Trump Reveals Self-Delusion Over COVID Statistics in Mind-Blowing Argument With Reporter

Nobody gives him credit for the millions of Americans who didn't die!

Don’t his handlers tell him to never get in an argument with someone with a functioning brain?

Why is it that no American reporter deals with him like this?

Wasn't disrespectful, wasn't condescending, merely pointed out that every thing he said was flat out wrong.

[post redacted because independent.co.uk thinks that links to their ridiculous rag are a bad thing. Somebody might want to tell them how the internet works. Or not. We don't really care. They do suck though. Our advice is that you should not click on the link and whatever you do, don't read their truly terrible articles.]

He really got agitated when the reporter counters him with so many other facts and won't give into the "presidential" point of view. Trump is still harping on "we have more cases because the US is testing more".

The stable genius is such an idiot that he can't understand simple statistics, even when explained clearly by the reporter. His team making the simplistic, but nicely colored, charts, is doing a serious disservice even to this ignoramus, in not presenting the information correctly.

Trump looked and sounded like more of a fool than usual.

At least he fought it out. A foreign reporter challenged W like that once and he just shut down. Bubble victims.

That this idiot even has a chance of reelection shows that America is a lost cause. Hopefully we’ll be rid of him, but we’ll only be kicking the can down the road. This country’s white racist voters are bound and determined to burn it to the ground.

Nobody? Ok, I’ll say it:

That reporter is fucking hawt!

Jonathan Swan tried but you really can't argue with stupid.

If only Trump had brought his Sharpie.

There's no doubt that Trump is a simple lying imbecile but watching that - I also wonder how much of the information fed to him by his staff/minders is just spun information and pure bullshit to keep him happy which makes him look even more stupid and out of touch?

Anyway, watching that I had to think to myself - is this real? Is that [bold]really[/bold] the President of the United States?

Jonathan Swan is a sycophant.

Yeah r12, he sure does suck up to Trump doesn't he?

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

Not as bad as David Muir, r12.

“Obama left the cupboard bare, that’s why we have no tests.”

David: Moving on....

R14, the link you provided was merely a snippet of the interview. What did Piers say?

[quote]Trump is still harping on "we have more cases because the US is testing more".

R5, we STILL have the same pack of DL trolls who repeat that mantra in every Coronavirus-related thread.

Usually, they act like they are SO TIRED of explaining that "fact" to us feeble-minded nobodies.

My god it’s therapeutic seeing someone calling this clown out on his BS as he scrambles with his kiddy info-graphs like a flustered toddler in class

I love the word picture r18 painted.

Lmao.

R17, I wish someone would call him out on that logic at a presser.

Cuomo does, but I’m talking about where trump would have to defend it and explain why he thinks that is.

We're the best! We have the most cases! No one has more cases than US! We're #1 in cases! MAGA!

In another part of the interview Trump was asked about not paying respects to John Lewis. Trump responded, "He didn't attend my inauguration or come to my State of the Union Address". Then a minute later he said it again

he's a dumb cunt

I saw that r22. Talk about toxic narcissism. Even by 3rd grade kids have a grasp on the fact that it's not always about "me".

Hardly, R13 (or should I call you Jonathan?)

That enormous access you see on display is due to Swan leaving just enough ambiguity so that both sides can argue about who got the better of who. It's Swan's MO from the start.

[quote] We're the best! We have the most cases! No one has more cases than US! We're #1 in cases! MAGA!

For R16 - here is Morgan's article.

In every great American crisis, there is a moment where the whole world can see the true character of a President.

For George W. Bush it came when he was photographed staring down from the luxurious comfort of Air Force One on the wreckage wrought by Hurricane Katrina, after his government's woefully inadequate federal response. The picture made him look detached and uncaring, and worst of all, a weak and ineffectual leader. He never recovered from it.

For Bill Clinton, it came with his infamous 'I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Ms Lewinsky' declaration. When it turned out he had indeed had multiple sexual relations with that woman, his reputation was badly damaged.

