wear a face mask when you can’t socially distance. There is nobody more Patriotic than me, your favorite President!
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1285299379746811915/photo/1



Also, as coronavirus cases surge across the American South and West, today Trump said he had decided to bring back the White House coronavirus briefings he had stopped amid a widespread pandemic shortly after he suggested injecting Lysol to kill viruses within the body.

"Well, we had very successful briefings. I was doing them and we had a lot of people watching, record numbers watching in the history of cable television -- television, there's never been anything like it. And we were doing very well, and I thought it would be sort of, automatic and a lot of positive things were happening and frankly, a lot of the country is doing well," Trump rambled on incoherently to reporters.

 

There is no doubt about it. Putin's protégé wants anarchy. It is why Trump's followers remain loyal to Trump and are not concerned about Trump's mismanagement of the federal government and, often times, his sheer stupidity.

Trump can't even get along with his own party, and, in the midst of a raging pandemic, he wants to weaken the federal government's ability to fight the virus that has caused the deaths of over 144,000 Americans and counting.

Trump is also threatening to cut federal funds to schools that use on-line learning because of the contagious virus that has filled ICU beds from Florida to California.

NBC News reports, "Trump is throwing a big wrench into negotiations between the White House and Senate Republicans over the next coronavirus relief bill by demanding a payroll tax cut be included and funding for testing be reduced or cut completely.

"Leaving meetings on Capitol Hill Monday night, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said that the payroll tax cut is in the yet-to-be released bill despite Republican senators saying they don’t think it’s good policy

"Republicans are trying to get on the same page before they start negotiating with Democrats before they leave for a month-long August recess.

"Republican senators also denounced any attempt by the White House to cut funding for coronavirus testing.

"Mnuchin said that funding for schools is coming in at more than $70 billion and that might be allocated for schools that reopen."

"Might be?" Trump is not sure what he wants? Is it a real threat or a bogus threat? Trump doesn't know.

The Republican President is trying to neutralize the Republican Senate. The result is a dysfunctional federal government.

In other words, anarchy.

 

Yesterday Trump announced that he had decided to bring back the White House coronavirus press conferences. What a joke that turned out to be. Today there was a thirty minute press conference. There was no Dr. Fauci, no Dr. Birx, no Dr. Redfield (director of the CDC), no Vice Admiral Jerome M. Adams, M.D., the Surgeon General of the United States, and no Mike Pence (supposedly the chairman of the coronavirus task force).

Trump can't help himself. He has to make a fool of himself. There was only Trump.

Beginning yesterday, Trump has done a complete one 180 on the pandemic. Gone is the fantasy the virus will die off in April with warmer temperatures. Gone is the fantasy of reopening the country for business on Easter weekend. It is replaced with the solemn "It will probably unfortunately get worse before it gets better," Trump read from the prepared statement.

Suddenly Trump is endorsing face masks. "Whether you like the mask or not, they have an impact," Trump read. He later added that he "will use it gladly, no problem with it."

Of course, the last was a lie. Trump has been seen in public only twice with a face mask, and once was in a hospital. Last night at a fundraiser, he is seen standing amidst a crowd of people sans a face mask.

Trump was asked why he was in favor of cutting funding for testing. He evaded the question by bragging how much testing the U.S. has done.

A reporter asked where were the medical experts. Trump said Dr. Birx was in the room next door. No reporter had the balls to ask the obvious question.

Of course, he bragged about what a great job his administration has been doing with the pandemic. No reporter had the balls to ask, if he is doing such a great job, why is it the U.S. has a quarter of the coronavirus cases and a quarter of the virus deaths?

In fact, under the circumstances, the reporters in the room were a pretty mild bunch.

Just at the end of the press conference, Trump made a huge gaffe. Ghislaine Maxwell is a British socialite who provided sexual favors for convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Maxwell is charged with the crimes of enticement of minors and sex trafficking of children.

Trump wished her well.

