Not Gonna Work Out

I don't think this is gonna work out well for Donald Trump. We all want to manage the coronavirus as effectively as possible, which means we hope Trump will do the right things. But Donald Trump is not doing the right things, and it looks like people know that.

What's Trump's game? In an interview on Andy Slavitt's In the Bubble podcast, Anthony Scaramucci said, "Trump is thinking only about T.R.U.M.P. He's not thinking, U.S.A., and he's certainly not thinking Y.O.U."

I know, I know, consider the source. But Mooch's argument fits the evidence. Trump only wants to salvage his reelection chances. His own handling of the coronavirus constitutes his biggest obstacle. All that's left is to (a) try to change the path by repeating the same bullshit over and over and (b) drive a wedge between himself and the governors. The intermediate goal? To make it look like the governors are holding us all back from a recovery, while Trump is the popular hero.

That's all that's going on. Literally. There's nothing else in Trump's lizard brain.

That's why Trump supported the "Liberate State X" protests the past few days. And it's certainly why Attorney General William Barr leveled an exceptionally vague, Mafia-style threat against those governors yesterday.

Getty, via NPR

It might be why Trump threatened to "shoot down" Iranian gunboats today. (Shooting down boats would prove that our military has, um, unique capabilities.)

I have instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea.

But I don't think this plan is gonna work. First, public opinion is dead set against Trump. A current YahooNews/YouGov poll shows that people are committed to staying the course, despite and maybe because of Trump's foolishness.

Second, the virus is working against Trump. States that are opening up prematurely already have ongoing spikes in cases. And Kentucky, which has a protest just over a week ago, is now spiking. Indeed, the CDC director is warning us to expect a national spike this fall and winter.

Just my opinion, but I think Trump is going to have to face reality willingly or unwillingly.