Donald Trump gets COVID-19 (Update #10)

Updates

  1. Originally published, October 3, 2020, 11:45 am.
  2. October 3, 10:27 pm:
    • Reports of Donald Trump’s condition have been contradictory and sometimes misleading. White House physician Sean Conley has been evasive and I would accordingly suggest discounting anything he says, just as we would anything Trump says, which leaves us with the possibility, albeit from often unnamed sources, that this really is serious.[1]
  3. October 4, 8:13 am:
    • It appears Donald Trump has been given two experimental treatments to combat COVID-19: regeneron and remdesivir. Medical doctors are having a hard time reading the tea leaves of contradictory and omitted information but would seem to be somewhat more concerned about Trump’s condition than Sean Conley (see previous update, October 3, 10:27 pm).[2]
  4. October 4, 8:34 am:
  5. October 4, 10:26 am:
    • The Republican refusal to take COVID-19 seriously is now boomeranging on the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to take Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s seat on the Supreme Court as at least two Republican senators on the Judiciary Committee are now in self-quarantine and unable to vote.[3] Er, make that three. Oh, and that Rose Garden ceremony where Donald Trump announced Barrett’s nomination? Looking more and more like a “superspreader event.”[4]
  6. October 4, 11:16 pm:
    • I got annoyed and dredged up my old research journal post on the second amendment. I have now resurrected it. My thinking has progressed a bit since I wrote it but the new post contains the text as it was in my research journal, with a prefatory note.
    • Donald Trump’s condition was indeed[5] more serious[6] than earlier acknowledged by White House physician Sean Conley.[7] And apparently the optimistic view that Trump might be out of Walter Reed Hospital tomorrow makes no fucking sense whatsoever.[8] So, um, Trump’s doctors and the White House can take their “abundance of caution” shit[9] and shove it right back up where it came from. Trustworthy indications will be when Trump is back on a golf course or in a casket; anything else on the record should be treated as bullshit.
  7. October 5, 2020, 9:57 am:
    • One problem with working from “live update” stories from the Washington Post, and a reason I normally eschew them, is that citation details change. Another reason is simply that it is difficult to know when you have the final version of the article. I’ve gone back and updated the citations now in the blog post and here.
    • “As of Sunday [October 4] afternoon, there are valid questions about whether anyone providing details of Trump’s health can be trusted.”[10]
    • I tweeted this before seeing the latest “live update” story from the Washington Post.[11] I must have been up later than I thought, Sunday night. I should have said today:

      Basically, we’ll know what’s going on when Donald Trump is either in a casket or back on the golf course.

    • In retrospect, it seems obvious that gay men are the rightful owners of the “Proud Boys” label. In retrospect. They’re smartasses for reclaiming it[12] and, I dare say, being really rather courageous in doing so. I’m calling bullshit on the “spreading joy”[13] shit, but I am most certainly amused.

      But Enrique Tarrio, the leader of the Proud Boys, said he doesn’t see what the men are trying to accomplish.

      “I think it’s hysterical,” Tarrio told CNN. “This isn’t something that’s offensive to us. It’s not an insult. We aren’t homophobic. We don’t care who people sleep with. People think it’s going to bother us. It doesn’t.”[14]

      Trust me. He’s annoyed. Very annoyed. And by the way, a detail I didn’t know: “Tarrio, a Cuban American, is also the leader of the grassroots group Latinos for Trump.”[15] Uh huh. I just saw a banner for the latter group, along with one for “Blacks for Trump,” yesterday in New Kensington.

    • (@NRO is the National Review online.)

  8. October 5, 11:29 am:
    • The U.S. Supreme Court turned away a challenge to Pennsylvania’s lockdown. This is a separate case[16] from the one in which a Trump appointee relying on capitalist libertarian logic struck down the restrictions[17] in a ruling that had to be stayed by the appeals court[18] and is unlikely to be upheld.[19]
  9. October 5, 2020, 10:38 pm:
    • I’m a doctor, but not a medical doctor, so treat this as a lay opinion: Donald Trump leaving Walter Reed Hospital[20] strikes me as likely having been done against medical advice and probably considerably diminishes the possibility entertained by so many for so long that he’s a malicious and compulsive liar. What we are seeing here is stupidity. It is insanity. It is delusional raging narcissism.

