# The Trump Administration: A Clusterfuck in the Making **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 7, 2016, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070 "2016-12-07T00:25:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2080
**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 17, 2020, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/41585 "2020-03-17T01:37:26Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > A cold speculum is surely uncomfortable, but if it was warm, I imagine you should be thinking _um, wait, where has that thing been just now?_ My bad. I should never have opened that door. I forgot where I was for a moment. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2020, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/41586 "2020-03-17T03:54:55Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > Painful though it is to say, I’m not sure your conclusion is warranted. > > I heard a medical expert explain recently that the nose swab _is_ quite unpleasant. I guess they approach it like they’re mining for platinum and shove that swab very far up into your nasal cavities. > > Sounded not fun. With pictures! [Home | Government of Yukon](http://www.hss.gov.yk.ca/pdf/npswab.pdf) ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2020, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/41587 "2020-03-17T06:11:25Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > Painful though it is to say, I’m not sure your conclusion is warranted. > > I heard a medical expert explain recently that the nose swab _is_ quite unpleasant. I guess they approach it like they’re mining for platinum and shove that swab very far up into your nasal cavities. > > Sounded not fun. That’s not how I read JohnT’s post. He said Trump was asked what the test was like. He should have said something like “They stick a thing up your nose.” But instead he just gave some vague answer about it being a test. The implication I’m seeing is that Trump didn’t really have the test done. He’s just claiming he did. Maybe the test results “showed only positive results” and “were astonishingly excellent.” > **[Doctor: Trump Dictated Letter Attesting To His 'Extraordinary' Health](https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/05/02/607638733/doctor-trump-dictated-letter-attesting-to-his-extraordinary-health)** > > Dr. Harold Bornstein, who released a letter in 2015 describing Donald Trump's health in glowing terms, now tells CNN that the then-candidate dictated the whole thing. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2020, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/41588 "2020-03-17T06:15:39Z")
Didn’t take the test because it was rigged and he is still under audit. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2020, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/41589 "2020-03-17T07:16:53Z")
> [@jasg](#): > > > [@Aspenglow](#): > > > > Painful though it is to say, I’m not sure your conclusion is warranted. > > > > I heard a medical expert explain recently that the nose swab _is_ quite unpleasant. I guess they approach it like they’re mining for platinum and shove that swab very far up into your nasal cavities. > > > > Sounded not fun. > > With pictures! [Home | Government of Yukon](http://www.hss.gov.yk.ca/pdf/npswab.pdf) It’s the new [“ream and scream”](https://forums.anandtech.com/threads/any-guys-ever-gone-for-a-urethral-swab-std-test.722888/post-3478439)! ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2020, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/41590 "2020-03-17T07:43:13Z")
Remember that nasty reporter who asked that nasty question a couple of days ago, about Trump cutting the pandemic response team? This was Trump’s response: “Well, I just think it’s a nasty question …You say we did that, I don’t know anything about it.” But guess what, the internet remembers. Jim, play the video. > **[Video emerges showing Trump talking about cutting pandemic team in 2018,...](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/coronavirus-video-trump-pandemic-team-cut-2018-a9405191.html)** > > Video appears to contradict president's claim of ignorance about the cuts ---
**Author:** ![Gus\_Gusterson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85f322/32.png) [@Gus\_Gusterson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gus_Gusterson)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2020, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/41591 "2020-03-17T11:49:16Z")
A nasopharyngeal swab, which is how many samples are collected for COVID-19 testing, is not as simple as having a Q-tip swab of the mucous membrane in your nose. It’s a much longer swab which is pushed several inches into your nose. It’s not painful, but most people will find it to be an unpleasant experience. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2020, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/41592 "2020-03-17T12:05:00Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#): > > Remember that nasty reporter who asked that nasty question a couple of days ago, about Trump cutting the pandemic response team? > > This was Trump’s response: > “Well, I just think it’s a nasty question …You say we did that, I don’t know anything about it.” > > But guess what, the internet remembers. Jim, play the video. > > [Video emerges showing Trump talking about cutting pandemic team in 2018, despite saying last week 'I didn't know about it' | The Independent | The Independent](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/coronavirus-video-trump-pandemic-team-cut-2018-a9405191.html) It won’t stick. Trump already has lackeys like this guy out there to put an acceptable spin on it. [No, the White House didn’t ‘dissolve’ its pandemic response office. I was there.](https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/03/16/no-white-house-didnt-dissolve-its-pandemic-response-office/) You see, they didn’t dissolve the office, the just “shrank bloated staff”. Never mind that it’s obvious to anyone with a brain that whomever was left were not up to the task of keeping the US prepared. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2020, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/41593 "2020-03-17T14:38:32Z")
