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Trump is now spreading rank conspiracy theories in the face of coronavirus. This isn't just Trump "flooding the zone with chaos." It's much more pernicious. Trump is trying to dodge accountability for his own response to a public emergency. New piece:
washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…
Trump's new conspiracy theory is that Dems/media are weaponizing coronavirus against him.

This needs to be seen as part of a broader effort to render the opposition and mediating institutions illegitimate.

It's really about dodging accountability:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…
Trump's argument is basically:

"Everything is absolutely fine, and anyone who says otherwise is just out to get me."

Here's what makes this worse: Fox News and pro-Trump media outlets are aggressively feeding this pathology:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…
Indeed, Fox News and pro-Trump media are feeding Trump's worst instincts, helping delegitimize all other sources of information about coronavirus other than Trump and whoever he deigns to anoint as being in good favor.

Good rundown from @MattGertz here:
mediamatters.org/fox-news/fox-t…
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More from @ThePlumLineGS see all

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Greg Sargent
@ThePlumLineGS
Trump's coronavirus response provides a big opening for Democrats to make the case that his megalomania poses a serious threat to the country. In this telling, Trump's towering character flaws actually threaten severe real-world consequences. New piece:
washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…
Trump's constant claim that everything on his watch is stupendously wonderful is a deeply ingrained pathology. We see it on multiple fronts.

It's not "politicizing" coronavirus to point this out. The country *deserves* a real debate about this pathology.

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…
A note on Donnie Jr's depraved claim that Democrats want "millions" to die of coronavirus to hurt Trump.

Junior actually revealed his instinct towards seeing the prospect of US deaths mainly through the prism of how they would impact his dad politically.

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…
Read 3 tweets
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Greg Sargent
@ThePlumLineGS
In the face of a threat like coronavirus, we count on public officials for neutral, unpoliticized information. But Trump has corrupted everything with his use of government to validate lies and his nonstop war on neutrality. That's combustible. New piece:
washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…
Let's try to appreciate how deeply insane this is.

There is a big public health threat looming. But Trump is raging over the *market reaction* to it. And he's persuaded himself that warnings about this public threat from *his own officials* are to blame:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…
Even worse, Trump is claiming the media is *deliberately* hyping coronavirus to panic the markets.

The problem here isn't just Trump's paranoia. It's that he's trying to eradicate neutrality itself. And he's corrupting everything in sight to do so:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…
Read 4 tweets
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Greg Sargent
@ThePlumLineGS
1) Some Dems are in a panic about @BernieSanders's interview on "60 Minutes." He defended praise of Castro and brushed off questions about the cost of his agenda.

I talked to Sanders' pollster at length about all the electability concerns being raised:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…
@BernieSanders 2) A few highlights from my interview with Sanders' pollster.

The Sanders campaign is more focused than you might expect on the idea that the election will be a referendum on Trump -- and that Trump will help unify the party, even w/ Sanders at the top:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…
@BernieSanders 3) I asked Sanders' pollster whether the fact that the 2018 win was driven by a large shift in suburban and college educated white voters weighs on their thinking.

Does the campaign see the need to hold those gains? Interesting answers:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…
Read 6 tweets

Related threads

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Caroline Orr
@RVAwonk
The CDC has apparently failed to release crucial info about #coronavirus that doctors say could help save the lives of others diagnosed with #COVID19.
cnn.com/2020/03/01/hea…
The CDC has detailed information on a number of US patients who have recovered from #coronavirus (often provided to them by local health dept's), but they've only shared info about one patient. That info could be used by doctors to help diagnose and treat other patients.
It appears that the information on US #coronavirus patients is going to come out in the near future (in medical journals). But given the urgency, doctors say the CDC needs to release it now.

One top doctor called the lack of information-sharing "inexplicable and inappropriate."
Read 6 tweets
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Venture Capital
@kelly2277
🦠#coronavirus 🦠 There’s much more going on in China than is being reported. This is absolutely terrifying. There are 100’s of videos made by citizen witnesses. Please watch this video‼️
🦠 #coronavirus 🦠Here’s another collection of videos from China. Must see the situation on the ground to fully understand 👇
#coronavirus #Wuhan
Read 4 tweets
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EVent Horizon
@evdefender
Think someone is lying to you?

First check to see if they bothered to add any variability whatsoever in the model they are using to supposedly report actual numbers from a complex system.

#coronavirus
The mortality rate they want you to report is the - 0 day rate: Today's Confirmed Death total minus Today's Confirmed Case total.

This has not varied outside of 1/10th of 1% in the last 5 prints.

#coronavirus
But even a minor adjustment of a few days in the mortality rate paints an entirely different picture

#coronavirus

Read 278 tweets
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Eric Feigl-Ding
@DrEricDing
“Where did the 🦠 come from?” is one of the most asked questions. First, I don’t like unsupported conspiracy theories, but it’s a lingering question. @sciencemagazine examined this based on Lancet article. Nobody knows, but seafood market isn’t whole story sciencemag.org/news/2020/01/w…
2. Again, no outright conspiracy theories please. Here is another explanation: The new #coronavirus is an RNA virus—that is, viruses that have RNA as their genetic material rather than DNA—which have a “high mutation rate,” which allows it to “change properties very quickly.”
3. The RNA sequences of the #coronavirus isolated from 6 patients from the same household are different from each other (Lancet), sign of the virus evolving. This may not be so good to the ear; it suggests the difficulty of containing this virus”. (from m.theepochtimes.com/china-underrep…)
Read 28 tweets
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TheSharpEdge
@TheSharpEdge1
New #QAnon Thread

8/1/18

To Kill A Mockingbird

#QArmy #MAGA #WWG1WGA #Trump #potus #PatriotsFight #FakeNews #FakeNewsMedia
#WednesdayWisdom @realDonaldTrump @POTUS
New #QAnon 1785.

Twitter [today] releases ban?
Was Twitter told by MSN to demonstrate impact?
Do you think they got the [4am] memo?
All for a conspiracy?
Enjoy the show.

#QArmy #MAGA #WWG1WGA #Trump #POTUS #FakeNews #FakeNewsMedia #WednesdayWisdom @realDonaldTrump
First 3 links to #QAnon post 1785.

washingtonpost.com/news/morning-m…

theguardian.com/technology/201…

fastcompany.com/90212200/qanon…
Read 29 tweets

Trending hashtags

#Trump #fakenews #WuhanVirus #COVID #WuhanFlu #Trump2020 #GOPTraitors #GOPComplicitTraitors #Ukraine #Oil #Dallas #TrumpRallyTexas #Idlib #TurksinIran #SaveTheChildren #NATO #MAGA #RacistInChief #ImpeachTrumpNow #KAG2020 #HOAX #Annonymous #Veterans #DearPresidentTrump #LockThemUp

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