Thread by @ArchibaldHeath1

1/ The common rebuttal to the theory that COVID hysteria is about getting Trump is that the whole world is doing it, therefore it can't just be about the American election. I think there are multiple levels of rebuttals to that.

https://twitter.com/ShidelerK/status/1318546657181650948

2/ The United States of America is the most powerful country in the world, with the most capable military, the broadest economic influence, and the US dollar is the world reserve currency, the one remaining settlement from Bretton Woods.

3/ From 1988 until 2016, American presidents have been no less than mildly favorable to increased globalization and international/supranational governance that overrides the choices of individual states.

4/ Trump, by contrast, has been more skeptical of such structures, as per the slogan "America First." And indeed, his administration has leaned towards an independent course for the USA, working bilaterally with other states rather than through collective structures.

5/ This is a threat to those who prefer collective action. I neither subscribe to nor endorse any broad conspiracy theories of the NWO type; I merely notice that there are people who prefer one-world/supranational governance to independent states.

6/ If the USA can be brought to heel, it is a good thing under that calculus, and the quickest way to do so is to attack Trump. Given his particular faults, COVID is a good vector.

7/ His natural optimism looks unserious when juxtaposed with predictions of doom and destruction couched in the language of science, and since in this area he knows his limitations he will be inclined to defer to expert opinion.

8/ I think he recognized how he was being manipulated sometime in April. He did not immediately know how to respond, but appointing Dr. Atlas to his task force in July signaled that he'd come up with a way.

9/ I will not say that the increased emphasis on lockdowns in the rest of the Anglosphere (Ireland/UK specifically) in the last few months is return fire, but if I wanted to attempt to isolate a "misbehaving" country that's what I'd do.

10/ @threadreaderapp unroll