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Trump/White House Covid positive thread (2 Viewers)

I spent a bunch of time reading last night and I think Ronna McDaniel or the Trump campaign is where patient zero came from. The Rose Garden was obviously a super spreader event,  but there have been a lot more interactions than just that one event. 
I think it's Hope Hicks. 

My observations over the years is that older fellas tend to get a bit closer to lovely young women than might be preferred. 

If Patient Zero was Jason Miller, we'd all be talking about the VP debate right now. 

 
You answered your own question.

If the WH spread was simply a single event, that could be effectively dealt with via isolation.  If the community spread is already 2 or 3 degrees beyond the Rose Garden, containment is not a viable strategy.
But haven’t we known that since March? The entire state of Florida just opened up without restriction. A poster here is bragging about going to crowded bars where nobody wears masks. 
There is no containment. 

 
But haven’t we known that since March? The entire state of Florida just opened up without restriction. A poster here is bragging about going to crowded bars where nobody wears masks. 
There is no containment. 
Sure - but until now, the Halls of Congress had appeared safe.  That aura of invincibility should be gone.

Its an invisible disease that spreads without symptoms.  Given that we know there is a general avoidance of basic safety precautions within the wall of Congress/WH - the potential for community spread is pretty high.

If Congress/WH were  schools - they would be shut down already.

And, this extends well beyond the public officials to all of the staff working for said officials, and supporting the infrastructure in DC.  

 
I think it's Hope Hicks. 

My observations over the years is that older fellas tend to get a bit closer to lovely young women than might be preferred. 

If Patient Zero was Jason Miller, we'd all be talking about the VP debate right now. 
Ronna McDaniel was positive before Hope Hicks and she flew back to Michigan last Friday. So it would seem this started festering within the campaign before the Rose Garden. 

 
Thanks for the article. I fully agree with the point and I dislike that style of article they reference where the author combs through a zillion twitter posts to find the 8 extreme takes. Then they try to make it seem those 8 extreme takes are the normalized view of a bigger group. It's an ugly way to work.

BUT, are we saying that type of article is the same thing as a reputable poll by a reputable news source asking a large group of people and reporting how they answered?

That seems to be a very different thing. 
It’s not so much the poll, IMO, but how people choose to interpret the results of the poll, which leads us back to the argument made in the article. 
 

 
I’m sorry, I didn’t call you a troll. I don’t think you are a troll- if I did I wouldn’t have responded to you. 
Trolls are dishonest and awful people. I think you’re a good person and an honest one  jon. But I also think that you sincerely believe that Democrats and liberals have bad thoughts and intentions as a general rule, and you look for examples to promote and interpret that will confirm your conviction, and this gets you into trouble, which then causes you to complain about this forum. That’s my firm impression. Personally I wish you would steer away from this stuff as you’re capable of offering quite thoughtful commentary. 
It is not bad thoughts.  I genuinely think the left has good intentions.  But you know what the road to hell is paved with.  

 
You know what i find disgusting.  People who believe they csn read minds.  I have yet to find a single poster here who comes anywhere close to possessing such ability.  Now if you want me to read your mind, i would suggest you are offended because you know what i said was true.  
I agree with Jon here. There was a poster that liked a post saying someone in the WH had covid. 

Moderator asked him why.

Jon posted a quote from Newsweek: https://www.newsweek.com/republicans-sad-worried-democrats-happy-indifferent-over-donald-trumps-covid-diagnosis-poll-1536114

A new poll conducted barely 12 hours after Republican President Donald Trump announced his COVID-19 diagnosis has shown that many Republicans feel sad and worried about Trump's condition while many Democrats feel happy or indifferent about it.

The poll—conducted by the technology company Morning Consult and the political publication Politico—polled nearly 1,000 Americans on Friday from 12:30 p.m. to 2:45 p.m.. The pollsters asked several questions about people's reactions to Trump's diagnosis.

While 55 percent of Republicans reported feeling "sad" and 51 percent reported feeling "worried" about his diagnosis, 40 percent of Democrats said they felt "happy" and 41 percent said they felt "indifferent" about it.

All respondents said they're more concerned about the economy than the president's well-being following his announcement. While 78 percent said they are concerned about the economy and the country, only 51 percent said they were concerned about the president's well-being.