      One thing we can conclude so far is that the jackassery has not been diminished in this episode as Trump and fellow Republicans continue to spew bullshit.[21]

  10. October 6, 2020, 10:21 am:
    • Reportedly, Donald Trump also received the steroid dexamethasone which “is considered safe only when a patient appears to be at high risk of developing the kind of overactive inflammatory response that can lead to organ failure and death”[22] and whose side effects include “mania, depression, psychotic or mixed affective states, cognitive deficits, and minor psychiatric disturbances (irritability, insomnia, anxiety, labile mood).”[23] “If Trump’s physicians are following the recommendations from the Recovery study and giving him 6 mg of dexamethasone once per day for 10 days, his treatment could stretch to Oct. 14 — one day before the second presidential debate is scheduled to take place in Miami.”[24] I make it a rule to not watch debates, but um, I’m gonna have to think about this one.
    • Donald Trump appeared to be having difficulty breathing when he returned to the White House.[25]

Donald Trump

There is a new blog post entitled, “On wishing the delusional raging narcissist-in-chief well.”

Megan Guza And Julia Felton, “Pittsburgh doctors discuss Trump’s covid risk factors,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, October 2, 2020, https://triblive.com/news/health-now/pittsburgh-doctors-discuss-trumps-covid-risk-factors/

Robert Mackey, “Trump Is Hospitalized With Covid-19, Days After Mocking Biden for Wearing a Mask,” Intercept, October 2, 2020, https://theintercept.com/2020/10/02/trump-tests-positive-covid-48-hours-mocking-biden-wearing-mask/

Andrew Restuccia, “Trump and His Aides Have Long Played Down Importance of Face Masks, Distancing,” Wall Street Journal, October 2, 2020, https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-and-his-aides-have-long-downplayed-importance-of-face-masks-distancing-11601655164

Associated Press, “Trump said to be improving but next 48 hours ‘critical,’” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, October 3, 2020, https://triblive.com/news/politics-election/concerning-signs-in-trumps-care-despite-word-hes-doing-ok/

Colby Itkowitz et al., “Chief of staff says next 48 hours ‘critical’ as Trump says he’s doing well,” Washington Post, October 4, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/2020/10/03/trump-covid-live-updates/

Gina Kolata and Apoorva Mandavilli, “Trump’s Covid Treatments Are Aimed at Preventing Severe Illness,” New York Times, October 3, 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/03/health/Covid-trump-treatments.html

Maeve Reston and Gregory Krieg, “White House sows confusion about Trump’s condition as source tells reporters next 48 hours will be critical,” October 3, 2020, https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/03/politics/donald-trump-coronavirus-walter-reed/index.html

John Wagner et al., “Trump at hospital after positive coronavirus test; Kellyanne Conway, two senators test positive,” Washington Post, October 4, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/2020/10/02/trump-biden-live-updates/

Laura King and Chris Megerian, “Trump stages drive-by for supporters after doctors disclose more serious symptoms,” Los Angeles Times, October 4, 2020, https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2020-10-04/trump-receiving-powerful-lung-drug-doctors-disclose-revealing-more-serious-symptoms

Derek Hawkins et al., “President’s blood oxygen levels dropped twice in recent days, doctors say,” Washington Post, October 4, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/2020/10/04/trump-covid-live-updates/

Felicia Sonmez et al., “Trump returns to White House from hospital; may not be ‘out of the woods,’ doctor says,” Washington Post, October 5, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/2020/10/05/trump-biden-live-updates/

Melissa Healy, “Trump received dexamethasone for COVID-19. Here’s what that says about his condition,” Los Angeles Times, October 5, 2020, https://www.latimes.com/science/story/2020-10-05/trump-dexamethasone-covid-19-condition

Soo Kim, “Donald Trump ‘Gasping for Air’ Video Raises Questions About President’s Health,” Newsweek, October 6, 2020, https://www.newsweek.com/coronavirus-donald-trump-breathing-difficulty-gasping-air-white-house-hospital-discharge-1536598


‘Proud Boys’

Alaa Elassar, “Gay men have taken over the Proud Boys Twitter hashtag,” CNN, October 4, 2020, https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/04/us/proud-boys-twitter-hashtag-gay-men-trnd/index.html


Pennsylvania

Greg Stohr, “Supreme Court Rejects Challenge to Pennsylvania Shutdown Order,” Bloomberg, October 5, 2020, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-10-05/supreme-court-rejects-challenge-to-pennsylvania-shutdown-order


