# What's Trump's October Surprise? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [July 17, 2020, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544 "2020-07-17T03:13:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 12
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2020, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544/223 "2020-10-02T22:41:47Z")
Fair enough. Mea culpa! ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2020, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544/224 "2020-10-02T23:14:26Z")
Aw, I was not really trying to zing you too hard there. Truth be told, when I posted that original one I forgot that it was a Trump-only thread. But those were just the first two possible ‘surprises’ I thought of. An October Surprise doesn’t have to be orchestrated by a campaign - it refers to any late-breaking news that impacts a campaign. So I guess Trump’s ‘October Surprise’ might be that he has COVID and won’t be able to rally for a critical two weeks or more in October. That makes an already-difficult election for him that much worse. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2020, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544/225 "2020-10-14T11:06:04Z")
It’s here! Whoever said Trump’s October Surprise will be a cache of boring emails from yet another abandoned laptop, the contents of said emails needing to be twisted in order to begin to appear salacious… whoever said that wins the thread. In short: In an email, Hunter refers to his father’s upcoming visit, acknowledging that “what he will say and do is out of our hands” while encouraging his partner to “temper expectations” about Biden’s trip, and plans the ongoing work they will do to earn the money they’re paid. Like I said: you gotta twist it. Anyway, I rate the following article 3 dorQs: 🤓🤓🤓 > **[Hunter Biden emails show leveraging connections with his father to boost...](https://nypost.com/2020/10/14/hunter-biden-emails-show-leveraging-connections-with-dad-to-boost-burisma-pay/amp/)** > > Hunter Biden discussed leveraging his connection to his father in a bid to boost his pay from a Ukrainian natural gas company, according to an email he sent around the time he joined the firm’s cor… ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2020, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544/226 "2020-10-14T11:20:29Z")
This is my favorite part: “The e-mail, labeled from Robert Biden — Hunter’s given first name — is among a trove of messages, documents, photos and videos purportedly [recovered from a MacBook Pro laptop](https://nypost.com/2020/10/14/email-reveals-how-hunter-biden-introduced-ukrainian-biz-man-to-dad/) that a Delaware computer-shop owner told The Post was brought in for repair in April 2019 and never picked up afterward.” I would have a lot of questions about that laptop. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2020, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544/227 "2020-10-14T13:52:06Z")
According to the article, the laptop was subpoenaed by the FBI in late 2019 _and_ the owner also gave a copy of all the contents to Giuliani’s lawyer (also in 2019) because of course you would. So presumably these hot and heavy emails were available to the Senate investigation that could only come up with a lame conclusion of “potentially troubling” in its Biden hit job. ---
**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 14, 2020, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544/228 "2020-10-14T14:37:17Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > the owner also gave a copy of all the contents to Giuliani’s lawyer (also in 2019) because of course you would. Whenever I retire an old laptop, I always give it to Giuliani’s lawyer. Doesn’t everyone? ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2020, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544/229 "2020-10-14T14:45:01Z")
Lol. This story is breaking down by the minute, partly caused by Giuliani’s current actions: > I mean, why would a former prosecutor worry about ‘process’? 🙄 ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2020, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544/230 "2020-10-14T14:53:21Z")
I was pretty certain that Trump wanted a COVID vaccine to be his October Surprise. I guess there’s still time before election to make that fake announcement, but intuitively it seems like that’s overshadowed by all the actual surprises (tax returns, Trump superspreader COVID cluster, SCOTUS battle, stimulus flapping in the breeze, NK expanding nuclear capacity). So I can’t guess what the surprise might be. We’re up to like 2 bombshells a week and nothing really seems to stick. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2020, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544/231 "2020-10-14T15:08:04Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > We’re up to like 2 bombshells a week and nothing really seems to stick. We’ve reached the “the boy who cried wolf” stage. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2020, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544/232 "2020-10-14T15:25:58Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > We’ve reached the “the boy who cried wolf” stage. It’s also hard to get worked up over vague allegations of shady business with Bursima when you have a president who treats the Secret Service as his own revenue stream and whose administration regularly violates the Hatch Act six times before lunch. If Trump wants to find a bombshell that people care about, it can’t be something where he’s already doing ten times worse. ---