When asked about their concern for the president's well-being, 46 percent of Democrats said they're not concerned at all whereas 78 percent of Republicans said they're somewhat or very concerned about it.

As for other emotional reactions to Trump's diagnosis, 40 percent of all respondents said they felt "surprised." Among Republicans, 45 percent said they felt "upset" and 41 percent said they felt "confident." Among Democrats, 32 percent said they felt "frustrated" or "worried," 31 percent said they felt "excited" and 30 percent said they felt "angry."


He's not wishcasting and frankly that's kind of gross to make that accusation. He answered a question of the mod asking why a person would post a like emoji. 

 
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Ronna McDaniel was positive before Hope Hicks and she flew back to Michigan last Friday. So it would seem this started festering within the campaign before the Rose Garden. 
Yeah - the Rose Garden was not Patient Zero - but it was a super spreader event - where you had many people in close contact - not just seating, but hugging, etc.  This is how you take a low R, and make it exponentially higher.

 
Another Pet Peeve of mine - over this pandemic - when colleges opened back up this fall, a lot of colleges were very critical of students who did not social distance - up to and including discipline of expulsion.  I always thought that was overly harsh - that colleges would bring students back to campus to engage in in-person experiences, and then punish students for engaging in traditional in-person experiences.

Now, fast forward to the Rose Garden, and the President of Notre Dame attending, in a non-socially distant way, and with out a mask, and contracting the virus.  Hypocrisy at its finest.

 
I agree with Jon here. There was a poster that liked a post saying someone in the WH had covid. 

Moderator asked him why.

Jon posted a quote from Newsweek: https://www.newsweek.com/republicans-sad-worried-democrats-happy-indifferent-over-donald-trumps-covid-diagnosis-poll-1536114

He's not wishcasting and frankly that's kind of gross to make that accusation. He answered a question of the mod asking why a person would post a like emoji. 
The question was directed to someone else, asking THEIR motivations. 

 
11 am update from his Walter Reed doctor, just announced.
Apparently there was some backlash to the previous approach of "Medical Updates From Economic Advisors", which itself was a response to the backlash over their original approach, which was "No Communication At All".

 
Another Pet Peeve of mine - over this pandemic - when colleges opened back up this fall, a lot of colleges were very critical of students who did not social distance - up to and including discipline of expulsion.  I always thought that was overly harsh - that colleges would bring students back to campus to engage in in-person experiences, and then punish students for engaging in traditional in-person experiences.

Now, fast forward to the Rose Garden, and the President of Notre Dame attending, in a non-socially distant way, and with out a mask, and contracting the virus.  Hypocrisy at its finest.
"Notre Dame launched a site for students to snitch on each other for COVID-19 violations.

Instead, they awesomely have used it to report the university president for shaking hands and not wearing a mask at the White House, demanding his resignation."

https://twitter.com/AndrewMakeTweet/status/1312154977733767168?s=19

✌✌✌✌

 
For myself, I am not going to try and explain away the fact that 40% of Democrats are seemingly happy about Trump getting covid. That number makes me sad. It made me sad when, in 2003 there was a poll that stated that around half of all Democrats believed that George W Bush knew about 9/11 before it happened, and when in 2011 there was a poll that states that more than half of all Republicans believed that Obama was hiding information about his birth. 
These sorts of polls are always depressing. I think they indicate more than anything else the tribalism which consumes our nation these days, the conviction that the other side is not only wrong but evil as well. And yet, highlighting the results of these polls, interpreting them in the worst possible light and righteously condemning boatloads of people- what does that accomplish except to increase the tribalism that got us here in the first place? 

 
It’s not so much the poll, IMO, but how people choose to interpret the results of the poll, which leads us back to the argument made in the article. 
 
That's not the question I asked.

Are we saying that type of article where the author picks out extreme positions from twitter and tries to normalize them is the same thing as a reputable poll by a reputable news source asking a large group of people and reporting how they answered?

That seems to be a very different thing. 

