Tag Archive: Joe Biden

Trump’s COVID recklessness is killing his campaign

Donald Trump’s 2020 campaign theme

Since the beginning of this year, as has been well-documented, Donald Trump has downplayed, ignored, and lied about the Coronavirus pandemic. He and fellow Republicans then flaunted the basic precautions that virtually every health expert agrees are necessary in order to curtail the spread of the virus, especially mask wearing and social distancing. Trump and the Republicans even mocked Joe Biden for strictly following these COVID precautions. Instead, Trump and his partisans continued to gather maskless in crowds at political events, such as Trump’s Tulsa, Oklahoma rally, the Republican National Convention, and, most recently, the reception for Trump’s U.S. Supreme Court nominee, Amy Coney Barrett.

Now, these chickens have come home to roost. According to the latest polls, Trump’s failed COVID response is killing his brand, and his presidential campaign. After attending Trump’s Tulsa rally, former Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain died of Coronavirus. Then the Barrett reception, held at the White House and featuring Republicans hugging, backslapping and close-talking, turned out to be the “super spreader” event that got many Republicans sick with COVID. The list of prominent Republicans who have now come down with the virus, many of whom attended the Barrett event, includes Donald and Melania Trump, former New Jersey Governor (and Trump presidential debate coach) Chris Christie, Republican U.S. Senators Mike Lee, Thom Tillis and Ron Johnson, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnerny, Trump advisors Kellyanne Conway, Hope Hicks and Stephen Miller, Notre Dame University President Rev. John Jenkins, Pastor Greg Laurie, and more. This is in addition to numerous Secret Service agents, White House staffers, and even housekeepers, all of whom are being put at great risk by Trump and his fellow Republicans. Indeed, as if to symbolize the political train wreck that Trump’s campaign has become, his campaign manager Bill Stepien (of Chris Christie/Bridgegate infamy), as well as Republican National Committee Chair Ronna Romney McDaniel, also have contracted COVID and are not fully able to do their jobs. Stepien is the replacement for Brad Parscale, who was recently arrested and placed on suicide watch after threatening his wife, apparently connected with criminal campaign fraud and theft allegations. Now, Attorney General William Barr, and even military leaders at the Pentagon, are quarantining after being exposed to COVID. At this moment, no one seems to be in charge of either the Trump reelection campaign or the country.

Get ready for Republican Supreme Court bizarro land

Vigil for late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg at U.S. Supreme Court

With the death of U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg last week, attention is rightfully being paid to what happens next on the Court. It appears that Donald Trump, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and just about all Republican Senators are ready to jam another justice onto the Court this year, even though doing so just weeks before the 2020 elections is antithetical to their 2016 blocking of President Barack Obama‘s Supreme Court nominee, Merrick Garland.

Perhaps surprisingly, however, the Democrats may be the ones capitalizing on the Republicans’ Supreme Court plans. First, the Democrats are racking up crazy donations since Ginsburg’s death. Second, the latest polls continue to have plenty of good news for Joe Biden and bad news for Trump. Indeed, in a new poll asking whether Justice Ginsburg should be replaced before the presidential election on November 3, 62 percent of respondents said that the winner of the election (meaning quite possibly Biden) should make that nomination afterward, versus only 23 percent who think Trump should get the choice now.

Today’s Snark: Republican Waahmbulance edition

Republican waahmbulance on its way to rescue Donald Trump

This week, Donald Trump did poorly in his ABC News town hall, so he was “ambushed” according to Fox “News.” Then Joe Biden did well in his CNN town hall, so he must have been given the questions and answers in advance, according to former Fox “News” host Bill O’Reilly. That sound you hear is the GOP waahmbulance on its way to rescue poor helpless Donald Trump.

Photo by Ashley Buttle, used under Creative Commons license. https://is.gd/K5M9K0

Democrats hit Trump and Republicans hard at National Convention

Former President Barack Obama, one of the key speakers at the Democratic convention.