The sound you hear is hundred or more White House staffers gnashing their teeth in frustration. This was caused by the President's abject stupidity.

If there was anything positive about getting Trump to finally recognize the pandemic instead of ignoring it, it got washed away with Trump's incredibly mindless remark about a child molester.

 

I didn't expect to be defending someone with the last name of Cheney but Liz deserves some props.

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/07/21/house-cheney-gop-conference-375812

 

Trump often says that crime is rampant in the major cities controlled by Democrats.

Nearly every major city in the U.S., including cities in Trump Country, the South, like Dallas, Houston, and Atlanta, are controlled by Democrats.

Crime has been rampant in major cities since the Roman Empire, and it has been political fodder in the U.S. since Theodore Roosevelt.

So, Trump isn't saying a damn thing other than the obvious. It is like preaching the Pope is Catholic.

 

Yawn! Trump is backing down from another threat. He has threatened to send federal cops to our major cities to quell the violence, which he says is getting out of control. Incidentally, "Overall crime is down 5.3 percent in 25 large American cities relative to the same period in 2019, with violent crime down 2 percent." It’s Been ‘Such a Weird Year.’ That’s Also Reflected in Crime Statistics. - The New York Times

With fire and brimstone Trump painted Democrat-led cities as out of control and lashed out at the “radical left.”

“In recent weeks there has been a radical movement to defund, dismantle and dissolve our police department,” Trump said at a White House event, blaming the movement for “a shocking explosion of shootings, killings, murders and heinous crimes of violence.”

Most of his remarks were lies. Our cities are not controlled by the "radical left." They are controlled by the Democratic Party. The Democratic Party and Trump's political rival, Joe Biden have no intention of defunding, dismantling, or dissolving our police departments. Our President is lying again.

That was done to distract the viewer from noticing that he was forced to back down again from his threats. The GOP leadership, the DOJ, and the American people had enough of the federal cops in Portland who only made matters worse.

The elaborate photo op featured an announcement from Trump that he was sending a combination of agents from the FBI, DEA and ATF to Chicago and Albuquerque to work with and bolster the already existing federal presence in both cities and assist with investigations of illegal gun sales and other federal crimes.

Trump said he was expanding “Operation Legend.” His base loves a catchy name, Another one is "Operation Warp Speed."

Anyway, according to the Chicago Sun*Times, "Agents from Operation Legend, a violent-crime initiative, will work in partnership with Chicago Police and Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s office. They will remain throughout the summer but will not be dressed in camouflage, U.S. Attorney John Lausch said in an interview before the announcement."

The DOJ is working with Mayor Lori Lightfoot's office. The Sun*Times added, "when it comes to sending in extra agents, City Hall and the White House are not at odds."

All of this has happened countless times in the past. Trump's bombastic remarks about the "radical left extremists" and what he is going to do to them became a whimper.

Incidentally, if Trump sent federal shock troops to cities without local and state approval, he would be in violation of our Constitution and federal law.

Trump's lawyer, Bill Barr, who doubles as the U.S. Attorney General, may have pointed that out to Trump.

 

Hi, Lee.

 

Our daytime television personality is back. Trump said Monday he would be resurrecting the coronavirus briefings, and that is one threat he is carrying out ... unfortunately.

Only they are not coronavirus briefings. There are no medical experts on pandemics, no doctors offering their best advice on what Americans should do.

Only Trump.

To keep up appearances, Trump tells his usual lies about the coronavirus mixed in with a small amount of medical advice he reads from a script. He doesn't allow the experts on stage. They will expose his lies. He isn't fooling anyone. Trump spends the majority of his time on political statements filled with the usual lies about his opponent that are designed to further his ambitions. The statements have nothing to do with the pandemic.

Here is hoping Trump has the brain power to change that soon and bring on the experts, or these press conferences will become just another big joke.

The problem is, this is all about Trump, not the pandemic that has killed over 146,500 Americans. Trump doesn't want to share the spotlight with anyone.

