Trump's Achilles' heel? [COVID-19 Lockdown--15 Days to Flatten the Curve]

[Timber Rattler]

Trump's Achilles' heel?

https://hotair.com/david-strom/2022/11/17/trumps-achilles-heel-n511817

Donald Trump faces a lot of criticism at the moment, having undoubtedly lost a lot of votes because of his behavior just prior and after the midterm elections.

Anger of some Republican voters toward the former president runs hot and may cost him the nomination in 2024.

Yet it is also the case that Trump has been pronounced politically dead many times in the past, and in most of those cases the cause for the premature Code Blue calls has been his big fat mouth. He has never been able to control his impulses, and has never been a nice guy. This has not stopped his ability to hold onto support. Is something different this time?

He survived because even his supporters who wanted him to shut his trap also liked his policies and willingness to fight against a common enemy: the Establishment™. It was a bargain: you fight for us, we forgive your verbal diarrhea. The partnership was transactional for many voters.

Trump has an Achilles’ heel in this regard, and expect to see quite a bit of focus on it. Lots of arrows will be fired at his vulnerable heel. Some are likely to hit.

The target? Trump’s response to COVID was simply awful. He did exactly the wrong thing at exactly the wrong time, pushed all the worst Establishment folks to the top of the policymaking heap, and actively aided them in destroying his chance to get reelected. Trump was forced to choose between good policy and bad, courageous leaders and bureaucrats, and he chose wrongly. It was his undoing in 2020, and could be his undoing in 2024.

[Hoodat]

Trump’s response to COVID was simply awful. He did exactly the wrong thing at exactly the wrong time, pushed all the worst Establishment folks to the top of the policymaking heap, and actively aided them in destroying his chance to get reelected. Trump was forced to choose between good policy and bad, courageous leaders and bureaucrats, and he chose wrongly.

Spot on.

[EdinVA]

Gotta love monday morning quarterbacks... they are so very smart...

[Timber Rattler]

Gotta love monday morning quarterbacks... they are so very smart...

No, most of us (especially small business owners) knew, right then and there, that once everything was shutdown, then government inertia, medical hysteria, powerplays, and presidential politics would keep it shut down indefinitely.  If Trump had been a better politician, he would have seen the trap too.  But he didn't, and the country is STILL in that same state of emergency, almost three years later, and Biden will extend it again on January 11, 2023. 

It all started with Trump.

[Kamaji]

No, most of us (especially small business owners) knew, right then and there, that once everything was shutdown, then government inertia, medical hysteria, powerplays, and presidential politics would keep it shut down indefinitely.  If Trump had been a better politician, he would have seen the trap too.  But he didn't, and the country is STILL in that same state of emergency, almost three years later, and Biden will extend it again on January 11, 2023. 

It all started with Trump.

[EdinVA]

No, most of us (especially small business owners) knew, right then and there, that once everything was shutdown, then government inertia, medical hysteria, powerplays, and presidential politics would keep it shut down indefinitely.  If Trump had been a better politician, he would have seen the trap too.  But he didn't, and the country is STILL in that same state of emergency, almost three years later, and Biden will extend it again on January 11, 2023. 

It all started with Trump.

Governors did the long term shutdowns... not Trump
If you have evidence otherwise, I would like to see it..

[Hoodat]

Governors did the long term shutdowns... not Trump
If you have evidence otherwise, I would like to see it..

At the time, I was working for the oil business.  I was issued a pass by the Department of Homeland Security declaring me an 'essential worker' so that I could not be arrested travelling to or from site.  So yes, there was federal involvement.

[Timber Rattler]

Governors did the long term shutdowns... not Trump
If you have evidence otherwise, I would like to see it..

Trump enabled them politically by publicly giving the CDC the OK on March 29 (as seen in the video above) to do what it ultimately did.  He owns it all, dude!  And he can't walk away from it now, no matter how hard he tries..

[Weird Tolkienish Figure]

Trumps Achilles heal is his big fat mouth, same as always.

