Trump Saturday tweet roundup: More medical advice and damage control mixed with media feuds
Still stinging from the application of disinfectant-injecting criticism he received at his Thursday press briefing, Donald Trump — rather than simply withdrawing his profoundly insane medical recommendations by claiming that they were a “sarcastic” trick he was playing on the media — tried to erase the memory of his embarrassingly idiotic home remedy for COVID-19 by posting retweet after retweet of legitimate medical advice from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Surgeon General, and the National Institute of Health.
None were more important than this one, which tried to undo the damage that Trump’s potentially dangerous speculation had already caused:
While many of the retweets were likely sent out by the president’s social media staff, eventually Trump began sending out tweets under his own name, starting with a series of tweets designed to portray him as a capable and relentless leader in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic’
Just spoke to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali of Ethiopia. His Country needs Ventilators, and the U.S. is in good position to help him. We will!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 25, 2020
It is a wonderful feeling to know that our States are loaded up with Ventilators, many brand new and high quality just off of our production lines, and that we are now in a position to help other countries that so desperately need them. Every person needing a Ventilator got one!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 25, 2020
The president seemingly wants America to believe that we are so far along in our capabilities in fighting the effects of the virus that we have plenty to spare for other countries that are not in such an advantageous position. If he sounds a bit like Oprah Winfrey handing out huge prizes to her studio audience — “you get a ventilator and you get a ventilator…” — it was probably by design.
Of course, it’s not just ventilators that Trump is obsessed with convincing the public that he has under control.
Testing is the only way to know exactly who has the COVID-19 virus — which often doesn’t produce symptoms in its victims in its early but still highly infectious stages.
Trump continued to try to pass off the statistic on the total number of tests conducted in the United States as somehow more significant than the per capita testing number — a metric in which America still lags with only around 440,000 tests conducted out of a population of 328 million — less than one percent of the population.
We have now Tested more than 5 Million People. That is more than any other country in the World, and even more than all major countries combined!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 25, 2020
With so much competing information and misinformation about exactly how much needed medical and protective equipment is available to states, hospitals, and nursing homes, Trump’s campaign to paint himself as a capable leader in such a devastating crisis will likely be contradicted by the public’s own experiences which will vary depending on where they live and the trajectory of infections and deaths in their own communities.
Having completed the boasting portion of his social media workout, Trump shifted into attack mode for his next couple of tweets.
First, the president went after his political opposition.
The Do Nothing Democrats are spending much of their money on Fake Ads. I never said that the CoronaVirus is a “Hoax”, I said that the Democrats, and the way they lied about it, are a Hoax. Also, it did start with “one person from China”, and then grew, & will be a “Miracle” end!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 25, 2020
Claiming that Democrats are a “Hoax” is immediately able to be confirmed as “fake news,” since there is demonstrable evidence that Democrats do exist.
The claim that there will be a “Miracle” end to the pandemic not only underscores Trump’s “science is bunk” worldview but indicates that he’s been spending way too much time taking advice from the Jefferson Starship.
Among those who don’t seem to believe in miracles were the editorial board of The Wall Street Journal who slammed the president for his wishy-washy flip-flopping on Georgia Governor Brian Kemp’s decision to reopen fitness centers, bowling alleys, tattoo parlors, barbers, beauty salons and massage parlors in his state.
Getting heat from even one of his media mogul pal Rupert Murdoch’s premier publications did not sit well with Trump.
If the Wall Street Journal “Editorial” writers had called, as they should have, they would have easily found that I was “NOT happy with the Georgia Governor on Tuesday night.” You said the opposite, and got it wrong as you often do!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 25, 2020
UPDATE: While the president fell silent for a brief period, he was still apparently seething over the horrible press he received over his curiosity on the effects of disinfectant and ultra-violet light on the COVID-19 virus inside the human body.
Too proud to admit that his blathering had already caused some of his followers to attempt to try his proposed treatment and seriously harm themselves, Trump posted another press-bashing tweet trying to dig himself out of the outsized hole his words had created for himself.
Was just informed that the Fake News from the Thursday White House Press Conference had me speaking & asking questions of Dr. Deborah Birx. Wrong, I was speaking to our Laboratory expert, not Deborah, about sunlight etc. & the CoronaVirus. The Lamestream Media is corrupt & sick!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 25, 2020
Like a snappy comeback to an insult — thought of hours after it could have effectively been employed — Trump’s response is too late to have any effect on the widespread perception of his ignorance.
After his abbreviated press conference yesterday — reportedly cut short because the president’s political advisors had finally gotten him to realize that his daily appearances were digging him and the Republican party into a deeper and deeper hole as his ignorance and limited mental capabilities were on full display to the world — Trump’s social media foray this morning was smaller and shorter than usual.
That’s the only miracle that many people were willing to recognize as such today.
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