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26th March 2020, 09:03 AM | #1 |
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What Are Trump Supporters Saying about Covid-19?
I've lost my access to most right wing media.
I don't go to the gym anymore, so I don't see TV news. I never watch it at home. No Fox, to see stupid directly, and no CNN, to see them quote the right wing. I used to listen to the radio yappers, but only in my car. I don't drive anywhere any more. My commute consists of going from my bedroom to the makeshift office I've set up in my family room. I do read the National Review site periodically, but those people aren't exactly Trump's base. Their commentaries on Covid 19 haven't been glowing with praise for Trump. There's some occasional half-hearted defense, and some overall philosophy, but they aren't praising Trump for his actions. So, I see that President Trump is pretty popular right now, but I have no idea why, What I want to see in this thread is examples of what people are saying if they actually like Mr. Trump as President, and think he's doing a heck of a job. I'm trying to grasp how this situation could exist. So, I would like people to post here examples of pro-Trump tweets, editorial excerpts, anything that you can find saying why Mr. President is really doing a bang-up job when it comes to this epidemic. And if a few of our residents wish to share their own thoughts on the subject if they happen to think Trump is doing it well, feel free, although I can understand why they might be reluctant to do so. I think this particular place tends to be a bit hostile to Mr. Trump, or anyone who admits to supporting him. There are two requests I will make of participants. First, please do not post the craziest of the crazy. For example, I've read examples of white supremacists saying that we should go out and start coughing on Jews and negroes, but I'm looking for things a bit more main stream. Second, try to refrain from posting things that you think Trump supporters are probably saying. Limit yourself to things they are actually saying. It's ok to say, "One guy I saw of facebook said.....", but not "Those guys will just say...…" For the last three years, I've been following what goes on in this country and what people say about it. I know that I often interpret things differently than many here. However, in this particular case, I am utterly baffled. I'm trying to figure out what people are actually saying, and, if possible, what they are thinking. |
26th March 2020, 09:06 AM | #2 |
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It looks like "The Dems are overreacting (i.e. "Being dramatic" the only sin they recognize) and going to crash the economy and Trump is going to stop them" is the narrative they are more or less forming around.
Weird how much of the "X percent of people dying is an acceptable loss to save the economy" is in the text rather then in the subtext though. |
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26th March 2020, 09:20 AM | #3 |
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The right wing media knows that much of their populace is rural and in the less densely populated areas. They are gambling that the pandemic will be under control before it affects these areas and thus, they can say it was all just a panicked and overblown story. This would be a would good gamble, because most conservatives don't acknowledge reality that doesn't personally affect them but it's a bad gamble because it will affect those areas sooner or later because the red states aren't taking it serious.
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1. He'd never do that. 2. Okay but he's not currently doing it. 3. Okay but he's not currently technically doing it. 4. Okay but everyone does it. 5. He's doing it, we can't stop him, no point in complaining about it. 6. We all knew he was going to do it which... makes it okay somehow. 7. It's perfectly fine that's he's doing it. |
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26th March 2020, 09:20 AM | #4 |
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Retired law professor and regular socio-political blogger Ann Althouse examines the same question with her readers, here:
https://althouse.blogspot.com/2020/0...astically.html You might like her more "neutral" approach to all things Trump. Anyway, that's the closest thing I can offer, to what you're asking for. I don't follow any right wing media anyway (never had any use for Fox, dropped NRO years ago, Breitbart leaves me cold, I only read about two "conservative" blogs these days). |
26th March 2020, 09:26 AM | #5 |
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Popehat Twitter pretty frequently covers them, usually in retweets.
Right Wing Watch regularly covers the crazier ones. And of course, you can just go straight to the source, because DJT regularly retweets his followers. |
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26th March 2020, 09:28 AM | #6 |
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There's also the angle that some of the surface level results happening in the urban areas are the same things that have been happening to the rural areas for decades.