 
For myself, I am not going to try and explain away the fact that 40% of Democrats are seemingly happy about Trump getting covid. That number makes me sad. It made me sad when, in 2003 there was a poll that stated that around half of all Democrats believed that George W Bush knew about 9/11 before it happened, and when in 2011 there was a poll that states that more than half of all Republicans believed that Obama was hiding information about his birth. 
These sorts of polls are always depressing. I think they indicate more than anything else the tribalism which consumes our nation these days, the conviction that the other side is not only wrong but evil as well. And yet, highlighting the results of these polls, interpreting them in the worst possible light and righteously condemning boatloads of people- what does that accomplish except to increase the tribalism that got us here in the first place? 
Look back in this thread to how those questions are worded.

Its not as cut and dry as "How does Trump testing positive make you feel?  Happy, Sad, Depressed....."

Still...people should not be happy about it and 40% is a big number.

 
Is there a reason why my explanation for why I'd vote "sad" in a poll like this was removed?
Sure your motuvation for answering sad is reasonable.  But answering happy is kind of different in that is suggest some level of joy in someone's illness.  They may actually be happy because they think it is best for the country, but 'happy' no matter how you rationalize suggests a lack of empathy.  

 
That's not the question I asked.

Are we saying that type of article where the author picks out extreme positions from twitter and tries to normalize them is the same thing as a reputable poll by a reputable news source asking a large group of people and reporting how they answered?

That seems to be a very different thing. 
It’s not the same thing, you’re correct. 
But as I wrote, poll results are subject to much interpretation. And if one chooses to interpret this poll in a manner which condemns most or all of those belonging to one political party, then we see a thought process which is quite similar to that described in the article. 

 
Look back in this thread to how those questions are worded.

Its not as cut and dry as "How does Trump testing positive make you feel?  Happy, Sad, Depressed....."

Still...people should not be happy about it and 40% is a big number.
I don't find it surprising at all. He spends multiple hours claiming that Democrats are ruining this country. 

 
Sure your motuvation for answering sad is reasonable.  But answering happy is kind of different in that is suggest some level of joy in someone's illness.  They may actually be happy because they think it is best for the country, but 'happy' no matter how you rationalize suggests a lack of empathy.  
This doesn't answer my question and I never even talked about happy (though I am confident I can come up with reasonable arguments for why one would vote "happy" too)....those people are just morons in my mind...not worth even acknowledging them.  Im just wondering why it was removed.

 
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This doesn't answer my question and I never even talked about happy....those people are just morons in my mind...not worth even acknowledging them.  Im just wondering why it was removed.
I don't know why it was removed.  I planned on responding to it but it was gone.  

 
I don't find it surprising at all. He spends multiple hours claiming that Democrats are ruining this country. 
No one finds it surprising, and it is incredibly annoying to watch so many people be so disingenuous.

Unless you recently arrived via time machine from 1957 politics, none of the lack of compassion on either side is particularly shocking right now, and everyone who is "disturbed" and "dispirited" right now is only succeeding in making my ### twitch.

 
I have a feeling (and that’s all it is, no evidence besides anecdotal) that the word many Democrats might have chosen instead of “happy”, had it been available, is “satisfied”. 
Many liberal types I have spoken to, including my wife, have basically stated the same thing: “he didn’t wear a mask, he didn’t social distance, he downplayed the virus, and now he’s got it. I don’t want him to die but I’m satisfied that he’s sick; that’s what you get. Karma.” 
 

I don’t feel this way myself (sad is my reaction) but I suspect a lot of folks do. It’s a little different from happy, though. 

 
Look back in this thread to how those questions are worded.

Its not as cut and dry as "How does Trump testing positive make you feel?  Happy, Sad, Depressed....."

Still...people should not be happy about it and 40% is a big number.
Wow. You think? For the future, you could start with acknowledging this first and save a ton of wasted time. 

It sucks that's where we are. Regardless of how we got here. 

I have a guy I would call a friend that I see maybe once a year. He lives in another state and owns a very successful business and is active on social media. He's a regular non crazy, non fringe person. I've hung out with him several times and like him. He posted on his instagram stories where he has thousands of followers last night: "Sending thoughts and prayers to the president and first lady on their speedy and successful deaths".

I think people have their heads in the sand if they think people that are happy he's contracted Covid or think he had it coming to him are on the far fringe. 

 
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I have a feeling (and that’s all it is, no evidence besides anecdotal) that the word many Democrats might have chosen instead of “happy”, had it been available, is “satisfied”. 
Many liberal types I have spoken to, including my wife, have basically stated the same thing: “he didn’t wear a mask, he didn’t social distance, he downplayed the virus, and now he’s got it. I don’t want him to die but I’m satisfied that he’s sick; that’s what you get. Karma.” 
 

