# Trump and Melania test positive for COVID-19 **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [October 2, 2020, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-melania-test-positive-for-covid-19/922010 "2020-10-02T05:07:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 36
**Author:** ![glowacks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/glowacks/32/5548_2.png) [@glowacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glowacks)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2020, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-melania-test-positive-for-covid-19/922010/703 "2020-10-04T00:00:12Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Karma karma karma karma karma chameleon Oh. I thought that somehow the people represented commas. That makes more sense. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2020, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-melania-test-positive-for-covid-19/922010/704 "2020-10-04T00:05:51Z")
> **[‘I’ll be back - soon’: Trump releases video from Walter Reed hospital during...](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-coronavirus-video-hospital-walter-reed-latest-updates-b762372.html?utm_source=reddit.com)** > > ‘I’m feeling much better,' says US president following reports he was given oxygen on Friday ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2020, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-melania-test-positive-for-covid-19/922010/705 "2020-10-04T00:16:49Z")
Rightly or wrongly, we here on the Dope have been going on for some years now about Trump destroying the US government and killing democracy. It would be an amazing sort of irony / karma / something if instead what happens is that Trump & his inner circle end up literally killing the government. Or at least a large fraction of the cabinet, senators, etc. With especial targeting aimed at members of his own family and party. Sometimes a strong partisan divide is a useful firebreak. Talk about fiddling while Rome burns. Or more accurately, fiddling while setting Rome afire. I hope we can avoid the NK-style speculation of whether the guy’s still alive or not when he hasn’t been seen in public for days, the tweets keep coming but sound a little “off”, and everybody in the inner circle keeps insisting they talked with him just 20 minutes ago and are now passing along his orders. Strange times indeed. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2020, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-melania-test-positive-for-covid-19/922010/706 "2020-10-04T00:30:13Z")
Has anyone seen the Trump video that was just released (I just linked to it above)? Folks are saying it is edited. There’s a ripple in the Matrix after he says “therapeutics”. It does look weird to my non-expert eye, but I’m not ready to jump on the conspiracy bus yet. Folks are also saying that it is suspicious that he’s wearing the same clothes that he was wearing yesterday sans tie. So they are speculating that the video was shot yesterday while he was in the WH. I agree that his attire is weird. Seems like they would have packed at least an overnight bag or at least sent someone back to the WH to get some fresh clothes. . But we’re talking about a weird guy. Maybe he’s wearing different clothes and it just happens to look like what he was wearing yesterday. It’s hilarious how distrustful the American public is of the president. I can hardly blame anyone for being a conspiracy nut. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2020, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-melania-test-positive-for-covid-19/922010/707 "2020-10-04T00:32:38Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > I hope we can avoid the NK-style speculation of whether the guy’s still alive or not when he hasn’t been seen in public for days, the tweets keep coming but sound a little “off”, and everybody in the inner circle keeps insisting they talked with him just 20 minutes ago and are now passing along his orders. I suspect that just this sort of list of deceptions will inevitably be visited on us. Trump’s people have too much to lose if the public perception becomes that Trump is incapacitated, even temporarily. The very, very last thing that Ivanka and Jared and the other kids want is for the 25th Amendment to be invoked. In re the Tweets: a massive annoyance today is the many reporters and anchors who’ve put up on screen tweets from Trump’s accounts and then joked around _'well, he must be feeling okay, he’s tweeting!!!111!!!_’ and the like. It has been well known for YEARS, now, that Trump’s assistant Dan Scavino tweets in Trump’s name. A lot. The only purpose served by pretending that’s not true, is to help the Trump family maintain the cover-up of what Trump’s state of health really is. And why are CNN and MSNBC reporters helping with that particular project? ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2020, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-melania-test-positive-for-covid-19/922010/708 "2020-10-04T00:35:01Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > Folks are also saying that it is suspicious that he’s wearing the same clothes that he was wearing yesterday sans tie. So they are speculating that the video was shot yesterday while he was in the WH. I agree that his attire is weird. Seems like they would have packed at least an overnight bag or at least sent someone back to the WH to get some fresh clothes. . But we’re talking about a weird guy. Maybe he’s wearing different clothes and it just happens to look like what he was wearing yesterday. I guarantee you that Trump has a large number of navy suits, and a large number of white dress shirts with link cuffs. About the only time that he is seen in public wearing anything else is when he’s golfing or playing tennis. ---
**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:** [October 4, 2020, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-melania-test-positive-for-covid-19/922010/709 "2020-10-04T00:35:31Z")
I’m not attacking Melania Trump for having a foreign accent; I’m attacking her for her callousness and hypocrisy - and the fact that she has no business occupying the office that my taxes pay for. I know it seems like I’m smearing her for being a dirty foreigner, but that’s not it - it’s the fact that someone in her position ought to have an elevated sense of humanity. Moreover, she of all people ought to be sympathetic to people trying to flee a desperate situation. But instead she mocks desperate refugees, some of the most vulnerable people on this earth, by wearing a designer coat saying “I really don’t care - do you?” Presumably to help fire up her husband’s base of bigots. That’s why I bring up the foreign accent. ---