What is more likely to happen is that Trump once again will prove Trump's worst enemy is Trump. He talks too much and he is not very bright.

 

While Trump is painting a rosy picture of the pandemic, what I predicted two weeks ago is now happening.

The death toll is rising!

For the first time since April over 1,000 deaths were recorded two days in a row.

Business Insider reports, "The US on Wednesday recorded more than 1,100 new coronavirus deaths for the second day in a row.

"The country recorded 1,165 deaths on Tuesday and 1,205 deaths on Wednesday, Worldometer reported. Reuters put Wednesday's figure at 1,101, while The Atlantic's coronavirus tracker put it at 1,126. (Different coronavirus trackers use different sources and report at different times, which often leads to a slight discrepancy in numbers.)

"Alabama, California, Nevada, and Texas saw record increases in single-day coronavirus deaths, and deaths are rising in 23 states, Reuters reported."

I wonder what Trump will say today about the coronavirus.

 

Trump continues to be his own biggest enemy. That was proven again today in his press conference. Once again, the cause is his big mouth.

Dr. Birx entered the room with one or two others, but she was merely window dressing. She didn't say a word. Trump didn't even introduce her or the others. It looked phony because it was phony.

Trump offered very little on the pandemic. He used the briefing for political announcements, and here is where is his big mouth comes in. He was forced to retreat on a number of issues. This all could have been handled very differently with White House announcements, not Trump getting egg all over his face. Combined with a silent Dr. Birx, I doubt Trump was even aware of how foolish he looked.

Earlier, Trump had moved the RNC from North Carolina to Jacksonville, Florida. Florida became the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic Trump ignored up until four days ago. Today, he cancelled the RNC in Jacksonville. An abbreviated RNC will return to Charlotte, N.C., where it was originally planned before Trump moved it to Florida, the pandemic hot spot.

Trump backed down from his demand for payroll tax cut. Of course, he blamed the Democrats, but the major problem was the GOP leadership in the Senate, not the Democrats.

Trump backed down on the school issue. Earlier this month Trump threatened to cut federal funding for school districts that defied his demand to resume classes in person. In his press conference today he left the decision up to local leaders such as school superintendents, removed the threat of withholding federal funds, and agreed to give our schools $105 billion in the next coronavirus stimulus package.

Like so much of what he is doing these days, all of this is a complete reversal of previous positions which were badly wrong headed. The poll numbers illustrate that.

Trump proved today how bad his previous positions were.

Politico reports, "Former Vice President Joe Biden has opened up a 13-point lead over Donald Trump in the key swing state of Florida, according to a poll out Thursday, yet another warning sign for the president as the state reels from a late-developing surge in coronavirus cases.

"The Quinnipiac University poll shows Trump trailing Biden among registered voters in his adopted home state 51 percent to 38 percent."

The impact? If Trump loses Florida, he has no chance.

 

This is godawful embarrassing. This man is our President. The idiot thinks this is an intelligence test, as if identifying an elephant is a test of intelligence.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1286116614019018755

Click on the Start icon for audio.

 

President Donald Trump says the country is doing great in a pandemic that just infected its four millionth US victim and is killing 1,000 people a day. But his claim is based on a brazen confidence trick, requiring Americans to ignore his responsibility for the spike in the southern and western states as he claims credit for the success of northeastern states that suppressed the disease after not heeding his advice to reopen before the virus was under control.

And that might not even be the most outrageous thing the President said at his third briefing in as many days.

The President, after months mocking mask wearing and social distancing guidelines, trawled for credit and claimed he was setting an "example" after deciding to cancel Republican convention events in Covid-battered Florida.

Though deeming the situation too dangerous to hold the quadrennial political showpiece, he nevertheless insisted that it was perfectly safe for children to go back to school full time in a few weeks.

Trump's briefings were meant to show him in charge -- now they are becoming absurd - CNNPolitics

We have reached a grim benchmark. The U.S. has gone over four million cases of the coronavirus. We lead the world by a huge margin. For the third day in a row the U.S. exceeded the 1,000 threshold in virus deaths. We lead the world in that category by a huge margin.

