Posted: 02 October 2020 at 1:08pm | IP Logged | 5
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Marc Waldman wrote:
Fake news.
Unfortunately, of all the scenarios, dumbass having Covid is the least likely. It's a political stunt. |
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Trump isn't a mastermind. He's a profoundly simple, stupid man who somehow has been able to bullshit his way through life due to money, a lot of enablers, and an odd kind of con-man charm.
I don't see what the payoff for faking covid would be in his eyes. He wants us to think he's an indestructible tough guy. He wants respect and adoration, not sympathy. Getting covid undermines that, and undermines his message that things are getting better and masks are not needed. It makes him look foolish for having said those things in the past. It is NOT the message he wants to project.
Getting covid also forces him off the campaign trail at a point when there's only a month left, a costly loss of time. It forces him to quarantine after mocking Biden for "hiding in his basement." I can't see how he'd think that is a good thing. To the contrary, I think he's worried that he's going to look weak.
Scenarios like "he knows he's losing and wants to shake things up or delay things" are unlikely. I don't believe he does know he's losing. I think he disbelieves polling and is confident that he's going to win, because he is that arrogant and entitled. I don't think he wants to skip futher debates because I think he believes he won the first debate. He's a narcissist. He lacks any insight into himself or his weaknesses.
I don't think he's forward-thinking enough to be planning an excuse for an election loss or trying to plan on getting pardoned by Pence. He believes he's going to win and he believes he's untouchable, so he doesn't need contingency strategy like that.
The simplest explanation here is that he really has covid. He's someone who takes no precautions so it's hardly surprising he'd get it.
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