Like right now there's a local news story hitting almost every few hours where a bar or restaurant or "vintage clothing" store in our... hipster district basically is closing down permanently with the owners not only not being able to survive the quarantine but not being able to reopen afterwords. There's already thinkpieces being written about how our downtown, beach front, riverside and other neighborhoods are going to have "every other store front boarded up from business that left and will never come back" when this is over. Which is exactly what's already happened years ago to every small town in America. Trump will spin it into a "Now they know how it feels" narrative without even having to say it. |
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26th March 2020, 09:41 AM | #7 |
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He doesn't even have to spin it. Now they do know a little bit about how it feels.
And when progressive mayors, governors, and legislatures seem to be no better at saving their citizens' small businesses than their conservative counterparts, it's bound to have a disconcerting effect on one's faith in the progressive party. If Trump's nomination was a backlash against decades of GOP cronyism, corruption, and incompetence, then this pandemic will likely trigger a similar backlash on the left. If C19 had hit a year ago, Bernie Sanders would probably be the presumptive Dem nominee today. It'll be interesting to see which way the urban hipsters swing in November. My wife's boyfriend is already saying he's going to cast a protest vote for Maryanne Williamson. I'm just sad because his (now-shuttered) artisanal chocolate store had the best chocolate, if a tad overpriced. |
26th March 2020, 09:46 AM | #8 |
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Pacifism is a shifty doctrine under which a man accepts the benefits of the social group without being willing to pay - and claims a halo for his dishonesty. Robert Heinlein. |
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26th March 2020, 09:57 AM | #9 |
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He noted how news coverage in his area seems to be taking a similar angle described earlier in the conversation.
Once again, facts being entered into a discussion (including existence of an opinion out in the ether) are ignored. Instead, imply the facts and the person sharing them are from the tainted sect and dismiss it. Sharing facts are not endorsements of something peripherally connected to those facts or a specific plan of action. |
26th March 2020, 10:12 AM | #10 |
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1. He'd never do that. 2. Okay but he's not currently doing it. 3. Okay but he's not currently technically doing it. 4. Okay but everyone does it. 5. He's doing it, we can't stop him, no point in complaining about it. 6. We all knew he was going to do it which... makes it okay somehow. 7. It's perfectly fine that's he's doing it. |
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26th March 2020, 10:22 AM | #11 |
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26th March 2020, 10:28 AM | #12 |
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26th March 2020, 10:31 AM | #13 |
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I am thoroughly enjoying my covad commute, no traffic
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26th March 2020, 10:34 AM | #14 |
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26th March 2020, 10:35 AM | #15 |
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I wonder how much of the high approval rating is just backlash against the absurd "iT'S RaCiSt tO SaY It cAmE FrOm cHiNa!" meme.
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26th March 2020, 10:37 AM | #16 |
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What Are Trump Supporters Saying about Covid-19?
Generally the same stupid **** the POTUS is saying... |
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26th March 2020, 10:39 AM | #17 |
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1. He'd never do that. 2. Okay but he's not currently doing it. 3. Okay but he's not currently technically doing it. 4. Okay but everyone does it. 5. He's doing it, we can't stop him, no point in complaining about it. 6. We all knew he was going to do it which... makes it okay somehow. 7. It's perfectly fine that's he's doing it. |
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26th March 2020, 10:41 AM | #18 |
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https://thefederalist.com/2020/03/25...sed-lockdowns/
Inaccurate Virus Models Are Panicking Officials Into Ill-Advised Lockdowns How a handful of Democratic activists created alarming, but bogus data sets to scare local and state officials into making rash, economy-killing mandates. |
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26th March 2020, 10:42 AM | #19 |
... and your little dog too.
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26th March 2020, 10:43 AM | #20 |
... and your little dog too.