Nobody is pointing out the 800 pound gorilla in the room: The liberal media has now even gotten the president to believe in the virus hoax. 😃 ---
**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 17, 2020, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/41594 "2020-03-17T15:03:25Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > Nobody is pointing out the 800 pound gorilla in the room: > > The liberal media has now even gotten the president to believe in the virus hoax. > 😃 Yeah, but the other Pubbies are too smart to fall for that! **[Poll: As Coronavirus Spreads, Fewer Americans See Pandemic As A Real Threat March 17, 20205:01 AM ET](https://www.npr.org/2020/03/17/816501871/poll-as-coronavirus-spreads-fewer-americans-see-pandemic-as-a-real-threat?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=news)** > [@](#): > > In February, a little more than a quarter of U.S. adults believed the coronavirus was being blown out of proportion. Now, that number has risen to nearly 40% of respondents. > > Pollsters found that both shifts are largely driven by changes in opinion by Republicans. For instance, \*\*72% of Republicans saw the coronavirus as a real threat in early February, but that figure has now plummeted to 40% of Republicans now believing the deadly virus is a serious menace. > > And a majority of Republicans — 54% — now say the response to the coronavirus is overblown, a significant jump from last month, when about 23% of Republicans held that view.\*\* > > Fewer independents, too, see the coronavirus as a real threat. Fifty percent of them view it as such now, compared with 64% of independents last month who said the virus was legitimately threatening. > > Democrats remained the most unchanged on this question. An increasing number of them — 76% — now say the danger of the coronavirus is real, up from 70% last month. > … My bold. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2020, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/41595 "2020-03-17T15:08:29Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > The fact that it’s maintained by volunteers and journalists, instead of the CDC or the White House, is appalling, though. Since the CDC, like the rest of the executive branch, is now a tool of TrumpCo, I’m okay with that. A site cobbled together by the White House would be a non-starter in the veracity department. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2020, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/41596 "2020-03-17T16:10:53Z")
Newt Gingrich believes in COVID-19 _now,_ but two weeks ago when he was bleating that it was no worse than the common cold it was because he had been misled by “dishonest left-wing media.” Newt’s smart guy genius logic is tough for me to follow, but I’m pleased to note that he’s living with his third wife in Italy and is an Old, so he’s got a fair to good chance of catchin’ it. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2020, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/41597 "2020-03-17T16:28:14Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Yeah, but the other Pubbies are too smart to fall for that! > > **[Poll: As Coronavirus Spreads, Fewer Americans See Pandemic As A Real Threat > March 17, 20205:01 AM ET](https://www.npr.org/2020/03/17/816501871/poll-as-coronavirus-spreads-fewer-americans-see-pandemic-as-a-real-threat?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=news)** > My bold. “Facts are stupid things.” – Ronald Reagan (yes, it was a slip-of-the-tongue misquote of John Adams, but the persistent theme of Republicans, especially, ignoring facts is unmistakable) ---
**Author:** ![Frazzled](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frazzled/32/3368_2.png) [@Frazzled](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frazzled)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2020, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/41598 "2020-03-17T17:14:34Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Yeah, but the other Pubbies are too smart to fall for that! > > **[Poll: As Coronavirus Spreads, Fewer Americans See Pandemic As A Real Threat > March 17, 20205:01 AM ET](https://www.npr.org/2020/03/17/816501871/poll-as-coronavirus-spreads-fewer-americans-see-pandemic-as-a-real-threat?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=news)** > My bold. That article doesn’t make much sense, even internally. For example, near the beginning of the article it states: > [@](#): > > "The differences between political parties are stark, with a majority of Republicans saying it is overblown and the vast majority of Democrats considering it a legitimate threat. > > “Since the pandemic has taken root and grown in the United States, Democrats and Republicans are now poles apart,” said Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist College Institute of Public Opinion. “The consequences of these differing perspectives are shaping how people are responding to calls for action.” So right away it says that Republicans were more likely to believe it overblown, yet later in the article it states the exact opposite. If anything, the past week people are taking this far more seriously than we did in the past few weeks. The run on the stores and the cities shutting down to encourage social isolation prove this. Of course, people that aren’t _directly_ seeing the illness tend to rebel against a response this large so we would naturally see them say this is all over blown. But the next few weeks will tell. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Greenjeans](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.greenjeans/32/551_2.png) [@Mr.Greenjeans](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Greenjeans)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2020, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/41599 "2020-03-17T17:18:57Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > Nobody is pointing out the 800 pound gorilla in the room: > > The liberal media has now even gotten the president to believe in the virus hoax. > 😃 I can’t wait for the big reveal when we tell him we made it all up. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2020, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/41600 "2020-03-17T18:43:02Z")
> [@Frazzled](#): > > That article doesn’t make much sense, even internally. Maybe looking at [both](http://maristpoll.marist.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/NPR_PBS-NewsHour_Marist-Poll_USA-NOS-and-Tables_2002031122.pdf) [polls](http://maristpoll.marist.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/NPR_PBS-NewsHour_Marist-Poll_USA-NOS-and-Tables_2003151338.pdf) themselves would help. ---
**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 17, 2020, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/41601 "2020-03-17T19:20:21Z")
\*\* Trump and his supporters are already rewriting recent coronavirus history\*\* > **[Opinion | Trump and his supporters are already rewriting recent coronavirus...](https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/03/17/trump-his-supporters-are-already-rewriting-recent-coronavirus-history/)** > > From "This is no big deal" to "It's a big deal but Trump's masterful leadership is saving us." > [@](#): > > The pivot has begun. > > At a news conference Tuesday, President Trump took pains to tell the public not only that the coronavirus crisis is serious — “We want to save a lot of lives. If you get too steep on that curve, you’re gonna lose a lotta lives" — but that he never downplayed it in the first place. > > **“I’ve always known this is a real — this is a pandemic," Trump said. “I felt it was a pandemic long before it was called a pandemic."** > > That followed a press conference Monday when for the first time he seemed to acknowledge the magnitude of the crisis (“this is a very bad one”), amid the expected self-congratulation (“we’ve done a fantastic job from just about every standpoint”). > > So the message has now gone forth: It’s time for Trump supporters to stop denying that the coronavirus is a big deal and focus on praising Trump’s extraordinary leadership in this time of crisis. > > This is a shift that will take a bit of time to diffuse through the right, but it has a few key elements to it. > > The first will be to wipe away recent history: Before long, you’ll hear Trump supporters say that Trump never denied how serious a public health challenge the virus posed, despite the fact that until this week he had been doing nothing but denying this. > … My bold. Liar! Liar! Fucking pants on fire! Now that he is doing an imitation of presidential behavior, his approval rating is going to soar upwards! And not just among his base. Grrrr! ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2020, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/41602 "2020-03-17T20:04:58Z")
He had a hunch, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2020, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/41603 "2020-03-17T22:11:23Z")
> [@jasg](#): > > With pictures! [Home | Government of Yukon](http://www.hss.gov.yk.ca/pdf/npswab.pdf) That looks an awful lot like the way “Human Blockheads” pound nails into their noses: > **[How the Human Blockhead Works](https://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/arts/circus-arts/human-blockhead1.htm)** > > The nasal cavity is an open area below the eyes and is where a nail enters the skull in the act. See diagrams of the nasal cavity and the human blockhead trick. > **[Human blockhead](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Blockhead)** > > A human blockhead is a carnival or sideshow performer who hammers a nail or other implement (such as an ice pick, awl or screwdriver) into their nasal cavity via the nostril. > The stunt is often shocking to audiences, who believe that the nail is being hammered into the skull itself. In reality, the stunt plays on the anatomical misconception that the nasal cavity goes upward, rather than straight back. The performer merely learns the terrain of the nasal cavity and lessens their sensitivity (a... ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2020, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/41604 "2020-03-17T22:23:12Z")
Reminds me of the first Agoraphobic Nosebleed 7"! [yowza!](https://rateyourmusic.com/release/ep/agoraphobic-nosebleed/agoraphobic-nosebleed-1/) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=2079) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=2081)