I don’t feel this way myself (sad is my reaction) but I suspect a lot of folks do. It’s a little different from happy, though. 
I agree with your wife. Not surprisingly he got covid-19.  You mess with the bull sometimes you get the horns.

 
But that is an inaccurate statement of what the poll said.  The choices were sad, happy, indifferent or worried.  91 percent of Republicans positively stated they were sad or worried.  Answering worried is not the same as saying they are not sad.  40 percent of Democrats in the poll positively said they were happy and 41 percent were indifferent.  What i said was accurate.  What you stated is not.  
Was it a series of questions? Were people allowed to choose more than 1 option? Maybe we can just ignore this unclear poll and leave the projections of it onto our community members. People in the media and online have said things for themselves. Let that be what it is. Let people here speak for themselves. 

 
Wow. You think? For the future, you could start with acknowledging this first and save a ton of wasted time. 

It sucks that's where we are. Regardless of how we got here. 

I have a guy I would call a friend that I see maybe once a year. He lives in another state and owns a very successful business and is active on social media. He's a regular non crazy, non fringe person. I've hung out with him several times and like him. He posted on his instagram stories where he has thousands of followers last night: "Sending thoughts and prayers to the president and first lady on their speedy and successful deaths".

I think anyone who wants to think this is a few fringe people in an internet article where they try to gather the super fringe guys with 8 followers and try to paint the whole group has their head in the sand. 
Yeah...I think its a bad number...but also a strange way of polling to come to that number.   Wasted time on what?  Really not sure what the reason for the contempt here is...but ok. 

I think the discussion of the poll and questions is legitimate.  I don't agree with projecting it onto posters here as was done.  Would you agree?

 
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Was it a series of questions? Were people allowed to choose more than 1 option? Maybe we can just ignore this unclear poll and leave the projections of it onto our community members. People in the media and online have said things for themselves. Let that be what it is. Let people here speak for themselves. 
Yes...there were more options than the 4 listed in what you quoted...and each of the options, the person polled was asked how they felt about each emotion: well, not well, somewhat well and so on.

And yes for the bolded.

 
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But haven’t we known that since March? The entire state of Florida just opened up without restriction. A poster here is bragging about going to crowded bars where nobody wears masks. 
There is no containment. 
Of course, all those people left the Rose Garden and met with many more people. Likely at the Capital, in close quarters, indoors without a mask in many cases.

 
You know, nobody has ever asked me to take part on one of these polls.  Has anybody here ever been asked by a "reputable news source" (whatever that is) to take part in a poll? 
Ive typically avoided most of those types of calls/not answered.

Answered a number labeled "political call" last night almost hoping it was a poll.  Instead it was some solicitation for police something or other fund.  When I asked the guy what Police Department would be benefiting from such donations...he couldn't answer.  Then got to where it was basically to fund lobbying in the legislature.  Told him no thank you.

 
No one finds it surprising, and it is incredibly annoying to watch so many people be so disingenuous.

Unless you recently arrived via time machine from 1957 politics, none of the lack of compassion on either side is particularly shocking right now, and everyone who is "disturbed" and "dispirited" right now is only succeeding in making my ### twitch.
Thank you....100% correct.    Can't believe some of the posters here pretending to be compassionate after what we've seen in this forum since 2016.  

 
Do poll results offend people.  Really funny how triggered people are about facts and wanting to turn accurate statements into personal attacks.  
Instead of accepting that sample as the word of God, or fuel for confirmation bias, why not create a poll here to see how the FBG really feel?

I’ll admit I’m indifferent, but I’m not a Democrat.

 
Rick Scott said on Fox he tested positive.

Umm, it seems like Scott tested negative, but misspoke on Fox, because it was a positive RESULT, and that's what he meant. 

😳.  

Florida, man.

 
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Schadenfreude is real.  Tribalism is rampant.  Humans suck.

Those are the reasons behind this poll.

And it's all terribly sad.
I hear you @The Z Machine

I won't go that far though. Tribalism is absolutely rampant. Human behavior can sometimes suck. And it's sad.

My hope is we reject the comments about "he got what he deserved" or "karma sucks" or "I'm satisfied he is sick" and go the opposite direction.