I wonder what cheery things Trump will say in today's politically oriented press conference. Is he ever going to learn to keep his mouth shut?

 

Trump cancelled the RNC in Jacksonville because of the crowds of people it will draw.

Trump wants schools to reopen so that children, teachers, cafeteria workers, janitors, office managers and secretaries will congregate into crowds of people for months.

And Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the CDC, is bought and paid for,

The CDC has been promising new guidelines for more than a week, after demands from Trump that the agency alter its recommendations for opening schools.

"It is critically important for our public health to open schools this fall," CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield said in a statement announcing the updates.

What are the new guidelines based upon?

"The best available evidence indicates that COVID-19 poses relatively low risks to school-aged children," the statement reads.

That is not the concern. The idea that children will become sick and die from the virus is not the issue. The issue is millions of children, teachers, school bus drivers, and countless others will suddenly be thrown together during a highly contagious pandemic that is as bad as it has ever been. Four days in a row the daily death toll has been over 1,000. Moreover, up to 40% will be asymptomatic. Meaning, COVID-19 spreads easily because it's spread by those who don't know they're infected. The children will spread the virus to older, more vulnerable people.

That is the concern.

What else are the new guidelines based upon?

"Children appear to be at lower risk for contracting COVID-19 compared to adults. To put this in perspective, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as of July 17, 2020, the United States reported that children and adolescents under 18 years old account for under 7 percent of COVID-19 cases and less than 0.1 percent of COVID-19-related deaths."

Apparently, Dr. Redfield is unaware that most children in the U.S. have been isolated since March. He doesn't, nor anyone else, know what the effect will be when millions of children, teachers, bus drivers, and countless others suddenly come together. However, doctors other than Redfield are very concerned about what will happen when this occurs in the midst of a highly contagious disease that has taken the lives of 148,400 Americans. In their view, it won't be good.

What else?

"Scientific studies suggest that COVID-19 transmission among children in schools may be low." Dr. Redfield is basing his guidelines on studies that suggest a possibility may be true. The faulty nature of that statement is self-evident.

This source helped with this report: New CDC coronavirus guidelines push opening schools - CNN

Whatever happened to the concern the CDC and the federal government had for American lives? That used to be sacred. Redfield and Trump want to endanger American lives, the majority of them children, for a political purpose.

 

The noon news with Bill Hemmer on Fox continues to spend an inordinate amount of time every day on Trump's new complaint's about China, the idiot, Pompeo, suggested regime change yesterday. A goal meant solely for the gullible, because everyone else is laughing at Pompeo's comments.

The problem is, Trump is charging Beijing of using its diplomatic outposts to run an espionage network to steal intellectual property from US businesses, universities and research centers, and he closed the Chinese consulate in Houston. China retaliated by demanding the US close its consulate in Chengdu.

I have news for Trump and Pompeo. Every consulate in the world, including ours, engage in military and corporate espionage.

Is Trump baiting China to get American minds off the pandemic which he completely mismanaged? Is Fox making itself irrelevant in a vain effort to promote Trump, who Fox continues to ignore? Other news networks barely mention China beyond Trump's foolish maneuver in Houston.

We are in the midst of a deadly pandemic. Stirring up trouble with China right now is about as stupid as it gets.

If you have any doubt that the Trump administration has embarked on a Cold War policy against China every bit as hostile as the U.S. stance toward the Soviet Union at the height of that showdown, check out Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s Thursday speech at the Richard Nixon Library.

Redolent of the sort of speeches that Nixon himself gave in the 1950s (during his red-hunting days, before the opening to Beijing), it calls for ending engagement with China, rolling back its fledgling empire, and rallying the Chinese people to overthrow their regime.

Pompeo threatens China with new Cold War.

Trump is picking a cold war he can't possibly win solely for the purpose of offering a diversion. It doesn't get any more stupid than that.