Conversely, for John F. Kennedy, you could point to his rousing 1962 speech challenging America to go to the moon, instilling in Americans a spirit of unlimited optimism, as the moment when he sparked a deep abiding popularity that lasts to this day.

Similarly, for Ronald Reagan, his audacious 'Mr Gorbachev, tear down this wall!' command at Berlin's Brandenburg Gate to the leader of the Soviet Union, cemented his place in history.

For President Donald J. Trump, there have been many grim moments during his catastrophic handling of the coronavirus pandemic that may end up defining his presidency.

But last night, during an extraordinary, toe-curling HBO interview with AXIOS's Jonathan Swan, he exposed just why the US has become a horrifyingly bad template for how NOT to combat Covid-19.

In an attempt to defend his indefensible record, and specifically why the US has one of the worst death rates in the world, Trump suddenly produced a collection of graphics.

'Look at some of these charts,' he said. 'This one, right here, the United States is lowest…in numerous categories…lower than the world.'

'In what?' said an incredulous Swan.

'Take a look,' said Trump, handing the chart over.

Swan, a very good and well-prepared journalist, studied the chart quickly and forensically.

'Oh, you're doing death as a proportion of cases,' he replied. 'I'm talking about death as a proportion of population.'

'Well… well…' Trump stammered.

'That's where the US is really bad,' persisted Swan, 'much worse than South Korea, Germany etc.'

'You can't do that!' exclaimed Trump.

'Why can't I do that?' asked Swan, looking understandably confused.

'You have to go by the cases,' said Trump. 'We're last, meaning we're first!'

It was a stunning exchange.

Continued ...

Thanks TWAT @ r25.

Now could you kindly explain how Trump and his ass minions can realistically argue that Trump got the better of Swan?

I've never seen [italic]toe-curling[/italic] used to describe a US President before. LOL

....Continued

Here was the President of the United States telling a journalist that he couldn't mention America's shocking coronavirus death toll because all that matters is not how many people have died, but how many people have been tested.

'You know there are those that say you can test too much,' Trump blathered. 'You do know that?'

Swan didn't know that, because nobody other than Trump has said that.

'Who says that?' Swan asked.

'Oh, just read the manuals,' Trump retorted. 'Read the books.'

'Manuals?' Swan pressed. 'What manuals?'

'Read the books, read the books,' Trump repeated.

Of course, there are no manuals, or books, that say you can do too much coronavirus testing.

Obviously, as any scientist will attest, you can never do enough testing. It's the only way to get on top of this virus until there's a vaccine.

What Trump actually means is that he wishes America did less testing so they didn't have so many cases because it makes HIM look bad.

That's why he doesn't want to talk about America's appalling death toll because, again, it makes HIM look bad.

'A thousand people are dying a day,' Swan told him.

'They are dying,' replied Trump. 'It's true. It is what it is.'

Wow.

'It is what it is' - that was the President's staggering response to the ongoing horrific slaughter of Americans by a deadly virus.

No empathy, no apology, no expression of sorrow.

Just a heartless, dismissive shrug.

The problem for Trump in this crisis is that the stats don't lie like he does.

When Swan pointed out that South Korea has a population of 51 million people but has only suffered 300 coronavirus deaths, Trump inferred, with zero evidence, that the statistics were fake news.

It's his default response to any facts he doesn't like, but now he is being exposed by the cold, hard reality of data-backed truth.

The World Health Organisation reports today there have been 18,100,204 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the world, and 690,257 deaths.

Of these, America has had 4,629,459 cases, which is 25% of the global total, and 154,226 deaths which is 22% of the global total.

Yet it has just 4.2% of the world's population.

So whichever way you look at the numbers, the United States is doing catastrophically badly.

Trump supports will watch this and say "fake news" and Trump had all the proof right there in his hand, but the lib-card reporter was spinning it... it's sickening. More reporters need to hold his feet to the fire like this and maybe eventually people will start to see... he lies, he lies, he lies and then spends his day planning how to defend the lies instead of planning how to solve problems...

Trump knows it, everyone knows it.

