# Coronavirus will finish Trump's presidency **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [March 16, 2020, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-will-finish-trumps-presidency/849597 "2020-03-16T17:46:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2020, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-will-finish-trumps-presidency/849597/83 "2020-03-19T00:57:28Z")
> [@HengsenKerpangsen](#): > > The irrational Trump-bashing is not funny anymore. Let it go for the sake of your own mental health. “How could I possibly be Russian with this German - sounding name!!?” ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2020, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-will-finish-trumps-presidency/849597/84 "2020-03-19T01:01:40Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > According to [Snopes](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/trump-quote-never-died-before/), he did not. Must have been a teleprompter malfunction. Hate when that happens. Sad. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2020, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-will-finish-trumps-presidency/849597/85 "2020-03-19T01:46:49Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > The amazing thing is that if we had a Democrat in the oval office right now, the bills breezing through the Senate would be lucky to get one vote from Republicans. Much like the debt ceiling, they would be more than willing to hold the country hostage. That’s why electing Biden won’t be enough. The Dems have to keep the House and take the Senate \ ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2020, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-will-finish-trumps-presidency/849597/86 "2020-03-19T02:32:41Z")
> [@joebuck20](#): > > If there’s one thing that’s going to hurt him with his base, it’s the appearance of weakness during a crisis. This Politico article touches on that: > > [https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/16/trump-maga-coronavirus-movement-130831](https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/16/trump-maga-coronavirus-movement-130831) > > Granted, at this point I think most of Trump’s followers are too cultish in their devotion to not follow him over the cliff. But this may well open a few people’s eyes to the fact that the guy was never anything more than bluster, and that he’s in way over his head. The only thing that would turn Ttrumps base against him is if Trump embraced multiculturalism. His base feels ‘their’ America is being invaded by non-whites, immigrants, atheists, muslims, feminists, liberals, gays, etc. They view Trump as their great white bulwark against multiculturalism and a multi racial society. They don’t give a shit how incompetent, treasonous, criminal, corrupt, deranged, mentally unstable, etc. Trump is as long as he promotes white supremacy. If Trump embraces black lives matter, calls for more immigrants from islamic nations, says America becoming white minority is a good thing, etc that will turn his base against him. If anything, low key democrats should be creating propaganda making it look like Trump is embracing multiculturalism and show it to his base to demoralize them. Show them fake quotes of Trump talking about how great black lives matter is and how great islamic immigration is. That will make them stay home in 2020. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2020, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-will-finish-trumps-presidency/849597/87 "2020-03-19T02:35:34Z")
> [@HengsenKerpangsen](#): > > The irrational Trump-bashing is not funny anymore. Let it go for the sake of your own mental health. All the Trump-bashing I see is rational. ---
**Author:** ![rejemy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/898d66/32.png) [@rejemy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rejemy)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2020, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-will-finish-trumps-presidency/849597/88 "2020-03-19T02:42:54Z")
Coronavirus will not finish Trump, in fact it’s going to help him quite a bit. I think he’s turned a corner on his coronavirus policy, he’s seamlessly pivoted from “it’s not a problem and will never be a problem” to “it’s a huge problem and I’m the hero who is doing everything to stop it and give you free money in the meantime”. By the time November arrives, his early bungling and lying will be ancient history, all people will remember is Trump taking credit for every economic aid package that happens between now and then. It’ll give him the aura of a heroic “wartime” president, without having to have an inconvenient war. The economy will still probably be shit, and the national debt will be crazy high, but he’ll just deflect and say that he was the only one who could take such bold measures to save the country. It’s much like George W Bush post 9/11. When the election came, nobody cared that he ignored all the terrorism warnings, then invaded the wrong country and lied about it. All they cared about was “not switching horses midstream”, and it worked. