TRUMP TWISTS HISTORY

[JackRT]

Trump twists history of Churchill and FDR to cover up pandemic denialism - CNNPolitics

At his Michigan rally, Trump jumped on the metaphor, comparing himself to the wartime prime minister. "We have to be calm. We don't want to be crazed lunatics. ... When Hitler was bombing London, Churchill, a great leader, would oftentimes go to a roof in London and speak. And he always spoke with calmness," Trump said, mangling the history of Churchill's late night trips to view the raids with his separate radio addresses to the British people.

The comparison doesn't hold up since Churchill left his country in no doubt of the challenge ahead when he became prime minister in 1940, warning of an "ordeal of the most grievous kind" and adding, "We have before us many, many long months of struggle and suffering." Trump never came close to a similar steeling of national resolve at the start of the pandemic. His choice to look away from the threat and hope it would just pass actually has more in common with another British Prime Minister of the era, Neville Chamberlain, who elected not to confront the rising Nazi menace in 1938 in appeasement policies that many historians believe squandered a chance to stop Adolf Hitler before he reached a point of maximum danger.

Winston Churchill did not minimize the threat for the sake of peace and calm but took his place as a great leader by telling his people the simple truth. Following the disaster of Dunkirk he spoke to the British people:

Even though large tracts of Europe and many old and famous States have fallen or may fall into the grip of the Gestapo and all the odious apparatus of Nazi rule, we shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender, and if, which I do not for a moment believe, this island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God's good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old.

 

[Paulos23]

Churchill told it like it was and asked his country to be strong and then acted. Trump lied and dithered.

 

[childeye 2]

There are things Trump said at the time that indicated he was worried about the stock market and the economy.

There was no good reason to misinform people by implying it was no different than the flu. In fact, we could see from what was happening in other countries, that this was not the case.

What still stands as the largest mistake is that the federal government never implemented the immediate testing, tracking and isolating of the contagion, which is what the situation required. They just let it spread.

 

[durangodawood]

Its not surprising that Donald gets it exactly wrong: Churchill spared the British none of the difficult content of their situation in his speeches.

Comparing himself to Churchill is offensive to the memory of Churchill... and should be to anyone listening whos expected to lap it up uncritically. I imagine lots of Trump people nodded and cheered tho. Did they?

 

[durangodawood]

Also listen to the panic Trump injects into any one of his red-meat topics like the immigrant "caravan". Total panic.

 

[HannahT]

(Shrugs) I have seen panic start in when the first case hit our shores, and news media reported on it. We heard panic in the reporters questions. People tend not to make the best decisions when they panic.

People worried when they saw what was happening in Wuhan, and started to be more so once we got our first case. Worried is a good thing, because you tend to make better decisions compared to panic.

I remember - like many others no doubt - being glued to the TV each day during the briefings. It wasn't what I can non stressful, unimportant, and let's not worry about this moments. They were pretty frank at times, and so was Trump many times as well. The whole country was scared to death, and now we are saying he needed to create panic? There was enough anxiety. Are we saying needed to stir the pot a bit more at the time, because that would have been helpful?

I can't believe Bob Woodward would have put off sounding the alarm bells, and NOT allowing the population to know something important at the time so he didn't mess up his book deal deadline.

 

[Paulos23]

(Shrugs) I have seen panic start in when the first case hit our shores, and news media reported on it. We heard panic in the reporters questions. People tend not to make the best decisions when they panic.

People worried when they saw what was happening in Wuhan, and started to be more so once we got our first case. Worried is a good thing, because you tend to make better decisions compared to panic.

I remember - like many others no doubt - being glued to the TV each day during the briefings. It wasn't what I can non stressful, unimportant, and let's not worry about this moments. They were pretty frank at times, and so was Trump many times as well. The whole country was scared to death, and now we are saying he needed to create panic? There was enough anxiety. Are we saying needed to stir the pot a bit more at the time, because that would have been helpful?

I can't believe Bob Woodward would have put off sounding the alarm bells, and NOT allowing the population to know something important at the time so he didn't mess up his book deal deadline.

He didn't need to create panic, but it would have helped if he was frank, followed the advice of the experts, and passed that information on, and was a good example.

Instead, he said it would go away quickly and did nothing for a long time.