But he also knows if he admits it, it may cost him the election in November.

So, he's now reduced to lying, obfuscating, deflecting, and anything else he can think of to avoid being held accountable for what has happened on his watch.

Last night, Americans saw their President deny the incontrovertible.

They saw him pretend he's got coronavirus under control when he's completely lost control.

And they saw him challenged relentlessly on all this bullsh*t by a top-class journalist determined not to let him off the hook.

It made for electrifying but very unedifying viewing, combining the detached uncaring conduct of George W. Bush during the Katrina crisis with Bill Clinton's cynical lying about Monica Lewinsky.

There were many other awful moments during the interview, including Trump once again offering weirdly uncritical support to accused child sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell, refusing to call the late civil rights campaigning legend, Congressman John Lewis, 'impressive' because Lewis hadn't gone to his inauguration, and stoking self-serving fears of election night mail voting fraud.

But it was his meandering disingenuous nonsense about coronavirus that swiftly went viral around the world.

Some people on social media even assumed it must be a comedy sketch given how preposterous it appeared and the fact it was appearing on a network famed for shows like Veep and Succession.

This, sadly, was very real.

I didn't laugh.

Instead, I cringed, I despaired, and then I felt angry.

America is being overrun by coronavirus because its narcissistic President has put his personal ego before doing his job – from spewing his dangerous 'cure' theories to trashing his top medical experts if they dare to speak the truth and boasting inanely about his covid news conference TV ratings.

....Continued

Trump's made the crisis all about him, not the American people.

As a result, the American people are dying in massive numbers all over the country.

Jonathan Swan's constantly bemused face last night perfectly summed up what we were all thinking as the President brandished his meaningless self-serving charts and spouted his nonsensical self-justifying drivel: what the f*ck is he talking about?

Thank you, r27/r30.

I know you think I'm one of the pro-Trump trolls, but I'm not.

Swan knows Trump will never "lose" an argument in the eyes of his deplorable base, so the deck is stacked from the start.

Do you follow Swan on Axios? He picks his battles. His goal is to make his name, not to get the truth out there. Does the end justify the means? Sometimes. Not always.

R35 is R12, R25. I'm responding to the Swan fangurl.

Isn't he supposed to pick his battles? How else WOULD he "get the truth out there"?

Well I suppose it's good that you think something, R37.

And if thinking this was an effective interview makes me a "Swan fangurl", then I'm just gonna have to tuck my dick and own it.

So, the reporter should have just sat quietly and let Trump play with his graphs, and not point out that they were misleading? OK....

Well, you know. Piers can go fuck himself. Not over Trump, he is dead on there. I was not a W fan, but trying to frame his presidency around the flyover in Houston is ridiculous. Like what they needed on the ground was for W to land and consume more resources from the local authorities. At the time, I was probably calling him callous just like everybody else. But in light of current events, it was nothing. How about Bush at ground Zero? Even then, I had to begrudge him a little respect for conducting himself presidential.

As for Clinton. The real American shame in that ordeal was that he was having to answer those questions at all. It was just another example of what republicans focus all their energy on. Personal attacks, making sure all government welfare goes in their portfolio and not to the Americans who really need it, and of course, not passing meaningful legislation.

Let Swan call him out in a presser, with all press and cameras looking on, and I'd be more impressed. Maybe there's more to this interview on the HBO show. If Trump storms away in anger, we'll know Swan REALLY got the better of him.

He never storms away in anger.

He graciously exits the stage.

Our president is like the stupid relative who shows up for family gatherings and throws out all kinds of completely refutable "facts" and everyone knows best to ignore him. Except we can't ignore our fucking president because he can do real damage.

Did Mnuchin send $500,000 to Trump as stimulus money because a category 1 hurricane just bypassed Mar-a-Lago?

The Guardian ripped him a new one too.

And "Veep" is trending on Twitter because people are saying it comes off like a parody, that's how bad it was for Trump

Great analogy, r44.