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2020, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-will-finish-trumps-presidency/849597/89 "2020-03-19T03:07:12Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > The only thing that would turn Ttrumps base against him is if Trump embraced multiculturalism. > > His base feels ‘their’ America is being invaded by non-whites, immigrants, atheists, muslims, feminists, liberals, gays, etc. They view Trump as their great white bulwark against multiculturalism and a multi racial society. > > They don’t give a shit how incompetent, treasonous, criminal, corrupt, deranged, mentally unstable, etc. Trump is as long as he promotes white supremacy. > > If Trump embraces black lives matter, calls for more immigrants from islamic nations, says America becoming white minority is a good thing, etc that will turn his base against him. > > If anything, low key democrats should be creating propaganda making it look like Trump is embracing multiculturalism and show it to his base to demoralize them. Show them fake quotes of Trump talking about how great black lives matter is and how great islamic immigration is. That will make them stay home in 2020. I have a friend who seriously claims that Trump is the greatest POTUS since Reagan. ---
**Author:** ![Dana\_Scully](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5daacb/32.png) [@Dana\_Scully](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dana_Scully)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2020, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-will-finish-trumps-presidency/849597/90 "2020-03-19T03:09:42Z")
lol! ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2020, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-will-finish-trumps-presidency/849597/91 "2020-03-19T04:14:42Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > [Coronavirus will finish Trump’s presidency](https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/coronavirus-will-finish-trumps-presidency-155243205.html) > > I don’t want a single person to die from this disease, but if Trump loses, any deaths will not have been in vain. Counting on a plague and economic collapse to advance your politics is not exactly commendable or smart. It’s positively ghoulish and you can rest assured sentiments like those will be played against you, i.e. quoting, Jon Snow _“Everything before the word “but” is horseshit”_. The most likely scenario is that in the next months a vaccine or treatment is developed for the disease and the apocalyptic predictions of millions of deaths come nowhere near to fruition, and you (general you) will be left standing as the doomsayer who hoped to capitalize on the deaths and misery of large numbers of your fellow citizens to further a political agenda, that is pretty bad optics. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2020, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-will-finish-trumps-presidency/849597/92 "2020-03-19T04:36:30Z")
I think the stock market will eventually recover, but not all the losses in the last month, and not soon enough. The market is about where it was when Trump took office 3+ years ago - it will not be getting back near the all-time highs we were seeing in Feb, during 2020, and probably not in 2021, either. I could be wrong. This presents the opportunity for the Dems to hang the “end of the longest bull market in history” and the “start of the current bear market” labels on Trump - they need to mercilessly remind people about this. He has been taking credit for the bull market (rooted in the Obama years) so he gets to take blame now that coronavirus has stripped the market’s gears. Deserved or not. This should be a top-3 talking point going forward, like [It’s the economy, stupid](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%27s_the_economy,_stupid). ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2020, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-will-finish-trumps-presidency/849597/93 "2020-03-19T05:32:17Z")
> [@rejemy](#): > > Coronavirus will not finish Trump, in fact it’s going to help him quite a bit. I think he’s turned a corner on his coronavirus policy, he’s seamlessly pivoted from “it’s not a problem and will never be a problem” to “it’s a huge problem and I’m the hero who is doing everything to stop it and give you free money in the meantime”. Will his base buy this act? Yes. Will the swing voters who will actually decide the election? Much less clear. And that “free money” is going to arrive in the wake of thousands of shuttered businesses and hundreds of thousands out of work – it’s not going to be putting a smile on many people’s faces. Anyway, we should all be so lucky if, come November, all this feels far away. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2020, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-will-finish-trumps-presidency/849597/94 "2020-03-19T08:27:30Z")
> [@HengsenKerpangsen](#): > > I wonder, do you also have a problem with people calling the ‘Spanish Flu’ the ‘Spanish Flu’? :rolleyes: Being half Spaniard myself: no, no tengo problema alguno con ello. Because I know how that came to happen: Spain was not at war and did not censor like the other countries felt they had to. Trump, OTOH, uses this term to deflect from his faults (sin of omission, mainly, and incompetence) and to channel anger towards racism. One name has historical reasons (with a hint of racism, but that was then), the other is trying to influence history (with a lot of racism). Did not convince you, did I? It is impossible to convince anyone on the web. Well, you roll eyes, I facepalm :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Unreconstructed\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/76d3ee/32.png) [@Unreconstructed\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unreconstructed_Man)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2020, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-will-finish-trumps-presidency/849597/95 "2020-03-19T08:55:17Z")
