Given that major-media reporting already has Trump repeatedly asking aides why COVID-19 can't be allowed to "wash over" America, when do we start having a national conversation about the possibility Trump thinks more COVID-19 will depress turnout in November and help him?
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I agree that at any other point in American history, it would've been unthinkable to try to start a national conversation about the possibility that the President of the United States is unconcerned about Americans deaths. These aren't normal times. This isn't a normal POTUS. 1/
The Trump White House is fighting to *block* money for COVID-19 testing. The Trump White House is fighting to *block* money for COVID-19 contract tracing. The Trump White House is fighting to *block* medical experts from speaking to the media or Congress on almost every topic. 2/
Trump refuses to say 3 words that he knows—has been told by everyone around him—would save tens or hundreds of thousands of lives: "wear a mask." And the only explanation for this we've been given is, "He's trying to protect his political standing." That no longer makes sense. 3/
Trump is trailing badly in the polls. He's already worn a mask in public. He can see that refusing to fight the pandemic is hurting his political standing. So what explanation can there be for him continuing to take actions that make the pandemic worse and more Americans sick? 4/
Today the NYT revealed that Biden loses almost all his lead on Trump—it goes from 10 to 15 points to within the margin of error—if the pandemic remains really bad in November. Trump will of course have seen this poll as well. And we know re-election is all that motivates him. 5/
John Bolton made clear—in exhaustive detail in his book—that every decision Trump makes on policy is driven by his re-election campaign. It's by now clear to Trump from the polling that he has a better chance of winning in November if people are afraid to vote due to COVID-19. 6/
We also know from major-media reporting that Trump and the Republicans are engaged in a multimillion-dollar legal, political and PR effort to attack mail-in voting across the country—seemingly confirming that Trump's chief re-election strategy now is reducing November turnout. /7
For most of the pandemic, media avoided contemplating the impossible: that Trump genuinely has no interest in stopping the pandemic, is unaffected by even prospective death tolls in the millions, and is doing no more than triangulating a strategy based on his re-election odds. /8
Now that we know Trump's philosophy of governing (reelection at any cost), strategy for reelection (reduce turnout), and what polls he has in hand tell him about how to reduce turnout (let COVID-19 "wash over" America as he always wanted), America must discuss the unthinkable. /9
More importantly, American media must discuss the unthinkable: the possibility that what was perceived as an "incompetent" pandemic response is now official government policy because it will sicken, scare, and kill enough Americans to make this a toss-up election in November. /10
I understand that, if we didn't have the polling we have, we would assume that a worsening pandemic hurts Trump's chances. And it *would* have—*if* every American could vote. But remember that Trump benefitting from a worsening pandemic is predicated on reduced voter turnout. 11/
I worry Americans won't see the new polling that says that Trump will do *better* the worse the pandemic is because a worsening pandemic (coupled with increasingly difficult mail-in balloting, thanks to Republicans) *reduces turnout* just enough for Trump to be competitive. 12/
I also worry too few Americans have read online or in books about Trump's indifference to human life, whether US soldiers stationed in Iraq who got TBIs after the Soleimani farce, US soldiers in Afghanistan targeted by Putin, or Kurdish allies targeted by Trump's pal Erdogan. 13/
Even many who detest Trump don't think he's indifferent to human life. But I need to say this as clearly as possibly, as someone who wrote a 2,500-page trilogy on Trump using years of research: he's indifferent to human life. You *must* understand and accept this hard truth. 14/
I'd urge journalists across the country to consider how your coverage of Trump or understanding of his actions would change if you accepted that he now knows a worsening pandemic may be his only hope of re-election. It's a counter-intuitive proposition the data now supports. /end
THE DATA/