 

[essentialsaltes]

obligatory

 

[GoldenBoy89]

(Shrugs) I have seen panic start in when the first case hit our shores, and news media reported on it. We heard panic in the reporters questions. People tend not to make the best decisions when they panic.

People worried when they saw what was happening in Wuhan, and started to be more so once we got our first case. Worried is a good thing, because you tend to make better decisions compared to panic.

I remember - like many others no doubt - being glued to the TV each day during the briefings. It wasn't what I can non stressful, unimportant, and let's not worry about this moments. They were pretty frank at times, and so was Trump many times as well. The whole country was scared to death, and now we are saying he needed to create panic? There was enough anxiety. Are we saying needed to stir the pot a bit more at the time, because that would have been helpful?

Do you remember this gem?

Reporter: “What do you say to Americans who are watching you right now who are scared?”

Trump: “I say that you’re a terrible reporter. That’s what I say. I think that’s a very nasty question and I think it’s a very bad signal you’re putting out to the American people.”

That’s how this president thought to calm a scared nation. No one is saying he needed to create panic. We needed the president to be forthright with the American people. It’s frankly insulting to say the American people couldn’t handle hearing the reality of the situation without panicking.

I can't believe Bob Woodward would have put off sounding the alarm bells, and NOT allowing the population to know something important at the time so he didn't mess up his book deal deadline.

Who was he supposed to bring this information to, the Queen of England? You somehow have a problem with Bob Woodward not sounding the alarms but are just fine with the President of the United States withholding crucial information from the American people about an ongoing national crisis.

 

[durangodawood]

Also listen to the panic Trump injects into any one of his red-meat topics like the immigrant "caravan". Total panic.

So obviously hes completely lying about his rationale for hiding the real facts of the pandemic.

He doesnt hesitate to sow panic when it suits his own political prospects.

 

[MIDutch]

There are things Trump said at the time that indicated he was worried about the stock market and the economy.

In trump world, the stock the economy, and how it impacts his bottom line, ALWAYS trump the importance of human lives.

 

[childeye 2]

In trump world, the stock the economy, and how it impacts his bottom line, ALWAYS trump the importance of human lives.

It looks that way with much of his policy. What's bad is that if Trump would have just done what is supposed to be done, it would have been so much better for the stock market, the economy, and the American people as a whole, including himself.

It's more likely that Trump is the one who panicked, attempted to control the messaging, and left it to the governors to deal with. That route probably costed us more than ten trillion dollars, weakened the economy drastically, and who knows how many lives.

 

[The IbanezerScrooge]

obligatory

\m/

Up the irons!

 

[childeye 2]

Its not surprising that Donald gets it exactly wrong: Churchill spared the British none of the difficult content of their situation in his speeches.

Comparing himself to Churchill is offensive to the memory of Churchill... and should be to anyone listening whos expected to lap it up uncritically. I imagine lots of Trump people nodded and cheered tho. Did they?

Don't let the Trump supporter get you down. I know it's hard to resist, but I'm willing to bet that you would feel more hopeful if you tempered your thought by thinking that at least some of them didn't cheer.

 

[JackRT]

Don't let the Trump supporter get you down. I know it's hard to resist, but I'm willing to bet that you would feel more hopeful if you tempered your thought by thinking that at least some of them didn't cheer.

Winston Churchill, whose mother was an American, also said: "The Americans will always do the right thing ---- after all other possibilities have been tried and found wanting".

We just have to wait patiently.

 

[HannahT]

Do you remember this gem?

Reporter: “What do you say to Americans who are watching you right now who are scared?”

Trump: “I say that you’re a terrible reporter. That’s what I say. I think that’s a very nasty question and I think it’s a very bad signal you’re putting out to the American people.”

That’s how this president thought to calm a scared nation. No one is saying he needed to create panic. We needed the president to be forthright with the American people. It’s frankly insulting to say the American people couldn’t handle hearing the reality of the situation without panicking.

I remember this. They were talking about possible treatments, etc. Not just Trump, but the scientists behind him. They spoke about this hoping to show how they were looking for answers. Which is what the country needed right then.

It's like this reporter either came into the room late and missed that part of the discussion, or wasn't listening to the discussion about this not just Trump but others.