The 2020 Democratic National Convention has ended, and it was a skillfully run, hard-hitting success During their mostly virtual event, the Democrats covered several important bases, including party unity (for example, by featuring Bernie Sanders strongly supporting the Joe BidenKamala Harris presidential ticket) and party appeal, by having prominent Republicans such as John KasichChristine Todd Whitman and others speak in support of Biden and against the reelection of Donald Trump. The Democratic convention also highlighted some stars and several stunning speeches:

Get ready for the Democratic National Convention with Joe Biden and Kamala Harris

Joe Biden with his wife, Dr. Jill Biden, at the 2012 Democratic National Convention

The Democratic Party is holding its 2020 National Convention from August 17-20 , and the big news is that Biden has chosen U.S. Senator Kamala Harris as his vice presidential running mate. Although based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the convention will actually take place at various locations and landmarks around the country, because Democrats are serious about public health, specifically, not spreading COVID. Thus, for example, the Wisconsin Center in Milwaukee will be used for broadcasting and production. Essentially, the convention will be coordinated and directed from Milwaukee. However, there will only be a few hundred personnel on site, comporting with state and local requirements regarding public gatherings. Accordingly, when Joe Biden is formally offered and accepts the Democratic Party’s nomination for president at the convention, he will do so from a location in his home state of Delaware. Other scheduled speakers, including, presumably, Kamala Harris, will also appear from various remote locations.

The coming Trump-Biden election horse race

How the media would like to portray the election

If the 2020 presidential election were held today, based on current polls, Joe Biden would beat Donald Trump in a landslide. In particular, Biden is ahead of Trump in crucial “battleground” states such as Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Florida, and is even with (and in some polls ahead of) Trump in states like Arizona, Georgia and the big prize, Texas, all of which Trump won in 2016.

But our mainstream media will not let Joe Biden run away with the election if they can help it. The media want a “horse race,” and you can bet that, with barely over 90 days to go until the election, you will soon be hearing about how “the race is tightening.” Here are some ways that can happen:

The secret weapon that will make Trump lose the election

Donald Trump’s response to COVID

There is a growing electoral threat to Donald Trump, and it is poised to swamp him in the 2020 elections taking place just 99 days from now. If you guessed that the secret weapon is COVID, you’re only partially correct. Indeed, Trump’s deadly failure to respond to the Coronavirus has now claimed the lives of 150,000 Americans. But in particular, the secret weapon that is poised to defeat Trump in 2020 is a giant bloc of voters that is terrified of COVID, and that went for Trump over Hillary Clinton in 2016.

Trump cuts and runs from self-proclaimed “wartime”status

Winston Churchill, wartime leader and Trump opposite

Back in March, Donald Trump told reporters that, when it comes to his role regarding the Coronavirus (a/k/a COVID-19 or COVID):

I view it as, in a sense, a wartime president. I mean, that’s what we’re fighting.

Since then, however, Trump has acted quite the opposite of “a wartime president.” Instead, Trump has cut and run from COVID at every turn. Trump has failed to unite the country and take bold national steps to combat the virus. On the contrary, Trump has been as divisive as any president in U.S. history, whipping up a race war, teargassing peaceful protesters, and focusing on cultural shiny objects such as Bibles and Confederate statues. Moreover, in the face of further attacks on America by Russia, Trump has stood down and done nothing. This failure to unite and protect our nation is not only fatal in terms of lives, it is proving politically fatal to Trump and those Republicans who follow him.

Why Trump and the Republicans will lose the election over Coronavirus

Some of Donald Trump’s responses to COVID

As Donald Trump currently trails Joe Biden in many presidential polls and is in danger of losing reelection, one of the great ironies is that Trump’s failed response to the Coronavirus (COVID-19 or COVID) could have been largely averted. In particular, if Trump had acted more like a Democrat, he might be looking at a more likely election win in November, rather than a very good chance of defeat. But Trump and the Republicans are incapable, philosophically and otherwise, of taking the necessary steps to keep us safe and help themselves, our public health and the economy to win the election. Here’s how they failed:

Is it too late for Trump?

Black Lives Matter protesters, at odds with Donald Trump

In 2012, President Barack Obama and his reelection campaign team did something very smart: they came out early and defined Obama’s opponent, Willard Mitt Romney, in a very unflattering way before Romney could define himself to the voters. Specifically, the Obama campaign defined Romney as an out-of-touch elitist, Mr. One Percent, with his offshore bank accounts and his dressage horse. This reinforced an existing narrative about Romney, one that Romney himself fed with his “47 percent” video, ultimately leading to Romney’s defeat.

This year, Joe Biden‘s campaign is taking a similar approach towards Donald Trump. Biden smartly has been running a general election-style campaign against Trump from day one. This was a risky strategy, since Biden had to battle some 24 challengers for the Democratic Party presidential nomination before he could run against Trump as the nominee. However, the strategy worked, and Biden is now the official Democratic nominee, something that would have happened sooner if not for primaries that were delayed due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19).