# 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:** 4
**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:** [August 3, 2020, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544/61 "2020-08-03T19:15:20Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Four more battleground states — Pennsylvania, Michigan, Florida and Minnesota — will begin mailing ballots or start early voting by the end of September. They’re describing Michigan as a battleground state? ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2020, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544/62 "2020-08-03T20:59:08Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > If he wants to win re-election, he should be appearing at events where people are booing him when he walks in and then saying or doing something to make them cheer for him when he walks out. I think his only move along these lines would be to announce he is quitting and/or turning himself into the police. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2020, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544/63 "2020-08-03T21:02:20Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > They’re describing Michigan as a battleground state? ``` 538 currently has Michigan as +7.8 for Biden ``` Even the last Fox news poll has Biden +9 for Michigan. “battleground”? Not at the moment. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2020, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544/64 "2020-08-03T21:14:31Z")
# [What’s Trump’s October Surprise?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544) Trump will say the word “October” out loud, then he’ll spell it correctly, and then use it in a sentence. Then he’ll tell us how amazed people were when he first did that, and he’ll assure us that most people can’t do it. He’ll even dare Joe Biden to do it. Then he’ll have a tantrum shouting “Rigged”, “Unfair” when Biden does it blindfolded and with a few beers in him. The lamestream fake news media will claim that it was not surprising. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2020, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544/65 "2020-08-03T21:38:19Z")
I think Trump is going to pull out all the stops. (I don’t really believe the following…) Declare martial law. Become a vegetarian and eschew fast food. Create a “Department of Happiness”. Pull 50 million families out of poverty. Donate the Trump Hotels to charity. Declare himself and Biden “co-Presidents”. Devote remainder of term to praising the UN. Return Texas to Mexico. Return Alaska to Russia. Give North Dakota to Trudeau for his birthday. Send Eric Trump into space. Get baptized then marry Ivanka (no divorce) Lose WWE grudge match to Nancy Pelosi. Cause “91st anniversary” Great Depression Personally find cure for Covid-19. Declare golf to be treasonous. Save Washington from C.H.U.D. attack. Balance budget by finding equivalent cheque. Donate body to medical school. One of these could happen? ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2020, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544/66 "2020-08-04T00:25:55Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > Give North Dakota to Trudeau for his birthday. Do not want. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2020, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544/67 "2020-08-04T00:34:19Z")
Maybe, but at least it’s not an ethics violation. I mean, what’s the declared value of North Dakota? ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2020, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544/68 "2020-08-04T00:35:43Z")
Perhaps we could flip things and give Trudeau to North Dakota on their birthday? ---
**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:** [August 4, 2020, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544/69 "2020-08-04T01:15:49Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Even the last Fox news poll has Biden +9 for Michigan. > > “battleground”? Not at the moment. Of course MI’s a battleground. It’s the very definition of battleground: a state that sometimes goes to one side or the other. If Biden wins it this fall, it’ll still be a battleground state because Trump won it the previous cycle. CA and AL aren’t battlegrounds because they don’t, or haven’t recently, switched sides (Doug Jones not withstanding) ---
**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:** [August 4, 2020, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544/70 "2020-08-04T01:28:18Z")
Also, jeez: talk about hubris. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2020, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544/71 "2020-08-04T02:33:32Z")
he resigns so that Pence becomes President and can pardon him for ‘evertyhing’. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2020, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544/72 "2020-08-04T12:16:32Z")
…the real surprise is when Pence orders Trump’s arrest immediately upon taking the oath of office. ---
**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:** [August 4, 2020, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544/73 "2020-08-04T12:50:04Z")
> [@squeegee](#): > > Of course MI’s a battleground This. I find Little Nemo and Euphonious Polemic’s complacency disturbing. (I almost always agree with their posts, otherwise). ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2020, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544/74 "2020-08-06T00:09:03Z")
An October surprise would depend on a compliant media. They’ve had enough. Even Twitter. Even Fox, to some degree. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2020, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544/75 "2020-08-06T20:30:16Z")
Well, if it is a vaccine, then that is a nice surprise- if true. ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2020, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544/76 "2020-08-06T20:53:42Z")
Thinking about his Taj Mahal surprise from decades back-- It opened with no slots working, unmanned tables, private rooms only, kitchen unprepared, hardly any rooms open or room service and him insisting over and over that they are open for business. It will be a vaccine. He’ll say he’s personally funding it, asking investors to double down on it, and it will be out before Christmas. BUT ONLY… if you elect him. The democrats are trying to destroy it, keeping a life-giving vaccine from public use until they can put out their own vaccine which will NOT work as well as his. It will be all bullshit. No vaccine will ever come out from this administration, as if political administrations even have anything to do with actually making a vaccine. If re-elected and asked about the vaccine months later why it still hasn’t come out, blame the democrats. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2020, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544/77 "2020-08-06T22:18:48Z")
> [@Locrian](#): > > If re-elected and asked about the vaccine months later why it still hasn’t come out, blame the democrats. "It will be ready in oh, I’d say about two weeks. Great vaccine. The best there ever was. Many people are saying this. Why the other day a doctor came to me with tears in his eyes. Big brave doctor. “Sir”, he said “This vaccine you’ve made is the best one I’ve ever seen. God bless you!” ---
**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:** [August 6, 2020, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544/78 "2020-08-06T22:57:52Z")
Trump by several accounts is pushing to have by November 3 something that will be _called_ “a vaccine for COVID19”, but is unlikely to be an actual effective and safe vaccine. But the major October–and September, due to early voting–surprises will be coming under the sleazy auspices of Bill Barr. Indictments of major Democratic and career-professional figures are a virtual certainty. Count on Barr bringing an indictment of Biden’s son Hunter on trumped up (!) charges. Whistle-blowers and critics of Trump will be well-represented among those charged with imaginary crimes–John Brennan, for example. Anyone in government who has failed to be obsequious enough to Trump is vulnerable–possibly, for example, FBI head Christopher Wray. Trump will save the really big names for the entertainment of his base, once he’s certain he can’t be deposed. That’s when the Obamas and Clintons are likely to be arrested and given show trials. But for this fall, it will mainly be those who dared to investigate Trump–and Biden relatives and associates. (If Barr thinks he can pull off an arrest of Joe Biden himself, he’ll try. But I’d be surprised if he thinks he could do it before Trump is actually installed as Pres-for-life; there’s just nothing on which to hang accusations of criminal conduct by Biden.) ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2020, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544/79 "2020-08-07T02:18:09Z")
Maybe he could put additional tariffs on a bunch of stuff. But not hair pomade, sun tan beds, golf equipment, fast food supplies or Donald J. Trump quality neckwear. Canada aluminium? Why stop at 10 percent? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2020, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544/80 "2020-08-07T04:29:27Z")
Well, it could be effective and safe, but it likely wont have been extensively tested and there wont be enuf. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544.md?page=5)