 

As he tried to rescue his reelection campaign this week, President Donald Trump seemed to be in full retreat on key coronavirus topics -- from the efficacy of mask-wearing to the risks of holding the GOP convention in Florida. The one exception was school reopenings, which he has insisted must happen in person this fall.

Of all the mind-bending coronavirus decisions that Trump has made, the political risks of his back-to-school gamble are perhaps the greatest. At a time when he is struggling with shrinking support among women, moderates and seniors, he is urging parents to send their children back into the classroom even though much is still unknown about the long-term risks to their health and how rapidly they could spread it to vulnerable adults, including grandparents and teachers.

It was nearly impossible to follow the President's logic this week when he expressed fresh concern about the safety of convention-goers in Jacksonville, Florida, but in the same briefing argued that parents should not be worried about sending their children back to school or bringing the virus home.

Donald Trump's mind-bending logic on school reopenings - CNNPolitics

While acknowledging that some schools in areas where the virus is raging may delay in-person education, Trump intends to punish those school that delay opening for the sake of the children's health. In districts that don't reopen, Trump wants the money "go to the parents" so they can decide whether to send their children to private or charter schools.

For the fourth day in a row there were over a thousand deaths in the U.S. Yesterday, there were over 78,000 of the new cases of the virus.

United States Coronavirus: 4,281,358 Cases and 148,979 Deaths - Worldometer

 

I wonder how long it will be before Fox fires Chris Wallace during this highly conflicted election season in which Fox is backing a loser.

Unlike Trump stooges on Fox like Hemmer, Hannity, Pirro, Carlson and others, Wallace is a true, highly professional journalist. In the hour long interview with Trump last Sunday, Wallace made a complete fool of Trump. So much so, that an angry Trump accused the Fox journalist of being a part of the "fake news."

When Hemmer was promoting Wallace's Sunday show yesterday, Wallace said "In Congress many Republicans -- well, not many, most -- are moving away from Trump for their political careers."

Something like that, anyway. The reader gets the point. Of course that comment, on top of the disastrous interview, didn't endear Wallace to the Trump friendly producers at Fox.

I think it is only a matter of time.

 

The Hill reports, "The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute called on President Trump’s reelection campaign and the Republican National Committee (RNC) to stop using former President Reagan’s name and image to fundraise last week.

"The request came after the Trump campaign sent out a fundraising email on July 19 that said for a donation of $45 or more, a supporter of the president would receive a “limited edition” set featuring two gold-colored coins with images of Trump and Reagan.

"The sender of the message was “Donald J. Trump,” and the subject line was “Ronald Reagan and Yours Truly.” The set also included a 1987 image of Reagan and Trump shaking hands at the White House."

I can relate. I was a Reagan Republican, but Trump and Trump Republicans in Congress drove me out of the GOP. Officially, according to the state of California, I am a conservative Independent now. Incidentally, Trump has lost the independents, too. They tend to be true conservatives,

Wow! Trump is now losing Republicans. Many Republicans in Congress want to separate themselves from the immature President.

Of course, Trump's hardcore followers will claim all these Republicans are RINO's.

There are two major problems with that position. First, Trump is not a true Republican. He uses protective tariffs which are a liberal concept, and he spent money like a drunken socialist before coronavirus.

Secondly, if Trump can't count on Republican backing and he certainly can't count on Democratic backing, except for his hardcore base, Trump is alone.

 

Fox News reports, "During his interview with Chris Wallace last week, President Trump questioned whether the Democrats' presumptive presidential nominee, Joe Biden, could handle the barrage of questioning that Wallace posed to Trump.

"The answer to that question – at least for now – we may never know.

"Wallace on Sunday informed viewers that the Biden campaign told Fox News he was “not available” for an interview."

"In our interview last week with President Trump, he questioned whether his Democratic opponent, Joe Biden, could handle a similar encounter,” Wallace said. “This week, we asked the Biden campaign for an interview and they said the former vice president was not available.'"

