In case you slept through Monday, here’s a recap of how Trump seized every opportunity to make the deadliest pandemic in living memory even worse:
Trump announced he had been taking hydroxychloroquine for a couple of weeks. But casually, “as if it was a baby aspirin.”
Responsible people warned that many of his followers may now “move heaven and earth to get their hands on the drug and start taking it themselves.”
Others cast doubt that he was actually taking it.
Fox News host Neil Cavuto was so alarmed that he warned his audience not to take it. Because it kills people.
Journalists asked for clarification from the White House doctor as to how this insanity could possibly be happening.
The White House doctor issued a statement:
People immediately noticed that the statement was “carefully worded.” It didn’t admit that the doctor had actually prescribed the drug. The statement also didn’t mention either of the other two substances Trump claimed to be taking in combination with “hydroxy” — zinc and erythromycin.
Articles reminded us of the additional, non-fatal side effects of hydroxychloroquine — the drug Trump claimed he was now popping daily — including “hallucinations” and “severe mental changes.”
Nancy Pelosi told Anderson Cooper that Trump really shouldn’t be taking the drug because he’s “morbidly obese.” #MorbidlyObese became the top trend on Twitter.
Trump went on a Twitter rampage against Neil Cavuto, ending with a fond remembrance of how much better Fox News used to be when it was run by his good friend and fellow sex predator Roger Ailes. Along the way, Trump somehow managed to retweet the noted “resistance” account, The Hoarse Whisperer:
Meanwhile, the death toll from the coronavirus rose above 92,000. More than 36.5 million remained unemployed. And, just when things couldn’t possibly get worse, Trump threatened to permanently pull America out of the W.H.O. O.M.F.G.
Earlier on Monday, Bill Barr had put a damper on low-info viewers’ hopes that the biggest (non) crime in history — ObamaGate! — would result in prosecutions of Obama or Biden. ObamaGate!, it seems, was more than just a distraction from Trump’s lethal coronavirus failures. ObamaGate! also served as this year’s “migrant caravan” — a Trump and Fox News invention to rally the base ahead of last week’s special elections in California and Wisconsin.
And it worked. Republicans won both seats.
Today, Tuesday, we may find out that Trump’s “hydroxy” claim was just him being sarcastic. If so, he’s humiliated the White House doctor. Again.
Tuesday may also give us a clearer sense if Trump and Fox News are truly putting ObamaGate! on mid-season hiatus until they need to stir up some fake outrage again.
But as a new day begins, we know two things for sure: One, Trump will keep failing in every meaningful way. Two, he’ll continue doing all he can to distract the media and the country from the death and economic pain he has created.
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