Trump tests positive for COVID

Uh oh. I think there is now serious risk that we may never see the piss tape if Trump dies from the 'rona.

times article

“It’s hard to imagine this doesn’t end his hopes of re-election,” said Rob Stutzman, a Republican consultant, pointing to Mr. Trump’s “flouting of obvious precautions.”

The president has had what one person described as cold-like symptoms. At a fund-raiser he attended at his golf club at Bedminster, N.J., on Thursday, where one attendee said the president came in contact with about 100 people, he seemed lethargic.

A person briefed on the matter said that Mr. Trump fell asleep at one point on Air Force One on the way back from a rally in Minnesota on Wednesday night.

Three days after Joseph R. Biden Jr. encountered President Trump on the debate stage, the effect of the president’s positive coronavirus test set off a scramble to adjust inside Mr. Biden’s campaign.

As of Friday morning, Mr. Biden, 77, was expected to be tested later in the day, as were others who attended the presidential debate with him in Ohio earlier this week, according to people familiar with the plans. Multiple people also said that as of Friday morning, Mr. Biden still intended to travel to Michigan later in the day and hold scheduled campaign events there, though the breaking news of Mr. Trump’s test result has created a fluid situation.​

I seriously doubt this will negatively impact Trump’s poll numbers. He’s faced any number of things that would have been career enders for any other politician and his numbers have barely budged. To think that this will in anyway be different is to utterly misunderstand his popularity with his base.

Unless he's dead, you might be right. Ok, dead, he's even more electable than alive.

but it might give pause to the legions of mouth breathing anti-maskers that are part of his base.

My knee-jerk reaction: at least a 50/50 chance he’s lying. Doesn’t want to debate again and/or he wants to act tough in two weeks and say he kicked its ass.

interesting, but no. catching the covid is the worst thing that could have happened to his campaign at the moment. Unless he's hoping to get the sympathy vote.

Nah. If he has a mild case, then it'll be spun as proof that the disease is nothing to worry about. If he has a serious case, and recovers, then he'll be Jesus rising from the grave. If he dies, then he'll be Kim Il-sung, the dearly departed leader who rules from the afterlife.

Honestly, if folks start having 'rona parties so they can catch the disease and share in "the passion of the Trump," I wouldn't be at all surprised.

could be. I'm thinking the GOP infected him to keep him from making his campaign any worse.

Poopie.

Who's willing to volunteer to shove a UV lamp up his ass?

Class!

https://www.npr.org/sections/latest...n-and-harris-wish-the-trumps-a-swift-recovery

Hmmm... You may be on to something here. If he gets his ass kicked in the election, he can always blame it on the virus and say "it's for the best, I'm still recovering"....

While this is absolutely true and the cultists are gonna cult, the cultists alone don't win the election. He needs new voters, his base isn't enough. And yes, this hurts him there IMO.

The one thing I can think of that would give him a reason to lie about having it is he already has accepted the fact he can't win. So this gives him an out.

In the meanwhile, more folks exposed to Trump are testing positive, including Mike Lee, Sen from Utah. If lots of people get it in the White House orbit, seems less likely it's a hoax. Hell, the Surgeon General would have to be in on it.

Hope springs eternal...

The problem is that so long as he has a base as large as it currently is, then it’s hard for there to be a blowout against him on election night. Which means that we can expect there to be some serious issues in the days to follow. Unless he calls into Fox and starts crying about how awful the disease is, don’t expect his base to erode. Nor should you expect him to ever accept that he can’t win or has lost. That’s not his pattern. Sooner or later, he’s going to claim that this was an attempt by the Chinese or the Dems to kill him or make him lose the election.

Biden has tested negative. https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/2020/10/02/trump-biden-live-updates/

That would likely backfire. So much of his campaign is built around appealing to the "me big strong man, me not mask-wearing sissy, me not scared of a little virus" reptile brains of the insecure little manbabies who make up much of his fan club that the "sympathy vote" really isn't a thing.

And for everyone else, it just comes off as a "dude, you did this to yourself" moment.

I conjur there's a non-trivial chance that Trump was infected deliberately by someone. Political rivals, Russia, China, who the hell knows? I'd also look for the "deliberately infected by _______" conspiracy theories to start flying in the far-right fringe.

The conspiracy theories are probably already flying. As for deliberate infection, I'm dubious. Aside from the fact that Putin's apparently living in some sort of protective cocoon ATM, it's a bit out there.

Oh, and ABCNews just announced he's got "mild symptoms."

He was deliberately infected by his own stupidity.

@Tererun disagrees!

What? Seriously, what? I had to read that several times to ensure I was reading this correctly?

Do you seriously believe someone may have deliberately infected him?

I cannot even wrap my head around this level of conspiracy. And, I've heard some really crazy shit.

It's more likely he's faking it. I mean ..., it's not like trump hasn't previously lied - and gotten a doctor's diagnosis - of a medical condition to get out of something he didn't want to do.

Really? You don't know of anyone who might want to sideline or even "remove" Trump? That idea is outside of your grasp? Even knowing how far Russia will go under Putin?
Wake up, Jenee.

I know A LOT of people who would want to sideline or remove him. But, this virus isn't predictable enough to go through that trouble to take him out. There would be a hell of a lot easier and more effective ways. This is a stupidly ridiculously, moronic conspiracy.

I'd consider it a possibility, but the Russians prefer poison. Q.v. Navalny et al. Easy enough to get someone from McDonalds to slip some Novichok into his Big Mac.

Head of HHS just tested positive. God has a wicked sense of humor.

Okay, so let's say Donnie-boy really does have a mild case (still waiting for an official diagnosis from an actual M.D.), he's taking a page from BoJo's playbook. Johnson was back on the job after quarantine. So Donnie-boy skips the debates and goes back to holding rallies and claiming ahead of time that the election's rigged. SSDD.