Your Fox News-bingeing relatives can't understand why you won't give Donald Trump a chance. His presidency's not so bad if you look past all the racism, which they can do because they're racist. Even if you hate Trump (and we do), it's only fair to acknowledge his many achievements, such as ... something, something the Middle East and his flawless defeat of COVID-19.
Yeah, you probably haven't heard about that last one because of the liberal media's obsessive focus on facts, which are such a bummer. However, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy released a statement Tuesday that claimed "ending the COVID-19 pandemic" and "understanding our planet" as two of Trump's first term accomplishments.
The president is a climate change denialist, so he doesn't understand our planet at all. Maybe someone finally convinced him the moon isn't really a giant alien egg. There's less wiggle room for the claim that he's ended the COVID-19 pandemic, because it not only still exists, it's getting worse. The New York Timesreported at least 74,410 confirmed cases Tuesday and 983 deaths — a 39 and 13 percent increase over the past two weeks. Infections and deaths are trending upward in a non-ending direction.
Voters consistently give Trump poor marks on his coronavirus response. An ABC News/Washington Post poll showed Joe Biden leading Trump by 17 points in Wisconsin, where the virus is running rampant.
[Wisconsin's] now reported to be third in the nation in per capita COVID-19 cases, with a 53% increase in average daily cases in the past two weeks, a record number of hospitalizations and a 112% jump in deaths.
Trump has held multiple superspreader rallies in Wisconsin, but it seems that defying public health guidelines and common sense hasn't helped his numbers in the state.
Hogan Gidley, Trump's campaign spokesman, willingly appeared on television and tried to explain the White House's latest, most outrageous lie about COVID-19, which — we can't stress enough — still exists. CNN anchor Alisyn Camerota asked Gidley if he seriously believed that the pandemic had ended.
Trump 2020 Press Sec. Hogan Gidley is pressed on WH listing “ENDING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC” as a top accomplishment:… https://t.co/VTeZupBFuz— The Recount (@The Recount) 1603888976.0
GIDLEY: Right. We're moving in the right direction.
That's not what “ended" means. For instance, we hope that on January 21, 2021, Trump's presidency will have ended, as in the shit's finally over.
GIDLEY: That's what the president's been talking about on the campaign trail.
No, Trump has consistently downplayed COVID-19 at his hate rallies.
GIDLEY: We're seeing a reduction in deaths by 70 percent.
That's a lie. The death rate is trending upward.
When Camerota pressed Gidley on the use of the word “ending," he said he hadn't written or read the document. No one told him this would be a book club interview.
GIDLEY: I'm not going to quibble over semantics. The fact is we're moving in the right direction. What we can't afford to do is shut this country back down!
That is the Trump campaign's final Hail Mary. Republicans are claiming that Joe Biden will lock us in our homes and throw away the key. However, most Americans understand that we can't go on about our lives while coronavirus spreads unchecked. States that tried it Trump's way, such as North and South Dakota, eventually had all their stupid catch up to them.
CNN's @AlisynCamerota: "Hospitals in WI are near capacity. Does that give you any pause about going there and holdi… https://t.co/b7BZa7uM4C— The Recount (@The Recount) 1603889729.0
Vice President Mike Pence plans on boring people Wednesday at a campaign rally in Mosinee, Wisconsin. Pence's chief of staff, personal aide, and at least four other people in his close circle have tested positive with COVID-19. The vice president considers himself too essential to remain in quarantine like someone who respects human life.
Marathon County health department spokeswoman Judy Burrows said.what sensible people already know: "Mass gatherings of any kind can become super spreader events. Anyone attending (a) large gathering should wear a face mask and social distance to protect each other from the spread of disease."
Few people ever do this at Trump campaign rallies. Burrows noted that obeying public health guidelines is "incredibly important to slowing the spread of COVID, keeping kids in school, employees working and businesses open."
Trump wants to win Wisconsin more than he wants to keep the state safe. He's too dumb and callous to understand that he's only digging a bigger hole for himself.
Camerota asked Gidley if the campaign was at all concerned about holding a big rally in a state experiencing a massive surge in COVID-19 cases. His response was revealing.
GIDLEY: No ... the VP has the best doctors in the world around him. They've obviously contact traced and come to the conclusion that it's fine for him to be out on the campaign trail.
This is stupid science. Contact tracing wasn't necessary to understand that Pence was exposed to people with COVID-19. It's also not his personal health that's the issue. The rallies are proven superspreader events. And it doesn't even occur to Gidley to be concerned about anyone else's health besides the vice president's. Let them eat COVID!
GIDLEY: Americans have a right to peacefully assemble under the First Amendment.
Oh shut up. Theatre and live concerts are protected under the First Amendment but both are suspended until the virus is under control. Trump and his stooges like to compare his hate rallies to Black Lives Matter protests, but the MAGA crowd doesn't need to gather in large crowds to seek redress from the government. Their guy is already in the White House. They also have the Senate and the Supreme Court.
White House Communications Director Alyssa Farah did some damage control today. She conceded that the document boasting of Trump's grand victory over COVID-19 was "poorly worded," and the president "doesn't believe the pandemic is over."
FARAH: The intent was to say that it is our goal to end the virus.
There we agree. However, that goal is only achievable if Trump is voted out of office next Tuesday with extreme prejudice.
Follow Stephen Robinson on Twitter.
Do your Amazon shopping through this link, because reasons.
Yr Wonkette is 100 percent ad free and supported entirely by reader donations. Please click the clickie, if you are able!
