The Next President of the United States

[nirvana]

Press conference today is really interesting - Fauci seemed to have to work hard to not let his emotions rip at the implication he was being forced to get up and say something he didn't want to.

Really enjoyed the Mnuchin segment, it's been going for what seems like hours and we still haven't got to the doctors presentations.

Trump could obviously be described as many things, many things, but he is incredible at speaking straight past the press and selling his administration direct to his base. Also incredible energy for a 73 year old. Impressive display when under massive pressure, perhaps in these extremely pressured situations it helps to be, well, different.

I'm about an hour behind watching it, haven't got to Mnuchin yet, but it is already one of the most extraordinary I've seen. We had an election video in the briefing room and Trump has been putting up a defence of the performance to date, but allowed himself to be dragged into an undignified back-and-forth with a couple of the reporters.

Be interesting to get your take. I was impressed by the clarity, brevity and specificity of his answers and the sense of competence I got from him but tbf, that was after listening to a lot of Trump so maybe it was just the sharp contrast

[bookiebasher]

Just wow . Incredible press conference or should I say campaign rally.

He really is batshit crazy.

Great question at the end for Fauci about whether he would tell reporters what he recommended
to Trump on opening up the economy . It really stumped him and he is weary of making the same
mistake as his interview with jake tapper at the weekend .

He knows he is fighting a losing battle with Trump .

Tiger king is mild compared to this freak show.

[MintTrav]

He was so on the defensive in the first part. I can't recall any previous President getting into verbal scuffles like this, where reporters feel able to argue with him and talk over him. US reporters usually seem to be more respectful than that, even when disagreeing, but I guess he has himself to blame for allowing it to get to the stage where he lost control, climaxing in the unseemly exchange with Paula Reed of CBS.



And the propaganda video they kicked off with was preposterous.

I agree he was better for the rest of it, though it's a bit early for all the self-congratulations (aimed at the electorate as you say niv).

[Marky147]

Donald opening up the shop

[Marky147]

Just been watching today, and thought he was good.

Think their has maybe been a team meeting between press/wh to get it simmered down?

[bookiebasher]

The questions were lame duck.

Must have been hand picked as plenty of juicy questions for the Donald.

Why not bail out their postal service but they can cruise liners  ?

How come  Ivanka and Kushner can flout rules regarding travel .

Why is there such a big gap in the actions of Trump during February
when he seemed to play golf more than anything else .

Loads more for reporters to get their teeth into but it was really piss poor
tonight.

[bookiebasher]

Also that presentation this afternoon giving out gold keys to
truck drivers .

WTF is that all about .

Still haven’t see one genuine bit of empathy from him .

[Marky147]

We already know he's a loon, so if you are expecting any empathy, you're expecting something that is never going to happen

I've not got time to dive that deep, so I'm lucky.

I just rail the pressers, check the google docs for numbers, and then it's back to the grindstone.

[MintTrav]

He is, no doubt, a loon, as you say, but I love his daily presentations. There is so much detail compared to ours. I can't watch Pence though - my boredom threshold goes into overload whenever he starts speaking and I don't take anything in. A good place to hide information you need to release, but don't want people to notice, would be in a Mike Pence speech. I'm usually watching a bit behind, so I often skip through him.

After watching our lot look at the floor and shuffle their feet when asked about an exit strategy, it was interesting to see that the Yanks have theirs ready, or at least the headlines of one, which Birx showed and has now been published - https://www.whitehouse.gov/openingamerica/#criteria. Their motives and ability to manage it may be questionable, but at least they've produced a common-sense model.

[bookiebasher]

If people are asymptomatic , show no signs of virus when having it
and this period is when they are more likely to spread the disease
experts warn us , how can u contain the virus without everyone who
goes back to work getting tested , which ain’t going to happen in USA.

Think it’s a big mistake to open up this early .

Research from the 1918 Spanish flu suggested that the economies
which recovered quicker were the ones who restricted the longest.

Trump is only thinking about himself and the election.

He knows when he is out of office he’s in big trouble and won’t
be protected by his “king” status.

[bookiebasher]

Plus how do you stop people going from a state like New York
to one which has fully opened up .

It’s going to be a mess and thousands more will die and be treated like
guinea pigs with hot spots / clusters springing up in loads of places.

[Doobs]

If people are asymptomatic , show no signs of virus when having it
and this period is when they are more likely to spread the disease
experts warn us , how can u contain the virus without everyone who
goes back to work getting tested , which ain’t going to happen in USA.

Think it’s a big mistake to open up this early .

Research from the 1918 Spanish flu suggested that the economies
which recovered quicker were the ones who restricted the longest.

Trump is only thinking about himself and the election.

He knows when he is out of office he’s in big trouble and won’t
be protected by his “king” status.

I see it this way.

The Governors still have control of shutdown, so it doesn't make as much difference as first appears.

Given his love for just tweeting good news about him, if States open up and it isn't so bad, he can tweet to his supporters that he was trying to save business whilst the crooked Democrats were still urging lockdown.
If it is bad, he forgets today's speech and just tweets stuff about closing flights from China whilst "Crazy" Nancy Pelosi was urging Americans to support Chinatown (not in China Donald).

Win Win;it doesn't really matter what the rest of the World thinks, it is what his supporters think that matters.   

FWIW Some States haven't been so badly affected just because they are at earlier stages of the epidemic.  Hence opening them will mean they experience the same as New York did, albeit on a slower scale because people are more spread out.  I haven't kept up, but there were some Republican Governors who were resisting most parts of shutdown already, so it is likely way too early for them.

[bookiebasher]

He has flip flopped .

From stating he has total authorisation to do what he wants he suddenly says
it’s up to the Governors.

Obviously his advisors have told him it’s a win win situation this way.

I am in absolutely no doubt he didn’t think of this .

[bookiebasher]

Wonder how different the strategy would be if it wasn’t an election year .

[Doobs]

Just found this.  This is the current position of the various States.   Note a couple have barely done anything, though I assume that they are still affected by private businesses shutting, less visitors from other States, lack of flights etc.

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/15/us/states-reopen-coronavirus-trnd/index.html