**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:** [October 14, 2020, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544/233 "2020-10-14T15:38:31Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > We’re up to like 2 bombshells a week and nothing really seems to stick. > [@Jophiel](#): > > If Trump wants to find a bombshell that people care about, it can’t be something where he’s already doing ten times worse. Yep. Compared to what Trump does, these aren’t bombshells. They’re M69 practice hand grenades. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.winston_oboogie/32/2945_2.png) [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Winston_OBoogie)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2020, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544/234 "2020-10-14T15:39:19Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > If Trump wants to find a bombshell that people care about, it can’t be something where he’s already doing ten times worse. Wanna bet? All he has to do is cry “FRAUD!” and the MAGAts are going to echo “FRAUD!” They care not about the mote in their own eye, only the spec in their neighbors. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2020, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544/235 "2020-10-14T15:44:12Z")
> [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](#): > > All he has to do is cry “FRAUD!” and the MAGAts are going to echo “FRAUD!” Sure, but those people aren’t going to win Trump the election. ---
**Author:** ![Theodore-Striker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Theodore-Striker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Theodore-Striker)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2020, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544/236 "2020-10-14T15:58:10Z")
This, this, and more this! The MAGA crowd isn’t worth fighting to convince that Trump is a con, they know, and they don’t care. It’s about sticking it to the “liberals and socialists” for them. Trump desperately needs the support of moderates, and the “I’ll give him a chance/ maybe he will grow into it/ I hate Hillary crowd” from 2016. According to most polling, that isn’t happening, and given the small number of undecideds at this stage of the game, isn’t going to happen. Let him feed the frothing 43%, not many people outside of this are buying what he is selling anymore. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2020, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544/237 "2020-10-14T16:00:29Z")
Schooley on Twitter compared this to learning that the fireman rushing into your home to save your kids lied about a DUI on his application: Yeah, it should have been caught at the time, but it’s not relevant at the moment. ---
**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 14, 2020, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544/238 "2020-10-14T16:09:02Z")
Teflon Joe! ---
**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 14, 2020, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544/239 "2020-10-14T16:13:37Z")
The problem with the vaccine surprise is that Trump has so badly destroyed the credibility of vaccines, public health, and the seriousness of the disease that it just doesn’t matter anymore. I doubt a vaccine moves the needle. Call it an own goal. And I don’t think people are falling for that Comey shit this time. I think the ‘surprise’ is no surprise: screams of voter fraud! voter fraud! voter fraud! It’s a blunt force attack on democracy. ---
**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 14, 2020, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544/240 "2020-10-14T16:39:12Z")
Voter suppression has been an issue that’s been easy for Republicans to sneak in under the radar for decades. But the loudmouth president has brought it to the forefront and, as with most things he’s done, it has become a rallying cry for his opponents. As many of us have noted on numerous occasions on this board, the only way to defeat ratfuckery at the polls and in the courts is to bury Trump in votes. And the base seems to have gotten the message if the long lines for early voting are any indication. ---
**Author:** ![Lance\_Turbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lance_turbo/32/6156_2.png) [@Lance\_Turbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lance_Turbo)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2020, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544/241 "2020-10-14T17:26:17Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > The problem with the vaccine surprise is that Trump has so badly destroyed the credibility of vaccines, public health, and the seriousness of the disease that it just doesn’t matter anymore. Same thing with his calling Regeneron a cure. After months of calling Hydroxychloroquine a cure over and over again, calling Regeneron a cure won’t move the needle, even if it is a cure (it probably isn’t). ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2020, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544/242 "2020-10-14T20:46:58Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Whenever I retire an old laptop, I always give it to Giuliani’s lawyer. Doesn’t everyone? Well, when I retire a computer, I always take out the hard drive and ship it to the editors of the National Enquirer. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544.md?page=11) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544.md?page=13)