[Right_in_Virginia]

Trump enabled them politically by publicly giving the CDC the OK on March 29 (as seen in the video above) to do what it ultimately did.  He owns it all, dude!  And he can't walk away from it now, no matter how hard he tries..

The entire fu*cking world shut down --- businesses, air travel, cruise ships couldn't find ports, countries closed their borders, whole cities were quarentined in Europe, Asia and Australia.

Trump relayed CDC recommendations and left it to each governor to decide what steps to take in his or her state.  Some states never locked down,  some states locked down, some states locked down and locked out.

I know you hate the guy @Timber Rattler   --- but stick to whining about mean tweets instead of trying so damn hard to rewrite history.

[Right_in_Virginia]

But he didn't, and the country is STILL in that same state of emergency, almost three years later, and Biden will extend it again on January 11, 2023. 

This is on your pal, Joey.

[LMAO]

Gotta love monday morning quarterbacks... they are so very smart...

There is some Monday morning quarterbacking going on

[Hoodat]

There is some Monday morning quarterbacking going on

I'm more focused on the source of the problem rather than the problem itself.  Sure, hindsight can be unfair.  One may argue that it was the establishment-type bureaucrats surrounding Trump that did the bad deeds.  But the point here is that those establishment hacks should never have gained entry into Trump's inner circle to begin with.

It all goes back to 2015-2016 when Trump's ardent supporters were trying to convince everyone that Trump was a 'drain-the-swamp' guy, when nothing could have been further from the truth.  And their continued denial of this fact continues to poison the debate today.

Think about that.  The same Justice Department that spied on his campaign in 2016 was the exact same Justice Department at the wheel in 2020.  And that was after four years of Mr. 'Drain-the-Swamp' at the helm.  I truly wish that Trump had really been a swamp drainer.  But the history shows that he was not.  So the failure to hold NIH accountable for the lab leak, the daily Fauci false briefings, and the tens of billions flowing to Pfizer and Moderna to fund a giant mRNA experiment falls on the person who not only allowed it, but did not lift a finger to stop it.

[LMAO]

Didn’t he also go after GOP governors for opening their states “too soon?”

[DB]

He was in charge.

There was no science to indicate masks of any kind did anything useful to prevent the spread of a respiratory virus. There were many studies done prior to COVID-19 - and they all showed the same thing, masks had very little affect.

There was no science to suggest 6' distancing or a plastic divider at a counter made any difference whatsoever indoors. The air in a building is moving and easily flows around isles and barriers.

The only ones slightly protected from shutdowns of schools were the elderly teachers - but they were going to get infected sooner or later - and at what cost to the students? Young people were not seriously affected by COVID-19 short of those who had some serious medical condition prior.

He chose to follow the lifelong bureaucrats instead of lead. He had access to any experts he wanted for different views on "the science" and how to respond. He could have made adjustments along the way.

When you are the one in charge the buck stops with you. That was his job.

[EdinVA]

He was in charge.

There was no science to indicate masks of any kind did anything useful to prevent the spread of a respiratory virus. There were many studies done prior to COVID-19 - and they all showed the same thing, masks had very little affect.

There was no science to suggest 6' distancing or a plastic divider at a counter made any difference whatsoever indoors. The air in a building is moving and easily flows around isles and barriers.

The only ones slightly protected from shutdowns of schools were the elderly teachers - but they were going to get infected sooner or later - and at what cost to the students? Young people were not seriously affected by COVID-19 short of those who had some serious medical condition prior.

He chose to follow the lifelong bureaucrats instead of lead. He had access to any experts he wanted for different views on "the science" and how to respond. He could have made adjustments along the way.

When you are the one in charge the buck stops with you. That was his job.

Trump is an expert in finance and business but he never ever claimed to be a medical expert to try and override the input from thousands of medical "experts" to the delight of the media and socialists...
Most of the problem we have is to many "experts" in areas they know nothing about.
When Rand Paul started raising the flag on all of this, he took a severe beating in the media and from pelosi/schumer/et al....