Smart move. Biden has nothing to gain, and everything to lose. Biden leads Trump in every major national poll, including Trump friendly Rasmussen.

RealClearPolitics - Election 2020 - General Election: Trump vs. Biden

Trump is his own worst enemy. Why? His big mouth. Wallace made a complete fool of Trump last Sunday.

Trump wants Biden to be as dumb as he is. Well, that is not going to happen. Biden is too smart and politically adept to fall for that one. Trump is the novice and it shows nearly every day of the week.

When your opponent is losing the election, don't interfere!

 

The Post reports, "Robert C. O’Brien, President Trump’s national security adviser, has tested positive for coronavirus, the White House said Monday. O’Brien is the highest-ranking Trump administration official known to have tested positive for covid-19."

"He has mild symptoms and has been self-isolating and working from a secure location off site,” the White House said in a statement. “There is no risk of exposure to the President or the Vice President. The work of the National Security Council continues uninterrupted."

In a Fox News interview that aired a week ago Sunday, Trump said, “I don’t agree with the statement that if everybody wear a mask everything disappears.” No one has said that. Trump imagines what others say, making himself look foolish.

“All of sudden everybody’s got to wear a mask, and as you know masks cause problems, too,” Trump told Fox. "All of a sudden???" Trump's medical experts, Drs. Fauci and Birx have been saying that for six months. Trump imagines what others say, making himself look foolish.

He added: “With that being said, I’m a believer in masks. I think masks are good.” We must have only imagined Trump saying that, or he is lying again. Since allegedly making that statement Trump has been seen numerous times publicly in a crowd of people not wearing a mask.

Trump has been seen only three times wearing a mask, once was in a hospital, once in a tweet. The third time cannot be recalled, but it was a while ago.

His solo coronavirus pandemic press conferences are not fooling anyone. Trump embracing the realities of the pandemic after ignoring it or lying about it for seven months is phony and Americans know it. His contriteness is due to horrible poll numbers, not conversion.

Americans gave up trusting anything Trump says a long time ago, which accounts for his low approval rating. Gallup pegs him at 38% approval. FiveThirtyEight has Trump at 40%, and their average includes Trump friendly Rasmussen and Harris. How Popular Is Donald Trump? | FiveThirtyEight

Ranging from five points to thirteen points, Biden leads Trump in every major national poll.

Americans reject a President they cannot trust.

 

At a press conference today Trump was asked about the polling that shows him behind Biden. His answer was extremely revealing, but no one was surprised.

He lied.

“We have polls that show me leading in almost every swing state and substantially in other states by even more than I won in ’16,” Trump said.

As usual, no one knew what polls he is talking about, and the reporters were stunned at the blatant lie. The Trump campaign's internal numbers show him trailing Biden. Every major national poll in the country shows him losing to Biden,

President: general election Polls | FiveThirtyEight

RealClearPolitics - Election 2020 - General Election: Trump vs. Biden

This tells us a lot about our President. In front of a room full of reporters who knew the truth, in front of a national television audience, many of whom also knew the truth, Trump boldly stood up there at the podium and lied.

He lies with ease now. He may not even know the difference between a lie and reality. He tends to believe his own fantasies.

The final key to the way I promote is bravado. I play to people’s fantasies. People may not always think big themselves, but they can still get very excited by those who do. That’s why a little hyperbole never hurts. People want to believe that something is the biggest and the greatest and the most spectacular. I call it truthful hyperbole. It’s an innocent form of exaggeration—and a very effective form of promotion. Donald J. Trump

 

Well, that didn't last long. Many knew it wouldn't.

Theoretically, Trump turned over a new leaf last week, and for three days last week he said he was aware of the reality of the coronavirus pandemic. He said he was reviving the coronavirus press briefs, and he did so for three days sans experts. Trump did all the talking.

Then he abruptly cancelled them again. There was no coronavirus press briefing on Friday, and none today.

CNN reports, "After weeks of sharp increases, there are some signs that new coronavirus cases in the United States may be plateauing at a high daily rate.

