Quote:
Originally Posted by flylock shox
As much as it's fair to doubt any reports coming from this White House, I don't see any benefit to Trump in announcing this diagnosis.
First, it runs counter to his entire "hoax" and "it'll disappear before you know it" narrative.
Second, a lot of people who believe that narrative do so because they don't live in a place that has been hard-hit by the virus, and don't know of anyone that has it. Now they do, making it much more accessible to them.
Third, Trump's initial announcement that he and his wife are quarantining runs counter to any "I told you so" narrative he might later try to spin if they experience only mild symptoms. Him taking it seriously doesn't mesh at all with his bravado about the virus, nor his rebel leader persona when it comes to Covid restrictions.
Fourth, the announcement impedes his ability to continue campaigning in the ways that are most effective for him: rallies. He simply wouldn't abandon those for 2 of the 4 weeks left until the election.
Fifth, the mere announcement that even the President - who is tested daily and surrounded by the Secret Service - can contract this virus, is going to deter older Trump voters from going to the polls where they'll be vulnerable to infection. They may not mail-in their ballots either, since that's apparently subject to fraud.
I'm sure there are other reasons, but basically - if it is a calculated manipulation by the White House - it's a gross miscalculation. And as much as the administration is a collection of dum-dums, one thing they're good at is tactics, and this doesn't play well tactically.
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Another reason it's not a hoax -
A hoax perpetrated at that high a level would require the utmost secrecy. That's not something this administration is good at in the best of times. It would also require only a handful of people to be in on the plan. According to the conspiracy theorists here, those handful of people include the RNC chairwoman and a random ass senator? If they're in on it, then you'd presume everyone higher up than them would be in on it too, so probably at least 50, maybe 100 people?
It's bull#### and I'm genuinely so surprised to see so many jump immediately to the conspiracy theory while in the past criticising the weirdos on the right with all of their Clinton/Obama/Soros/Biden/pizza/paedo conspiracies. "Those conspiracies are outlandish, but this one? This one is highly believable!"