Politics can be a dirty game. Particularly when disreputable players overtly applaud tragedies simply because those dreadful events will reflect badly on their opponents. These low-lifes actually care more about their own political self-interests than the suffering of innocent people. And no one is more likely to behave so despicably than the failed reality TV game show host, Donald Trump.
On Thursday Trump hosted a campaign event at his Mar-a-Lago resort and spa in Palm Beach, Florida. The candidate he was hyping was former footballer, Herschel Walker, who Trump persuaded to run for the Senate in Georgia against newly elected Democrat, Raphael Warnock. Walker has a troubling past that includes threatening to kill his ex-wife, and later a girlfriend and himself. Which is probably what Trump likes about him.
At the Mar-a-Lago affair, Trump delivered his routine and tedious stump screech exalting himself, whining about his perceived victimhood, and lashing out viciously at his foes. The harangue eventually wound up lambasting President Joe Biden. But the tack Trump took was grotesque and dishonest. After lying about how wonderful everything was early in his presidency, Trump complained that all his troubles began when "the virus came in." Then he launched into his predictable anti-Biden tirade, focusing on Biden's promise to fight the COVID pandemic:
"Biden said, 'I'll get rid of it.' How the hell is he doing? He's not doing so well against the virus. I thought he was gonna get rid of it. More people died this year than died last year with all the vaccines and everything we had."
This video shows Trump actually rooting for the coronavirus. He is downright giddy about the pandemic causing misery, suffering, and death. Trump's only consideration is that such hardships might damage Biden's standing politically. And the elite audience at his resort laughed and applauded Trump's pro-COVID cheerleading. These are sick people.
It is also notable that Trump is brazenly misleading about the fatalities due to COVID this year and last. He's using the same dishonest argument that was used recently by the Wall Street Journal and also by Fox News. They both ignore the fact that Trump started from zero fatalities and did nothing (more accurately, made things worse) while it ramped up to 400,000, and millions infected by December of 2020. Consequently, Biden's term began at the end of January with millions of people already exposed and capable of transmitting to others.
The continued infections and fatalities in 2021 are, of course, also attributable to Trump and his right-wing media mouthpieces at Fox News and elsewhere. They are still resisting measures to mitigate the virus, such as wearing masks and getting vaccinated. But with the competence and compassion that Trump is incapable of, Biden still reduced the growth rate of fatalities by 75 percent.
Furthermore, we must not forget that more than 90% of the new hospitalizations and fatalities are among unvaccinated people. These are the people that Trump (and Fox News) has mislead from the start. So, not surprisingly, the pandemic is impacting red states and counties far more than blue.
These new remarks by Trump are certain to exacerbate that disparity. From the start of the pandemic Trump has sought to downplay its severity. In the book RAGE, by Bob Woodward it was documented that Trump had deliberately lied, saying that he “wanted to always play it down.” And Trump insiders recently disclosed that he has refused to promote vaccines because it might upset his cult followers or, gawd forbid, help Biden. So, if nothing else, Trump is consistent in his determination to benefit himself no matter how dreadful the consequences for others.
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