Monday, March 9, 2020

Paranoia and magical thinking

Gabriel Sherman, writing in Vanity Fair:

Stories about Trump’s coronavirus fears have spread through the White House. Last week Trump told aides he’s afraid journalists will try to purposefully contract coronavirus to give it to him on Air Force One, a person close to the administration told me. The source also said Trump has asked the Secret Service to set up a screening program and bar anyone who has a cough from the White House grounds. “He’s definitely melting down over this,” the source said.

But thus far Trump’s private concerns haven’t affected his public response. Pressure from the public health community is mounting on Trump to cancel his mass rallies, but Trump is pushing back. “He is going to resist until the very last minute,” a former West Wing official said. “He may take suggestions to stop shaking hands, but in terms of shutting stuff down, his position is: ‘No, I’m not going to do it.’”

The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
Cf. Captain Queeg: “We’re not in any trouble.” The mix of paranoia and magical thinking is frightening.

comments: 2

Daughter Number Three said...

As long as he doesn't get sick, that's all that matters. He'll be happy with mass rallies where everyone else can infect each other and he gets his adulation fix. I hope he had a nice long handshake with that member of Congress who was exposed to the CPAC carrier.

Michael Leddy said...

If Trump* and Pence are both out of circulation, you know who becomes president. But really, I wouldn’t wish it on anyone, because that person will soon infect others.