Another great analogy (which I may have seen here on DL) is that he is like the captain of the Titanic, telling everyone there are enough lifeboats and to go back and enjoy the extra special dessert because everything will be fine.

Interesting that he still asserts that the intelligence on Russian bounties never reached his desk, yet he knows about it now and has done...what? He hasn't even brought it up to Putin.

He just hangry, gurl.

[quote]So, he's now reduced to lying, obfuscating, deflecting, and anything else he can think of to avoid being held accountable for what has happened on his watch.

He hasn't been reduced to anything. He's the same person he was when he ran.

If the US mainstream media had done their jobs like they should have back last election cycle, we wouldn't be in this mess. But as Les Moonves said, it made for great ratings, so they covered every rally and every single lie and spin attempt without challenging him on it. Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton was grilled over every single misstep. A politician with actual government experience and who knew the government inside and out with giving second string to a reality TV star with no government experience whose campaign was nothing more than slogans and racist dog whistles.

And now look at the fucking mess we're in. It's a complete and total disaster. But hey, doesn't it get great ratings!

Amen, r51.

[quote]Why is it that no American reporter deals with him like this?

Part of it is they won't let any real American reporters near him very often. But Chris Wallace did much the same thing, amazingly on Fox, though not as forensically as Swan.

I'm surprised they agreed... Trump probably insisted. He will be in a ghastly screaming mood all day. Good.

T H E

M E D I A

K I L L E D

O U R

Q U E E N

I'm absolutely sure that's true r54.

This is ridiculous and insane, but Trump voters are on a holy mission from God to stop the “baby killers & faggots!!!!!” and no amount of reality will undo that. Lost cause.

The media sold the narrative of Trump being a valid alternative who will drain the swamp. Putin meddled with the 2016 voting results. And the media declared that it was because Hillary wasn't liked (willingly ignoring that she won the popular vote) and that everyone saying that the election was rigged is a conspiracy theorist. Of course, when the public found out about Russia's involvement the right wing media had to scramble and now embraces conspiracy lunacy. The Right Wing one like Q-Anon.

Most people don't understand that all it takes is push a few buttons and the media can manipulate us any way they want. Most of us have been brainwashed to consume shit. News, entertainment (music, movies, TV), food, education, trends, etc. And it's all done through the media. Social media is no different.

R45, somebody has to pay for that hanging basket that fell off the fence!!

“Mr. Honecker, tear down this wall!” doesn’t have quite the same ring to it, does it.

[quote] because Hillary wasn't liked (willingly ignoring that she won the popular vote)

You realize that both of those things can be true Stan, right?

That many people who would otherwise have voted for a Democrat did not vote for Her because She was widely disliked ... but that enough people liked Her more than Donald Trump to allow Her to win the popular vote by a narrow margin.

Or to frame it a different way, a less widely disliked Democrat would have beaten the widely disliked Trump by a much greater margin, thus also winning the electoral college.

They played the video on CNN.

It was unbearable, I couldn’t watch it. Just Trump hysterically screaming every time the reporter tried to correct him. I think Deplorables will see that and think, “poor widdle baby! Look at the way the Fake Lamestream Media is torturing him!”

YourMillennialCunt at R60 who has Hillary Derangement Syndrome.

I just watched too, R61...eeeesh. That was excruciating. Even the reporter looked embarrassed for him.

YourMillennialCunt, the troll with Hillary Derangement Syndrome, is also R54, who is obsessed with Hillary.

YMF is here to remind us all that we’re lost without his wisdom and guidance.

“And when asked about the death toll from coronavirus so far in the US, of almost 155,000 killed, Trump appeared irritated and said: “It is what it is”

An alleged "wildly disliked" disliked woman who was completely qualified for the position and had years of government experience in various positions against a reality TV celebrity con man who went bankrupt numerous times and who had no government experience and most importantly, no willingness to even want to learn how the government works.

You can tell it was a VERY difficult choice to make!

Yes, If only Hilary hadn't sent those emails.

With all the hacking that came around that time, Hillary was right to want a private server. It goes to show that she knows her stuff.