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26th March 2020, 10:44 AM | #21 |
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1. He'd never do that. 2. Okay but he's not currently doing it. 3. Okay but he's not currently technically doing it. 4. Okay but everyone does it. 5. He's doing it, we can't stop him, no point in complaining about it. 6. We all knew he was going to do it which... makes it okay somehow. 7. It's perfectly fine that's he's doing it. |
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26th March 2020, 10:51 AM | #22 |
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26th March 2020, 11:20 AM | #23 |
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26th March 2020, 11:58 AM | #24 |
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This isn't about what Trump supporters are saying about C19, but it is an interesting window into the mind of one Trumper. Well worth the watching.
ETA: this link works: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eUxMoL49As |
26th March 2020, 12:08 PM | #25 |
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26th March 2020, 12:23 PM | #26 |
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26th March 2020, 12:28 PM | #27 |
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I'm a member of a gun forum that also has an off-topic section that is heavily populated by Trump people.
It's a strange mix. You have some that have been closely tracking the official MAGA talking points from Trump, so over time they have evolved from "it's a hoax" to taking action, to now talking about prioritizing the economy and getting people back to work. There were also a few "it's a hoax" holdouts even after Trump moved on from that, but that seems to have largely dried up. There's a few too that acknowledge the need for severe measures to fight the outbreak and don't want to sacrifice their family to appease the blood cult that is Wall Street. These have been less persuaded by the "out by Easter" talking points, but aren't really condemning Trump with any vigor. Mostly my impression is that the Trump world is in constant flux on this issue, as is Trump. They are whipping back and forth, but generally have an inclination to be less serious about the outbreak in order to sneer at hysterical libs. I think once the bodies start piling up in the next week or so, we're going to see some real fissures in MAGA world. |
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26th March 2020, 12:44 PM | #28 |
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We might have to make peace with the fact that Trump's follower aren't nearly obsessed with logical or moral consistency as many of us are. The fact that he says something they agree with is what matters and they don't care that 10 seconds later he says something completely different or indeed even completely contradictory or indeed indeed if he then outright counters the original statement.
Trump has some magic way of talking where the conversation goes: Media: "President Trump who knocked over the vase?" Trump: "The cat did it! No the dog! That cat definitely didn't do it, the parrot did!" And somehow at the end of it still have people who think the cat did it, people who think the dog did it, and people who think the parrot did still see him as "agreeing" with him. It's like people just listen to Trump until he says something they agree with and then just stop listening and not worry or care if he says something completely different later or had before. Trump has a major ability to speak in some code that his followers understand and the rest of us sane people don't.
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26th March 2020, 12:47 PM | #29 |
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Talking about dying for DOW is easier said than done, I think. Hypothetical covid-19 victims are going to become themselves or people they know pretty fast. Republicans might not have much empathy, but they don't lack self-interest entirely.
Seems like there's a good chance it's going to strike MAGA world hardest. You have red states refusing to take decisive action like shutdowns, and plenty of crusty old MAGA boomers mocking social distancing. Conservative land, which has more old people and aren't following good advice, may be getting hit hardest by this outbreak. This make shake even the MAGA cultist's resolve. I get the feeling that Florida is going to be a giant open grave. |
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26th March 2020, 12:51 PM | #30 |
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Now to be clear I hope you're correct.
But I think the rural areas are going enjoy, even if they don't admit it to themselves, watching the urban areas get what they think (I said what they think, don't need a speech about how it's wrong) is a taste of their own medicine. Yeah at some point reality will crash in. I just legit wonder if it will happen to late too make a difference. And there might be a hard and fast limit to how hard COVID-19 can hit the sparsely populated rural areas. It might hit them just light enough for it to not have that same emotional impact. |
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26th March 2020, 12:55 PM | #31 |
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There's a good chance some of the rural people may dodge it like you say and never have to confront the absurdity of Trump's claims. That's what I'm hoping for my mother out in the middle of nowhere Georgia.
Not all of MAGA world is as rural as they let on. They aren't in massive cities like NYC or LA, but there are plenty of red states with large population centers and lots of mid-size cities. I grew up in SC, and despite all the country-boy larpers, lots of people were living in medium sized towns and in suburbs in close contact with enough people for this thing to spread like wildfire. Much of the Southeast is fairly heavily settled and reliably MAGA. Florida is probably in for a really hard time. |
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26th March 2020, 01:03 PM | #32 |
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I need to be 100% clear here. I do not want this to get any worse then is absoltuely necessary for anyone.