It’s something all Presidents do. I remember when, during that massive BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico a few years back, President Obama made a point of always referring to BP as “British Petroleum”. He knew the company was largely (maybe even wholly) American owned by that point, but he kept calling it “British Petroleum” regardless. It’s just a standard political deflection manoeuvre. I can’t blame Trump for doing it, too. Especially since the disease _did_ originate in China. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2020, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-will-finish-trumps-presidency/849597/96 "2020-03-19T09:22:31Z")
> [@Unreconstructed\_Man](#): > > It’s something all Presidents do. I remember when, […] I can’t blame Trump for doing it, too. Especially since the disease _did_ originate in China. I hope you don’t blame me then for calling it the Trump Virus, because I have an opinion to express too. I’d rather blame him than “the Chinese” and their “meet markets” (sic! wrote the new one). ---
**Author:** ![Unreconstructed\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/76d3ee/32.png) [@Unreconstructed\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unreconstructed_Man)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2020, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-will-finish-trumps-presidency/849597/97 "2020-03-19T10:26:53Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > I hope you don’t blame me then for calling it the Trump Virus, because I have an opinion to express too. I’d rather blame him than “the Chinese” and their “meet markets” (sic! wrote the new one). On the contrary, I encourage it 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2020, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-will-finish-trumps-presidency/849597/98 "2020-03-19T11:57:50Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > AND whether they will be allowed to vote, and whether those votes will be counted. Republican dirty tricks will be in full play! If the polls show an election rout that would cause the GOP and POTUS to lose power, I wouldn’t at all be surprised to see the coronavirus crisis to come in waves, one of which would reappear before the election. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2020, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-will-finish-trumps-presidency/849597/99 "2020-03-19T12:14:09Z")
I bet that the results of the [Lou Dobbs adoration poll will show that Donald is doing just fine.](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/lou-dobbs-trump-poll-coronavirus_n_5e72b84ac5b63c3b648a05f7) > [@](#): > > LDTPoll: How would you grade President Trump’s leadership in the nation’s fight against the Wuhan Virus… superb, great or very good? #KAG2020 #AmericaFirst #Dobbs > — Lou Dobbs (@LouDobbs) March 18, 2020 This is more effective than ipecac for inducing vomiting. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2020, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-will-finish-trumps-presidency/849597/100 "2020-03-19T12:27:42Z")
> [@Unreconstructed\_Man](#): > > It’s something all Presidents do. I remember when, during that massive BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico a few years back, President Obama made a point of always referring to BP as “British Petroleum”. And I bet he sometimes calls KFC “Kentucky Fried Chicken” despite the fact it hasn’t officially been “Kentucky Fried Chicken” in several years and most KFC is produced outside Kentucky. This is seriously the counterargument you want to make? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2020, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-will-finish-trumps-presidency/849597/101 "2020-03-19T12:32:44Z")
> [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > And I bet he sometimes calls KFC “Kentucky Fried Chicken” despite the fact it hasn’t officially been “Kentucky Fried Chicken” in several years and most KFC is produced outside Kentucky. > > This is seriously the counterargument you want to make? :dubious: Obama’s speech is fairly formal and I think he’d call GM “General Motors”. Certainly the words “British Petroleum” were not meant to gin up xenophobia the way that “Chinese virus” were. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2020, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-will-finish-trumps-presidency/849597/102 "2020-03-19T12:49:13Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Obama’s speech is fairly formal and I think he’d call GM “General Motors”. Certainly the words “British Petroleum” were not meant to gin up xenophobia the way that “Chinese virus” were. Exactly. Otherwise, he’d call it the China virus. Using the word “Chinese” is meant to blame people, specifically. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-will-finish-trumps-presidency/849597.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-will-finish-trumps-presidency/849597.md?page=6)