How long until YourMillennialCunt with the Hillary Derangement Syndrome will post his usual "HSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!" about Eldergays whining about the hated Hillary's deserved loss?

HSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!

Just what for it.

With the state of the media it’s almost impossible to know what the truth is.

R71 you should start a local newspaper or blog. There is no law that says we can’t have a new wave of accurate and robust media.

R71, it's pretty easy to tell what's legitimate and what's not. It's more a question of what supports your beliefs.

Based on the way that cretinous buffoon explains it, testing is what actually causes COVID infections. No one can make him understand that testing only reveals who is infected, it doesn't cause the infections.

He needs to be 5150ed in the worst way.

Best not to give too much weight to what Piers Morgan says or writes, he's a shameless tabloid hack with a would-be veneer of gloss and insight. He was happy to boast about his acquaintanceship with Trump after 2016, but now (like functioning people for four years) he's at last admitted what a gruesome tragedy 45 is. Morgan is grandstanding too late because he doesn't want to be too far the wrong side of history. Nice try.

Trump saying 'We're last, meaning we're first!' might pass muster in a goodish satire about a worthless man in the WH. In real life, it's an insane new low. This has to signify the endgame. More of this after November is unthinkable.

[quote] An alleged "wildly disliked" disliked woman who was completely qualified for the position and had years of government experience in various positions against a reality TV celebrity con man who went bankrupt numerous times and who had no government experience and most importantly, no willingness to even want to learn how the government works. You can tell it was a VERY difficult choice to make!

And yet she lost.

Because in the same way that the ability to effectively argue a case in court is a prerequisite to being a successful trial lawyer no matter how smart of qualified you may be on paper, the ability to effectively campaign, create excitement about your candidacy and win voters over to your cause is a prerequisite for being a successful presidential candidate.

No matter how smart of qualified you may be on paper.

^^R76 is the Hillary Derangement Syndrome Troll, A/K/A YourMillennialCunt.

Trump actually pronounced "Yosemite" as "Yo-Semite" in a speech about the national parks today.

But Deplorables think Biden is senile

[quote]Trump actually pronounced "Yosemite" as "Yo-Semite"

Alan Dershowitz thought his President was sending him out a special greeting.

It is what it is.

Does the rest of the world laugh at us for voting for him?

R81 They've been laughing. Now they're laughing with a nervous tic of, "...You...you guys all good over there...?"

Yo- semites! 😂😂😂

I love Yo-semite!

The Goy-ser at Yo-Semite is a major attraction

Yes, Dump looked like a fool & I was glad that that reporter didn't get flustered or angry & did not back down.

Sigh...the scary thing is, I think Dump genuinely didn't understand when the reporter was trying to explain the # of deaths in relation to the overall population statistics.

The myriad delicious facial expressions of Mr. Jonathan Swan

DTM’s kiss-ass interview compared to this.

Sinclair (ABC) v. HBO

I put that idiot millenial asshole on ignore ages ago.

LOL

Disney owns ABC, R89

For R89

NBC News HUGE banner at the bottom of the screen:

Trump on Coronavirus Rising Death Toll: 'IT IS WHAT IT IS.'

AWESOME!!!!!!!!

There is hardly a line in that entire 39-minute interview that isn’t a lie, falsehood, misstatement, or half-truth. It shows a stunning and alarming ignorance on the part of the person who is ostensibly in charge of the federal government. The whole thing is such an embarrassment because it reveals exactly how out his depth that tRump is. His “arguments” — such as they are — reveal how shockingly stupid he is; they are akin to a student attempting to give a report about a book that he never read. With regard to his drivel about John Lewis, it also demonstrates that he is petty, childish, mean-spirited, and nasty.

He should never have “won” the first time. If we allow him to “win” again, we will deserve the downfall that will be coming our way.

you think that trump remotely ever ever realizes he works for US, that we are HIS boss and yes, a reporter/journalist can act like he wants and asked him anything he wants?!..

Ahem

From the same Wikipedia link

[Sinclair]. . . is the largest owner of stations affiliated with Fox, ABC, and The CW.