No matter how much I hate Trump I cannot get onboard with version of any variation on the "I hope things get so bad Trump is damaged politically" when human lives are at stake. I won't trade dead people today for a potential maybe Trump defeat in 2020. Not the least of which reasons is that I really don't have much faith in the ability of the Democrats to really take advantage of this.
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Texas and California actually have very similar demographics. Austin is as liberal as San Francisco and huge swaths of rural California is as Red as an rural area in Texas. Sure California is more liberal the Texas, but not like in this absolute way you'd think.
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26th March 2020, 01:06 PM | #33 |
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I saw Norwegian trumpers (yes, they exist) in a comments thread under an opinion piece in a Norse newspaper going
1. butbutwhataboutbiden/obama/other state leaders!!||111 2. this is such a mean-spirited and evil and wicked opinion piece, how dare you criticize our Dear Leader the Führer, Peace be upon him, we are very offended. 3. twump closed the borders immediately saving tens of thousands of lives, name one state leader who has done more than he. #3 were the ones who managed to get out of bot mode for a second and engage their brains. Most were your typical whataboutism/fake news/mortally offended our leader was criticized drones. |
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"He's like a drunk being given a sobriety test by the police after being pulled over. Just as a drunk can't walk a straight line, Trump can't think in a straight line. He's all over the place."--Stacyhs "If you are still hung up on that whole words-have-meaning thing, then 2020 is going to be a long year for you." --Ladewig |
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26th March 2020, 01:08 PM | #34 |
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Why are you still thinking current actions will have any impact on the future? We live in a post-factual world.
When the red states get hit hard, they'll just tell themselves "thank god Trump took action!," completely forgetting about all the inaction he's been taking and never connecting to how much worse it is because of that. |
26th March 2020, 01:13 PM | #35 |
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To be honest, I wouldn't be shocked if Trump played favorites with the states to shore up his support. He's already hinted at being willing to throw governors under the buss when it comes to federal support.
I have no reason to believe that Trump won't play partisan games when it comes to distributing federal aid. He did it in Puerto Rico, he'll do it here. |
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26th March 2020, 01:14 PM | #36 |
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"If everyone in the room says water is wet and I say it's dry that makes me smart because at least I'm thinking for myself!" - The Proudly Wrong. |
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26th March 2020, 01:17 PM | #37 |
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26th March 2020, 01:18 PM | #38 |
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"If everyone in the room says water is wet and I say it's dry that makes me smart because at least I'm thinking for myself!" - The Proudly Wrong. |
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26th March 2020, 01:34 PM | #39 |
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One data point.
I get emails from a Curio and Relic firearm vendor periodically as new items become available. on Mar 17, the email included a line complaining that the usual gun shows were closed because of "Coronavirus hysteria" that he dismissed as "mass influenza infection that 99.999% of the world will survive" and things will return to normal soon. Received another email for new items Mar 24th, describes it as a "current health crisis" and no snarky comments. What a difference a week makes. There's also been a run on ammo because that's all that the gun community knows how to do apparently. Can't get any of the usual offerings unless you're willing to pay way too much for it. So a few right wingers seem to be nervous about it, in their own way. |
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26th March 2020, 02:16 PM | #40 |
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Instapundit links to a bunch of stuff, including the article the prestige posted earlier. And they have comments on everything.
The Theology Online Forums are not for the weak hearted. It is similar to this place in a lot of ways, but kind of in a mirror image sort of way. Many of these people have the opposite of TDS. This forum is great. They have a mix, including those who support Trump's recent actions. They also have a "corona virus science" thread that is intended to be used strictly for discussion of the scientific aspects of the pandemic. Maybe check Victor Davis Hanson and/or Scott Adams, but I'm not sure what they're up to these days. |
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