President Obama showed us what that can look like.https://twitter.com/BarackObama/status/1312166609616687105?s=20

Obviously, we’re in the midst of a big political battle right now, and while there’s a lot at stake, let’s remember that we’re all Americans. We’re all human beings. And we want everyone to be healthy, no matter our party.

 
The thing is that there are lots of people that aren't sad that Trump got covid.  I know some of these people.  I don't think that's a good attitude. It certainly doesn't benefit the nation to think that way. 

 
Matt Gaetz went on Fox last night and claimed that Trump getting it was proof that social distancing doesn't work and this is evidence that we should reopen. This despite the clear leading candidate for this super spreader event being the Rose Garden announcement where no one socially distanced or wore masks.

 
For myself, I am not going to try and explain away the fact that 40% of Democrats are seemingly happy about Trump getting covid. That number makes me sad. It made me sad when, in 2003 there was a poll that stated that around half of all Democrats believed that George W Bush knew about 9/11 before it happened, and when in 2011 there was a poll that states that more than half of all Republicans believed that Obama was hiding information about his birth. 
These sorts of polls are always depressing. I think they indicate more than anything else the tribalism which consumes our nation these days, the conviction that the other side is not only wrong but evil as well. And yet, highlighting the results of these polls, interpreting them in the worst possible light and righteously condemning boatloads of people- what does that accomplish except to increase the tribalism that got us here in the first place? 
I equate it to a kid playing around a hot stove scenario (or any other dangerous behavior). You constantly warn him that the stove is hot and could burn him. But because he doesn’t get burned he not only continues to play around the stove and tells other kids that it’s ok to play around the stove. His behavior continues even as several other kids get serious burns but he doesn’t care because it want him.

Now what would be your reaction when that kid finally gets burned? Obviously you don’t want the kid to get seriously burned but can you blame someone for thinking ‘good maybe he learned his lesson and will stop telling other kids to play around the stove’?

Now imagine that kid is the POTUS, 40% of the country follows his lead and their behavior puts others at serious risk. ‘Happy’ doesn’t mean they want serious health complications, it might just mean that they are glad he finally ‘burned his hand’ so that maybe he stops setting horrible examples for his followers.

Sure there are people who are giddy about him being sick and that’s horrible but some may be ‘happy’ because they view it as an event that might change people’s behaviors and finally get them to take COVID seriously.

 
I'll also point out that people being "happy" a bad thing happened to a President is not at all new behavior. Based on historical research of the time, many Southerners and Northerners celebrated Lincoln's assassination. We gloss over that with the help of time, but it was real then too. This is natural human behavior, and to pretend that this instance is somehow worse or different than any other is incredibly naive, IMO.

 
Matt Gaetz went on Fox last night and claimed that Trump getting it was proof that social distancing doesn't work and this is evidence that we should reopen. This despite the clear leading candidate for this super spreader event being the Rose Garden announcement where no one socially distanced or wore masks.
And not only that but it also appears that much of the spread happened in an outdoor setting, further proving that social distancing and mask wearing is important even in more favorable conditions.

 
So Trump is also getting Zinc, vitamin D, aspirin, melatonin and an antihistamine, none of which are standard of care for treating covid.

 
I'll also point out that people being "happy" a bad thing happened to a President is not at all new behavior. Based on historical research of the time, many Southerners and Northerners celebrated Lincoln's assassination. We gloss over that with the help of time, but it was real then too. This is natural human behavior, and to pretend that this instance is somehow worse or different than any other is incredibly naive, IMO.
Quite a few kids in my grade school, modeling their parents no doubt, were happy when Reagan got shot.  Blew my mind.

 
As with everything in life, there is some nuance in this discussion.  You can have empathy for him and his family, but at the same time you can be hopeful that this may get the GOP to finally take COVID seriously.  You can be concerned for our country with our head of State being incapacitated yet feel schadenfreude that the very policies the GOP put forth is likely to be responsible.

These statements are not contradictory and distilling it down to a single statement is silly.

 
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Thank you....100% correct.    Can't believe some of the posters here pretending to be compassionate after what we've seen in this forum since 2016.  
Can you give some examples of posters here pretending to be compassionate? I don't recall seeing what I felt was false compassion.

 

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