For all other politicians, the failure of the man in addressing one of the most devasting event that has affected so many people in the US should mean death to any re-election. But somehow, the Orangeman continues to capture at least 42-44% of the votes. Unfortunately, I think this election is already cooked and he is going to win.

R97, the premature ending of the census is a huge tell: Trump wants the results reported to him before the end of the year, so he can use the results to help Republicans. His administration has set it up that way because they assume that he will be defeated.

100 lies in 35 minutes

My own government is a complete fucking shambles but it's still really chilling to see this sort of interview and realise just how far your country has fallen with this waste of skin infesting the role of President. He is a sub-human piece of shit with absolutely no redeeming, positive qualities - everything about him is evil, corrupt, incompetent, rotten.

It continues to blow my mind that there are people who support this rotting mound of flesh, I literally cannot comprehend how people can be so backwards, so twisted, so evil, so outright stupid.

If he is re-elected, something needs to be done. This just cannot continue.

Every nation gets the government it deserves.

Trump needs to be lobotomized.

[quote]Trump needs to be lobotomized.

Been there. Done that. Sold the t-shirt.

Trump debates Trump.

He still going on about testing for Covid being the real problem, not the virus itself and people getting sick, and die, from it. What a frightening egomaniac who can't even pretend to care for anyone.

R96 - Disney owns ABC and ABC, by law, can only own around 40% of the stations that carry ABC programming. The rest are affiliates that are either individually owned or owned by a conglomerate like Sinclair or Tribune. Sinclair owns some stations that have deals with ABC to runs its programming,, but the majority of ABC affiliates are not owned by Sinclair, which, as you note, has deals with all of the broadcast networks.

At worst, a handful of Sinclair-owned ABC stations could refuse to run a David Muir interview with Trump they did not like but that would have little impact on ABC's bottom line.

R99, by that tally, Trump lied once every 21 seconds. That's gotta be a new record for him.

Be best! (at lying)

[quote]Trump needs to be lobotomized.

This is not possible as a brain is required before the lobotomy can be performed.

[quote] For all other politicians, the failure of the man in addressing one of the most devasting event that has affected so many people in the US should mean death to any re-election. But somehow, the Orangeman continues to capture at least 42-44% of the votes.

It’s been pointed out many times that a large part of Trump’s “support” is negative reaction to the opposition. To many of his 2016 voters, Trump wasn’t Hillary and that was the only thing that mattered. In 2020, for many of his voters, he will be seen as the only alternative to Biden, Pelosi, Schumer and the Squad. It won’t matter whatsoever what nonsense Trump says or what he does.

[quote]by that tally, Trump lied once every 21 seconds. That's gotta be a new record for him.

Too bad the Olympics have been cancelled. He'd be bringing home the gold for sure. (And probably selling it.)

Have the Guinness people been contacted?

R109 is right; I know people who call themselves Christians - and not even the Falwell fundie brand of Christian - that supports Dump. I am no one's idea of a good Christian (or jew, or what have you), but if you support Dump, Jesus thinks you're an asshole!

But they're so convinced "The Squad" will sell off their children to human traffickers (like they'd want the spoiled brats!), they'll vote for Dump!

[quote] In 2020, for many of his voters, he will be seen as the only alternative to Biden, Pelosi, Schumer and the Squad. It won’t matter whatsoever what nonsense Trump says or what he does.

Agree. Which is why it's frustrating that there isn't anyone to go after Tom Cotton, Josh Hawley & Ted Cruz who are among the most reprehensible people of the modern era. The squad are agitators, Cotton would have us at war with China after a light Inaugural Day brunch.

Actually, R112, Cotton wants to go to war with U.S. citizens.

Thats true r109. It should also be noted that those folks are ignorant pieces of shit. Fools. Too blind to see that a second term for Trump will utterly destroy the country as we’ve known it. They appear not to care.

This idiot is thinking like it's the flu, you don't hear about it in the summer so he assumes it just 'disappears' even though people do get the flu all year round, and no one will call him out on it