[DB]

Trump is an expert in finance and business but he never ever claimed to be a medical expert to try and override the input from thousands of medical "experts" to the delight of the media and socialists...
Most of the problem we have is to many "experts" in areas they know nothing about.
When Rand Paul started raising the flag on all of this, he took a severe beating in the media and from pelosi/schumer/et al....

I understand that. But he could call anyone he wanted to get advice from. That was his job, to collect information, weigh it and make an informed decision. That's what we elect people to do.

[Hoodat]

I understand that. But he could call anyone he wanted to get advice from. That was his job, to collect information, weigh it and make an informed decision. That's what we elect people to do.

Bingo.

Also consider the 'vaccine' [sic].  Trump wanted to be the guy who saved the world against Covid.  And he widely took credit for the development of the jab.  But now that the jab has proven to be a massively expensive failure (and a boon to all those politicians and bureaucrats holding Pfizer stock), you never hear him bring that up.  You can't have it both ways.

[LMAO]

I understand that. But he could call anyone he wanted to get advice from. That was his job, to collect information, weigh it and make an informed decision. That's what we elect people to do.

Which is why, as a rule, governors make better presidents

And, until proven otherwise, I still predict our next nominee and president on the Republican side will be one of the governors

[Hoodat]

Trump is an expert in finance and business but he never ever claimed to be a medical expert to try and override the input from thousands of medical "experts" to the delight of the media and socialists...

He wasn't an expert on immigration either.  But that didn't stop him from all his 'build the wall' rhetoric (or his support of amnesty in 2015).

[DB]

Which is why, as a rule, governors make better presidents

And, until proven otherwise, I still predict our next nominee and president on the Republican side will be one of the governors

I sure hope so.

[Hoodat]

Which is why, as a rule, governors make better presidents

It is true that those with Executive experience fare far better than Legislators such as the last two Democrats we had.  Even though Trump wasn't a governor, you would expect him to effectively navigate the bureaucracy he inherited.  But it became clear that that was not to happen when he appointed Priebus as Chief of Staff.  Trump often spoke of bringing in the best and the brightest.  But that never materialized.

[Idiot]

He was in charge.

There was no science to indicate masks of any kind did anything useful to prevent the spread of a respiratory virus. There were many studies done prior to COVID-19 - and they all showed the same thing, masks had very little affect.

There was no science to suggest 6' distancing or a plastic divider at a counter made any difference whatsoever indoors. The air in a building is moving and easily flows around isles and barriers.

The only ones slightly protected from shutdowns of schools were the elderly teachers - but they were going to get infected sooner or later - and at what cost to the students? Young people were not seriously affected by COVID-19 short of those who had some serious medical condition prior.

He chose to follow the lifelong bureaucrats instead of lead. He had access to any experts he wanted for different views on "the science" and how to respond. He could have made adjustments along the way.

When you are the one in charge the buck stops with you. That was his job.

Oh come on.....   Noone knew what to do.  There were thousands of people dying horrible deaths and everyone was scared to death.  In hindsight of course there were some horrendous mistakes.  I took both shots trying to protect my 90+ year old mom from dying alone in the hospital.  In hindsight I wouldn't have taken either.

[Hoodat]

I took both shots trying to protect my 90+ year old mom from dying alone in the hospital.  In hindsight I wouldn't have taken either.

You didn't take the shots to protect your mother.  You took the shots because government would have denied you the right to see her (see:  Amendment I - Freedom of Assembly) without the shots.  I certainly know I was denied that right.

[EdinVA]

I understand that. But he could call anyone he wanted to get advice from. That was his job, to collect information, weigh it and make an informed decision. That's what we elect people to do.

Call??? Mythbusters? 

With states decertifying medical professionals across the country that said anything contrary to the socialist position, call who??
Even if he found someone it then becomes my expert vs your expert... loosing proposition with the media against you.