Thread by @AlexandraErin

Jesus Christ. He just took the country hostage.

No covid relief until next year unless we hand him a second term.

If anybody thinks it's worth taking him up on this, just look at his life-long history of walking away from deals after he gets what he wants out of them.

The thing of it is, if he'd pressured his party to do everything the Democrats are asking and then some, he'd be cruising towards re-election now. This virus could have been the crisis that saved his administration and rewrote his place in the history books.

For all he talks about the media wanting him to fail, they have been DESPERATE for him to "pivot" and "grow into the role". And the Mild Moderate Middle has been just as desperate for something that they can recognize as normalcy.

All he had to do was lead on the virus, just a little bit, and mostly get out of the way, an he'd still have seniors, he'd have a *commanding* lead in white voters, and Joe Biden would be playing desperate catch-up.

He had a chance this year to completely change his image and instead he's saying "Give me the country first and then maybe I'll do something about the virus."

Remember he said after he wins then he'll start "negotiating" a third term? It's not going to get better if he sees that extortion works.

Multiple QTing the first tweet to say "Then we'll just vote him out and get it from the Dems."

Yeah, that's the next year part. His tweet said he'll pass a covid bill after he wins the election, with the implication that he won't pass one if he doesn't win, so we'll have to wait

To make it explicit: we *could*, if he is true to his word (ha!) have a stimulus bill in November if he wins. Otherwise, we're on our own until the Democrats take power.

Of course, that is assuming that he doesn't just hold onto power either way, but... while nothing about the future is set in stone... I imagine he feels a bit less sanguine about his chances there than he did before.

Which isn't to say he won't try.