As US coronavirus cases approached 103,000 on Saturday and the death toll neared 1,600, some Americans took to social media (or, at least to Twitter) to vent frustration around comments Donald Trump made during Friday’s daily press briefing.
If you watched that briefing, you likely know which comments are at the heart of the uproar.
“He calls all the governors”, Trump said, of Mike Pence. “I tell him, I mean, I’m a different type of person. I say Mike, don’t call the governor of Washington, you’re wasting your time with him. Don’t call the woman in Michigan”.
“You told him not to call the governor of Washington?”, an incredulous reporter asked.
“No, you know what I say? If they don’t treat you right, I don’t call”, Trump insisted. “[Mike] is a different type of person, he’ll call quietly, anyway”, the president continued, smiling as though there was something funny about the notion that the vice president is apparently being instructed not to communicate directly with states during what is quickly becoming one of the more vexing emergencies the country has ever faced.
Hours later, Trump opened his Twitter app and drove home the point. “I love Michigan, one of the reasons we are doing such a GREAT job for them during this horrible Pandemic”, he said, suggesting (accidentally) that only states he “loves” will enjoy the full support of the federal government during the outbreak.
Then, the president said this: “Yet your Governor, Gretchen ‘Half’ Whitmer is way in over her head, she doesn’t have a clue. Likes blaming everyone for her own ineptitude! #MAGA”
Roughly three hours before being branded “Half’ Whitmer” by the president, Gretchen tweeted the following video message which was essentially a plea for help.
It’s time for everyone to lock arms and fight #COVID19 together. pic.twitter.com/h5WSyppD3n
— Governor Gretchen Whitmer (@GovWhitmer) March 27, 2020
“Right now, we all need to be focused on fighting the virus, not each other”, Whitmer said, in a separate tweet. “I’m willing to work with anyone as long as we get the personal protective equipment we need for the people of Michigan”.
Clearly, it’s not advisable to alienate voters in Michigan ahead of the general election. I’m not necessarily saying that’s what Trump is doing, but using highly abrasive language in public to refer to local officials in a battleground state at a time when nerves are frayed isn’t generally a good idea from a political strategy perspective, if for no other reason than that it isn’t necessary. He could have, for example, saved that criticism for a private phone call – or maybe not, since, by his own account, he’s not calling certain governors.
For what it’s worth, the most recent polling shows Joe Biden with an advantage in the state, although you should always take these figures with a grain of salt.
On Thursday, during an interview with Sean Hannity, Trump seemingly forgot Whitmer’s name (assuming he knew it in the first place). “[She’s] not stepping up. I don’t know if she knows what’s going on”, he charged. “But all she does is sit there and blame the federal government”.
In response to Trump’s comments to Hannity, Whitmer identified herself on Twitter, where her verified account has over 175,000 followers. “Hi, my name is Gretchen Whitmer, and that governor is me”, she remarked, using a hand-waving emoji for effect. “I’ve asked repeatedly and respectfully for help”.
“I want [states] to be appreciative”, Trump insisted, during the same Friday press briefing. “I don’t want them to say things that aren’t true”.
In the same Thursday tweet, Whitmer had a simple message: “No more political attacks, just PPEs, ventilators, N95 masks, test kits. You said you stand with Michigan – prove it”.
The problem here is that it looks bad because it is bad. There will be no way to spin “I don’t think you need all those ventilators” when there won’t be one for grandma because we cannot unhook the Springbreaker from the vent. Or maybe we can. . .
Trump seems to be betting a bunch of seemingly key states like MI, NY, and others won’t be needed to win the election in the fall. Of course, if his poll numbers go bad in late August, he may just cancel the whole election and stay on because he is, after all, the smartest man in the country.
It is entertaining, in a way. But I don’t have the virus.
Speaking of Michigan I upgraded today. My understanding of trump allowed me to predict that his lack of diligence would enhance the damage to the country/markets. The rest was navigating opportunities with dry powder. I believe in you Dearborn and left a hole in the Texas inventory for you to fill when you get back to work.
It seems like Trump intends to let anyone who doesn’t support him burn and throw some napalm their way on top of it. How his approval rating is so high is a testament to how powerful his bully pulpit is and how toothless the media has become.
And a testimony to the evil meanness which still permeates the south and other parts of rural America. They believe in those rebel battle flags.
Trust me if you live in Washington State you are not amused. I wonder if he realizes that 1/2 of the state is Republican. Someone show him the Cascade Mountain Range pdq . Then let him know that East of that is all farm land and that Yakima lost a hospital this year.
Whiny mirror-whoring Pandemic PUTZUS say what?
This is the same scumbag who didn’t even acknowledge the crisis – and clearly hadn’t begun testing/quarantine protocols – until March 5th (while the virus’ shadow had been indisputably spreading ever-westward from China since Mid-January.) same scumbag who is blaming President Obama 3.25 years after he grifted the WH; said it “snuck up on us” while Intel and any number of experienced public figures warned of it – Ron Klain in The Atlantic on January comes to mind); “anybody who wants a test can get a test… anybody can get one right now”; “we’re shipping a million this week” (on March 5th) – and we STILL aren’t even 3/4ths of the way to that number having been tested yet.
Ineptitude? Over his bloated head? Derelict Donnie was 5 weeks late and even then arrantly dissembled, obfuscated, and lied (and continues to) about everything, eschewing critical reality, facts, and scientific information that is inextricably vital to flattening the expanding curve, And the amoral filth of his unredeemable existential personage now has again ghoulishly erupted, as he preaches to the electoral rabble and commandeers “Coronavirus daily press conferences” to promulgate perfidious political rally ilk sewage.
If ONLY this scumbag was just inept and over his head….
Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, Trump’s twin, had all the brains. I gotta go look, but I assume Gaddafi was up Yuge in the polls before he passed, but then again, polls can be off, just like stock pickers.