I mean they already replied to what they would say to people watching whom are scared. It was a stupid question. If he had questions about the different approaches that they were spoken about? Have at it. Ask. You don't pretend to ignore the discussion like it didn't happen.

Personally? Trump could have handled it better, but the reporter wasn't very good either.

Who was he supposed to bring this information to, the Queen of England? You somehow have a problem with Bob Woodward not sounding the alarms but are just fine with the President of the United States withholding crucial information from the American people about an ongoing national crisis.

You missed my point. Woodward didn't bring up any crucial information that Trump hadn't mentioned in a briefing before. It was towards the end of March, and Trump pretty much said the same thing about not wanting to help bring panic using a similar justification. It got the same reaction as we are getting today from the Woodward recording. How he is downplaying the virus. How is this 'crucial information'? It's not.

That's why Woodward - who recorded this some time back - didn't bring it forth earlier. Trump already brought it up himself in a public briefing. Heck, the media jumped on it then - and other comments he made that said something similar.

People are acting like they never heard such a thing. They have. This isn't new news.

 

[childeye 2]

Winston Churchill, whose mother was an American, also said: "The Americans will always do the right thing ---- after all other possibilities have been tried and found wanting".

We just have to wait patiently.

I can appreciate that. America did do the right thing eventually. I need to learn how Jesus slept on that boat while the storm was raging.

 

[GoldenBoy89]

I remember this. They were talking about possible treatments, etc. Not just Trump, but the scientists behind him. They spoke about this hoping to show how they were looking for answers. Which is what the country needed right then.

It's like this reporter either came into the room late and missed that part of the discussion, or wasn't listening to the discussion about this not just Trump but others.

I mean they already replied to what they would say to people watching whom are scared. It was a stupid question. If he had questions about the different approaches that they were spoken about? Have at it. Ask. You don't pretend to ignore the discussion like it didn't happen.

Personally? Trump could have handled it better, but the reporter wasn't very good either.

"You're a terrible reporter!" That was his answer to a scared nation.

You think those are the appropriate words of comfort from a national leader during a crisis? It is literally the most softball question he could have gotten all year and he failed miserably. The same question was asked of Pence just a short while later and he somehow had no problem showing empathy and leadership. Trump's sociopathy is what prevents him from being able to answer that question like a normal human being would so, I guess that is the best answer we should expect from him. It follows the very same theme of his much later response of "it is what it is" when asked about the 1000+ deaths a day from COVID in his disastrous Axios interview back in August.

You missed my point. Woodward didn't bring up any crucial information that Trump hadn't mentioned in a briefing before. It was towards the end of March, and Trump pretty much said the same thing about not wanting to help bring panic using a similar justification. It got the same reaction as we are getting today from the Woodward recording. How he is downplaying the virus. How is this 'crucial information'? It's not.

That's why Woodward - who recorded this some time back - didn't bring it forth earlier. Trump already brought it up himself in a public briefing. Heck, the media jumped on it then - and other comments he made that said something similar.

People are acting like they never heard such a thing. They have. This isn't new news.

No I got your point. The president didn't need to share with us just how serious he knew the virus to be from early on in January while his public statements in the months following show we "had it all under control, there was nothing to worry about, it's just gonna disappear one day."

 

[FireDragon76]

Trump is a liar and a deceiver and has no business comparing himself to Winston Churchill.

 

[cow451]

(Shrugs) I have seen panic start in when the first case hit our shores, and news media reported on it. We heard panic in the reporters questions. People tend not to make the best decisions when they panic.

People worried when they saw what was happening in Wuhan, and started to be more so once we got our first case. Worried is a good thing, because you tend to make better decisions compared to panic.

I remember - like many others no doubt - being glued to the TV each day during the briefings. It wasn't what I can non stressful, unimportant, and let's not worry about this moments. They were pretty frank at times, and so was Trump many times as well. The whole country was scared to death, and now we are saying he needed to create panic? There was enough anxiety. Are we saying needed to stir the pot a bit more at the time, because that would have been helpful?

I can't believe Bob Woodward would have put off sounding the alarm bells, and NOT allowing the population to know something important at the time so he didn't mess up his book deal deadline.

And Bob Woodward was supposedly powerful enough to take over the job of the President.... give me a flippin’ break. Hold Trump accountable for at least one time.