SECONDNEXUS
percolately
georgetakei
comicsands
George's Reads
In a Fox News Town Hall on Tuesday, President Donald Trump revealed that he wanted to scale back social distancing efforts in the face of the pandemic and reopen businesses by Easter, which is just 18 days away on April 12.
This was just the latest signal that Trump and his top advisors are more concerned with the faltering economy than the current global health crisis at its root.
Of course, Trump has been making the case for a while now that the strength of the economy should earn him reelection in November, and some have wondered if his haste to revive the economy—even if it puts public safety at risk—was putting his own political fortunes ahead of the health of the nation.
Well, now we have confirmation that that's precisely what is behind his effort to rush Americans back to work in less than 3 weeks.
In an ill-tempered tweet on Wednesday afternoon, Trump complained that the "LameStream media" were only urging for the continuation of stay-at-home policies in order to put his 2020 reelection at risk.
The LameStream Media is the dominant force in trying to get me to keep our Country closed as long as possible in th… https://t.co/qjBpPaXA1O— Donald J. Trump (@Donald J. Trump) 1585166696.0
Once again, Trump said the quiet part out loud, in this case: that he is eager for businesses to reopen because he thinks their closure poses a threat to his reelection.
People were quick to call Trump out.
Important to drop the pretense that this is about anything other than his reelection. https://t.co/L19mqO5dyY— Sam Stein (@Sam Stein) 1585168083.0
He keeps sayin' the quiet part out loud. Trump don't mind killin' folks to get re-elected. It's right here in dig… https://t.co/PHAk55UHiV— Tea Pain (@Tea Pain) 1585168152.0
@realDonaldTrump Translation: Trump is more worried about his poll numbers than your lives.— Nick Jack Pappas (@Nick Jack Pappas) 1585167068.0
He doesn’t care if we flatten the curve or if people get sick and die. He wants the stock market back up so he isn’… https://t.co/XINkWESHm7— Brian Tyler Cohen (@Brian Tyler Cohen) 1585167064.0
There you have it. Confirmation the virus response isn’t about your health, it’s about his re-election. Anyone tha… https://t.co/D7LVwMUhjY— Cast (@Cast) 1585169296.0
For Trump, from the moment he first suppressed testing right through until this Tweet, it has always been about his… https://t.co/lqbGUFpVlA— David Rothkopf (@David Rothkopf) 1585167773.0
It's important to note that there's little Trump can do to reopen businesses across the country—because he didn't close them in the first place. The decisions were made by governors and mayors across the country who listened to experts and learned from the spread of the pandemic abroad—even as Trump repeatedly contradicted that information.
His narcissism is dangerous.
He's going to get tens of thousands of Americans killed. https://t.co/LQxBQlb05B— John Iadarola #StayHome (@John Iadarola #StayHome) 1585168672.0
Almost every country is implementing lockdowns and every medical expert is screaming that you can not relax restric… https://t.co/LUoj3WS2oK— Josh Jordan (@Josh Jordan) 1585167862.0
He is a deeply dangerous monster https://t.co/TNMknDDNi3— Jon Favreau (@Jon Favreau) 1585169906.0
This is psychotic and murderous. I never thought it would get this bad. He is unfit and needs to be removed. This i… https://t.co/tXxWfSJjGo— Leslie Grossman (@Leslie Grossman) 1585169573.0
This is not normal.
You can purchase A Very Stable Genius: Donald J. Trump's Testing of America by Philip Rucker and Carol Leonnig here.