Trump, Mt. Rushmore And Coronavirus

Jeff Darcy, Cleveland Plain Dealer

Instead of a unifying message on the eve of the Fourth (who are we kidding), the lying divider- in- chief laid into his fire- up- the- racist- yahoos campaign strategy at Mt. Rushmore last night: 

At the foot of Mount Rushmore’s granite monument to his presidential forebears, President Trump on Friday delivered a dark speech ahead of Independence Day in which he sought to exploit the nation’s racial and social divisions and rally supporters around a law-and-order message that has become a cornerstone of his reelection campaign.

Trump focused most of his address before a crowd of several thousand in South Dakota on what he described as a grave threat to the nation from liberals and angry mobs — a “left-wing cultural revolution” that aims to rewrite U.S. history and erase its heritage amid the racial justice protests that have roiled cities for weeks. (our emphasis)

There's more, but we don't want to amplify the overheated,  noxious, white nationalist bullshit.  While we're awaiting analysis from Van Jones as to whether he became presidential last night, here's conservative Tom Nichols' reaction:

Wow, this speech is so bad that Fox just cut in on it to say that it is “a tough law and order speech”

— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) July 4, 2020

Of course, there was no social distancing and precious few masks were worn at the potential super- spreader event. The orange shitgibbon only mentioned in passing the coronavirus pandemic now sweeping through much of the country. It's part of his regime's new social Darwinist "strategy" that's emerging:

After several months of mixed messages on the coronavirus pandemic, the White House is settling on a new one: Learn to live with it.

Administration officials are planning to intensify what they hope is a sharper, and less conflicting, message of the pandemic next week, according to senior administration officials, after struggling to offer clear directives amid a crippling surge in cases across the country. On Thursday, the United States reported more than 55,000 new cases of coronavirus and infection rates were hitting new records in multiple states.

At the crux of the message, officials said, is a recognition by the White House that the virus is not going anywhere any time soon — and will be around through the November election.

As a result, President Donald Trump's top advisers plan to argue, the country must figure out how to press forward despite it. Therapeutic drugs will be showcased as a key component for doing that and the White House will increasingly emphasize the relatively low risk most Americans have of dying from the virus, officials said.  (our emphasis)

Aside from the obvious moral depravity of just letting the pandemic wash over the country you're supposed to be protecting, it's going to dig the orange shitgibbon into an even deeper hole with a normally Republican constituency, the over- 65 crowd:

#National @MonmouthPoll, By Age

18-34:
Biden 54% (+19)
Trump 35%
.
35-49:
Biden 54% (+14)
Trump 40%
.
50-64:
Biden 49% (+5)
Trump 44%
.
65+:
Biden 59% (+21)
Trump 38% https://t.co/8GbiIfucl4

— Political Polls (@Politics_Polls) July 3, 2020

Never thought we'd see the day when a Democrat polled better among 65+ than among 18-34.  But when the message is, "You need to sacrifice for the good of the economy and my re-election, gramps and grandma," that's not going to go over too well. Goodbye Florida and Arizona!

BONUS:  The wages of stupidity (she was at Trump's Tulsa mask- free mini- rally) --

Kimberly Guilfoyle, Donald Trump Jr.'s girlfriend, tests positive for coronavirus https://t.co/4kWB9CASML

— John Santucci (@Santucci) July 4, 2020

BONUS II: Speaking of defacing memorials, the malignant narcissist has delusions of grandeur:

AP photo

BONUS III:   A Republican Mt. Rushmore, comprising Trump, Herbert Hoover, George W. Bush and Richard Nixon (Vanity Fair):