7/21/20: Tuesday afternoon Mr. Blogger listened to an
entire press briefing delivered by Mr. Trump. Mr. Blogger rarely makes it
through these talks because the president’s propensity for lying and grating style
of speech are more than he can stand. Still, Mr. Blogger wanted to see who
would be there and hear what Trump would have to say about masks.
Right away, you noticed, none
of the health officials who used to flank him during such extravaganzas were
present. The only disease “expert” in evidence was White House Press Secretary “Birther”
McEnany.
 |
Trump and Maxwell in happier days. |
____________________
“I wish her well, frankly.
I’ve met her numerous times over the years, especially since I lived in Palm
Beach.”
President Trump
____________________
Most of the “briefing”
involved Trump reading a statement chock full of cherry-picked facts and
figures. His message boiled down to this:
First,
his administration was doing a fantastic job in this crisis; but it
would “probably unfortunately get worse before it gets better.”
Second,
lots of countries were doing worse than we were. So, if you thought about it
that way, Trump was doing great!
– and, astonishingly –
He
said he wished Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged accomplice in a
child sex trafficking ring, well!
Let’s start with that stunning
comment. After the president finished prepared remarks, he took questions.
A reporter wondered if he had
any thoughts on Maxwell’s arrest. She had been hiding out on a farm in New
Hampshire (which she purchased secretly for $1 million in cash this past spring)
until the F.B.I. tracked her down and arrested her July 2. She had disguised the
fact she was the purchaser and hired ex-British military for protection, rarely leaving the property
herself. Maxwell has tens of millions stashed in bank accounts around the globe,
so she could afford protection. That assumes you don’t mind guarding a woman
accused of molesting young girls and making it easier for Epstein and an ever-changing
array of perverted high rollers to bed teenagers as young as 14.
Now that Maxwell has been
apprehended, even her high-priced legal team can’t spring her from jail. During
a bail hearing, two alleged victims spoke out. One told the court that “without
Ghislaine, Jeffrey [Epstein] could not have done what he did.” A second warned
that Maxwell was herself “a sexual predator.” Maxwell’s lawyer offered to post a $5 million bond. He said his client
wasn’t the “monster” portrayed in the news. And she was suffering, having gone
72 hours without a shower while in custody!
The judge was unmoved by her
bathing problems, and, deeming her a serious flight risk, ordered her remanded
to custody. Maxwell faces up to 35 years in prison and a few thousand years in
hell (if there is a hell).
When the reporter asked Trump
about Maxwell, you would never have expected the answer he supplied. He didn’t
mention the alleged victims, and there were reportedly scores.
Many suffered sustained abuse.
“I wish her well, frankly,”
Trump replied. “I’ve met her numerous times over the years, especially since I
lived in Palm Beach, and I guess they [Epstein and Maxwell] lived in Palm
Beach.”
“I wish her well,” he said
again, and then moved to the next question.
*
MOST OF THE BRIEFING was
devoted to Trump trying to make Trump sound like less of a chump. He said
(after months of saying the opposite) that he really liked masks. He’d worn a
mask “many times,” he claimed. He was all in on social distancing. No one was a
bigger fan of social distancing than him. He always tried to distance, himself,
and hoped his MAGA fans did too.
Trump was lying. In March he had
labeled himself a “wartime president,” but since then had been ordering his
troops to charge up the wrong hills. He was no advocate for masks. As late as
Memorial Day, he mocked Joe Biden for wearing one. Earlier this month, his fans crammed together at Mt.
Rushmore to watch fireworks and spray tiny droplets on each other when they
talked.
PICTURES HERE OF TRUMP FANS NOT
DISTANCING….
His bedrock principle is to deceive rather than
admit mistake.
As expected, Trump twisted
facts out of all resemblance to reality. He said we were testing more than any
other nation on earth. That was the reason we had so many cases. He was right
when he said we had done fifty million tests. He was wrong when he said, “India
was next, with twelve million,” then “seven, six, and four” for the third,
fourth and fifth nations doing the most.
I knew he was wrong because I’m
not a lazy ignoramus. I check facts. For Trump, his bedrock principle is to
deceive rather than to admit mistake. According to Worldometers, the U.S. has conducted 49,876,031 coronavirus tests.
So, he got that right!
India has done 14.4 million
tests. I think that number was posted right before Trump gave his briefing – so
not actually wrong.
Russia was second, however, with
25.4 million tests. The United Kingdom was fourth with 13.6 million. Germany
had done 6.9 million tests, so call that the “seven” in the president’s telling.
Spain and Italy had both done more than six million. So, the “four” in Trump’s listing
was nonsense.
You can’t get around certain bedrock
truths, no matter how devious you are. That means, if you’re Trump, or
his disingenuous press secretary, you have to hope supporters don’t check out what
you say. Germany hasn’t tested as much as we have, even adjusted for population.
But that’s because they
haven’t needed to.
They bent the curve long ago.
Germany has 110 deaths per million in population. We have 438.
Anyone who tries to tell you
our mortality rate is the best, or even one of the best, is lying, or delusional.
*
NEW CASES of COVID-19 for the
United States, on July 21:
63,028.