"Nationally, the seven-day daily average of new confirmed cases was just under 66,000, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. That is still a startlingly high number of infections, but it's the lowest it has been in the US in 10 days."

On a day when Americans discovered that Robert O'Brien, Trump's National Security Advisor whose office is in the White House, tested positive for the coronavirus, Trump told us today, “I really do believe a lot of the governors should be opening up states that are not opening. We’ll see what happens with them.”

With Trump, things never change. He won't change.

 

I know for a fact that somebody is using my material. Yesterday, for the first time ever I used the phrase "turned over a new leaf." The article below states, "turned some new leaf." In addition, the article basically said the same thing I said yesterday.

On the other hand, Trump is extremely transparent, and what he is doing is obvious to anyone with eyes to see and ears to hear.

The idea that President Donald Trump has turned some new leaf and is now maturely leading the fight against the pandemic is yet again being exposed as a pure political play by his own behavior.

Trump on Monday launched a fresh push to get states to quickly reopen their economies, ignoring the fact that his previous advice on such lines helped spark a surge of cases in the Sun Belt.

Then the President retweeted a video in which a group of doctors make false claims about the virus, including one who says "you don't need masks" because hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malaria drug pushed by the President, is a "cure" in combination with several other drugs. Multiple credible scientific studies say the treatment is ineffective against Covid-19. The video, which went viral on YouTube, was later removed by Facebook and Twitter because it spread misinformation.

It was just the latest occasion when Trump's scripted shows of responsibility about the virus, witnessed in his return to the White House briefing last week, were undermined by what appears to be his true, conspiratorial, politicized views. Only last week, the President grudgingly became one of the last public officials to endorse the use of masks to slow the spread of the virus. Now, yet again, he is undercutting government advice on the matter.

Trump shatters his own show of responsibility on the pandemic - CNNPolitics

 

Well, I was wrong. Sorry about that. I should know by now never try to predict what Trump is going to do. He held a coronavirus press briefing of sorts today, although most of it sounded like a campaign speech.

Once again, he went solo because he doesn't want Americans to hear from the administration's medical experts. Because he read from a script, some of the information was actually useful. He got into trouble when he went off script, and he abruptly ended the briefing because he didn't want to answer any more questions about what he says or tweets when he not reading a script written by his speechwriters.

We learned that Trump decided to use $765 million of our tax money as a loan for a company startup. It's a deal with Eastman Kodak Co. to fund a division to create active pharmaceutical ingredients used to manufacture generic drugs in the U.S.

He talked about the remarkable work being done by pharma in the area of vaccines. His gullible base was told that approval of a vaccine would happen "very soon." Every else knew it would be five months to a year before any vaccine will be ready in terms vaccinations for upwards of 300 million Americans.

Trump talked about all the money his administration has spent on supplies for the pandemic, from ventilators to swabs. It sounded impressive.

The interesting part came when he went off script to answer reporters' questions. Once again, Trump told us the virtues of hydroxychloroquine, even though studies have shown the drug is useless, may be dangerous in some cases, and his own FDA has banned its use.

Then he got into a heap of trouble because of what he had said or tweeted off camera before the briefing. Trump returned to the podium a day after Twitter removed a post he had retweeted in which a group called "America's Frontline Doctors" said "there is a cure" for the coronavirus without citing any evidence.

Twitter said Trump's tweet "was in violation of our COVID-19 misinformation policy."

He retweeted a series of posts late Monday promoting the drug hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for the coronavirus, and he retweeted a post attacking Dr. Anthony Fauci, claiming the nation's top infectious disease expert has "misled the American public." He retweeted that masks aren't needed to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

I could go on, but that would be pointless. It is obvious Trump's conversion to the realities of the contagious virus is phony. He is not even trying to make that credible.

At one point Trump lamented that Dr. Fauci had a higher approval rating than he, and he said it was because people didn't like him.

The latter, of course, is true.