**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:** [October 4, 2020, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-melania-test-positive-for-covid-19/922010/710 "2020-10-04T00:35:51Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > Has anyone seen the Trump video that was just released (I just linked to it above)? > > Folks are saying it is edited. There’s a ripple in the Matrix after he says “therapeutics”. It does look weird to my non-expert eye, but I’m not ready to jump on the conspiracy bus yet. > > Folks are also saying that it is suspicious that he’s wearing the same clothes that he was wearing yesterday sans tie. So they are speculating that the video was shot yesterday while he was in the WH. I agree that his attire is weird. Seems like they would have packed at least an overnight bag or at least sent someone back to the WH to get some fresh clothes. . But we’re talking about a weird guy. Maybe he’s wearing different clothes and it just happens to look like what he was wearing yesterday. > > It’s hilarious how distrustful the American public is of the president. I can hardly blame anyone for being a conspiracy nut. I hope someone else will comment on this. My guess is that he filmed it before he left the WH. In fact, maybe he filmed a series of them to be released over the next few days. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2020, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-melania-test-positive-for-covid-19/922010/711 "2020-10-04T00:46:48Z")
Don’t Google “Deepfake” or you’ll never trust another image or video or audio clip for the rest of your life. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2020, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-melania-test-positive-for-covid-19/922010/712 "2020-10-04T00:47:54Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > If I wake up with the news that Trump is dead, I’m gonna wonder what the writers of _2020_ are going to surprise is with for the season finale. I’m guessing a killer asteroid. I just hope we get renewed for 2021. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2020, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-melania-test-positive-for-covid-19/922010/713 "2020-10-04T00:52:36Z")
I’m trying to block out the Reddit chitter-chatter because its kind of insane. But one comment does have me thinking. Why hasn’t Trump been tweeting anything if he’s doing OK? Besides that video, it’s been radio silence from him. ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2020, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-melania-test-positive-for-covid-19/922010/714 "2020-10-04T00:54:18Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > I just hope we get renewed for 2021. Let’s change the lead actor and see if that helps! ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2020, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-melania-test-positive-for-covid-19/922010/715 "2020-10-04T00:59:28Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > Folks are saying it is edited. There’s a ripple in the Matrix after he says “therapeutics”. It does look weird to my non-expert eye, but I’m not ready to jump on the conspiracy bus yet. …its most probably a morph cut or similar. Very easy to apply in Adobe Premiere Pro with a couple of clicks, so no big conspiracy, but it looks like they obviously cut out a cough or something like that. > **[Morph Cut in Premiere Pro](https://helpx.adobe.com/nz/premiere-pro/using/morph-cut.html)** > > Learn how to create more polished interviews by smoothing out jump cuts between sound bites using the powerful Morph Cut in Premiere Pro. ---
**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:** [October 4, 2020, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-melania-test-positive-for-covid-19/922010/716 "2020-10-04T01:00:16Z")
He’s put out a couple of tweets, but I’d agree that it’s not necessarily his usual tweet style. I suspect he’s probably awake and aware but perhaps a little humbled by his experience (well, as humbled as he can be anyway). ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2020, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-melania-test-positive-for-covid-19/922010/717 "2020-10-04T01:02:40Z")
It sure would be nice for him to tell the American public to wear some freakin’ masks and take this shit more seriously. Because the average American doesn’t have access to the healthcare he has. ---
**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:** [October 4, 2020, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-melania-test-positive-for-covid-19/922010/718 "2020-10-04T01:06:07Z")
Apologies if this has been posted already, but on twitter, Lincoln Project claims to have access to a staff call between Stepien and Pence. I’m reading on Rick Wilson’s twitter that the WH is melting down. It’s twitter so take it for what it’s worth, but it’s also likely that the official WH line is not operative. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2020, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-melania-test-positive-for-covid-19/922010/719 "2020-10-04T01:12:16Z")
The average, non-Trump supporter internet denizen seems to be skeptical of that video, based on what I’m gleaning from internet comments. If Trump sends out a video tomorrow and doesn’t say something like it’s “It’s a beautiful Sunday here at Walter Reed”, then I think lots of folks will be convinced we’re being lied to. Especially if he’s wearing the same outfit. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2020, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-melania-test-positive-for-covid-19/922010/720 "2020-10-04T01:16:30Z")
The deal making and backstabbing currently going on back at the Big House must be incredible. And the best part of it is, is that no matter who seizes power (I know, it’s clear that it’s supposed to be Pence but when did this bunch ever follow the rules?) the ship will still sink beneath the waves a month from now. ---
**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2020, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-melania-test-positive-for-covid-19/922010/721 "2020-10-04T01:19:00Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > I suspect he’s probably awake and aware but perhaps a little humbled by his experience (well, as humbled as he can be anyway). He cannot be humbled because that’s a completely foreign experience for him. He was raised in a family where humility was not just viewed as weakness but as _foolish_ weakness. He has no frame of reference for humility. “…as humbled as he can be” means zero humility. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2020, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-melania-test-positive-for-covid-19/922010/722 "2020-10-04T01:19:36Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > I’m not attacking Melania Trump for having a foreign accent; I’m attacking her for her callousness and hypocrisy - and the fact that she has no business occupying the office that my taxes pay for. I know it seems like I’m smearing her for being a dirty foreigner, but that’s not it - it’s the fact that someone in her position ought to have an elevated sense of humanity. Moreover, she of all people ought to be sympathetic to people trying to flee a desperate situation. But instead she mocks desperate refugees, some of the most vulnerable people on this earth, by wearing a designer coat saying “I really don’t care - do you?” Presumably to help fire up her husband’s base of bigots. That’s why I bring up the foreign accent. Can you please give it a rest here and start your own “Melania is teh suxxors” thread then? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-melania-test-positive-for-covid-19/922010.md?page=35) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-melania-test-positive-for-covid-19/922010.md?page=37)