  1. [1]Associated Press, “Trump said to be improving but next 48 hours ‘critical,’” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, October 3, 2020, https://triblive.com/news/politics-election/concerning-signs-in-trumps-care-despite-word-hes-doing-ok/; Maeve Reston and Gregory Krieg, “White House sows confusion about Trump’s condition as source tells reporters next 48 hours will be critical,” October 3, 2020, https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/03/politics/donald-trump-coronavirus-walter-reed/index.html
  2. [2]Gina Kolata and Apoorva Mandavilli, “Trump’s Covid Treatments Are Aimed at Preventing Severe Illness,” New York Times, October 3, 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/03/health/Covid-trump-treatments.html
  3. [3]Mary Clare Jalonick, “Virus spreads on panel handling Supreme Court nomination,” Washington Post, October 3, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/virus-spreads-on-panel-handling-supreme-court-nomination/2020/10/03/0c43dc7a-05df-11eb-b92e-029676f9ebec_story.html
  4. [4]Russell Berman, “Suddenly, Amy Coney Barrett Might Not Have the Votes,” Atlantic, October 3, 2020, https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/10/supreme-court-trump-covid/616608/
  5. [5]Laura King and Chris Megerian, “Trump stages drive-by for supporters after doctors disclose more serious symptoms,” Los Angeles Times, October 4, 2020, https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2020-10-04/trump-receiving-powerful-lung-drug-doctors-disclose-revealing-more-serious-symptoms
  6. [6]Gina Kolata and Apoorva Mandavilli, “Trump’s Covid Treatments Are Aimed at Preventing Severe Illness,” New York Times, October 3, 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/03/health/Covid-trump-treatments.html
  7. [7]Associated Press, “Trump said to be improving but next 48 hours ‘critical,’” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, October 3, 2020, https://triblive.com/news/politics-election/concerning-signs-in-trumps-care-despite-word-hes-doing-ok/; Maeve Reston and Gregory Krieg, “White House sows confusion about Trump’s condition as source tells reporters next 48 hours will be critical,” October 3, 2020, https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/03/politics/donald-trump-coronavirus-walter-reed/index.html
  8. [8]Laura King and Chris Megerian, “Trump stages drive-by for supporters after doctors disclose more serious symptoms,” Los Angeles Times, October 4, 2020, https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2020-10-04/trump-receiving-powerful-lung-drug-doctors-disclose-revealing-more-serious-symptoms
  9. [9]Colby Itkowitz et al., “Chief of staff says next 48 hours ‘critical’ as Trump says he’s doing well,” Washington Post, October 4, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/2020/10/03/trump-covid-live-updates/; John Wagner et al., “Trump at hospital after positive coronavirus test; Kellyanne Conway, two senators test positive,” Washington Post, October 4, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/2020/10/02/trump-biden-live-updates/
  10. [10]Philip Bump, in Derek Hawkins et al., “President’s blood oxygen levels dropped twice in recent days, doctors say,” Washington Post, October 4, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/2020/10/04/trump-covid-live-updates/
  11. [11]Derek Hawkins et al., “President’s blood oxygen levels dropped twice in recent days, doctors say,” Washington Post, October 4, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/2020/10/04/trump-covid-live-updates/
  12. [12]Alaa Elassar, “Gay men have taken over the Proud Boys Twitter hashtag,” CNN, October 4, 2020, https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/04/us/proud-boys-twitter-hashtag-gay-men-trnd/index.html
  13. [13]Alaa Elassar, “Gay men have taken over the Proud Boys Twitter hashtag,” CNN, October 4, 2020, https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/04/us/proud-boys-twitter-hashtag-gay-men-trnd/index.html
  14. [14]Alaa Elassar, “Gay men have taken over the Proud Boys Twitter hashtag,” CNN, October 4, 2020, https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/04/us/proud-boys-twitter-hashtag-gay-men-trnd/index.html
  15. [15]Alaa Elassar, “Gay men have taken over the Proud Boys Twitter hashtag,” CNN, October 4, 2020, https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/04/us/proud-boys-twitter-hashtag-gay-men-trnd/index.html
  16. [16]Greg Stohr, “Supreme Court Rejects Challenge to Pennsylvania Shutdown Order,” Bloomberg, October 5, 2020, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-10-05/supreme-court-rejects-challenge-to-pennsylvania-shutdown-order
  17. [17]Paula Reed Ward, “Federal judge rules Gov. Wolf’s shutdown orders were unconstitutional,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, September 14, 2020, https://triblive.com/local/regional/federal-judge-rules-gov-wolfs-shutdown-orders-were-unconstitutional/
  18. [18]Paula Reed Ward, “Appeals court allows Gov. Tom Wolf, state to restore covid crowd restrictions,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, October 1, 2020, https://triblive.com/news/pennsylvania/appeals-court-allows-pennsylvania-to-restrict-crowd-size/
  19. [19]Jamie Martines and Paula Reed Ward, “Why the ruling against Wolf’s covid-19 restrictions faces long odds on appeal, explained,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, September 17, 2020, https://triblive.com/news/pennsylvania/why-the-ruling-against-wolfs-covid-19-restrictions-faces-long-odds-on-appeal-explained/
  20. [20]Felicia Sonmez et al., “Trump returns to White House from hospital; may not be ‘out of the woods,’ doctor says,” Washington Post, October 5, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/2020/10/05/trump-biden-live-updates/
  21. [21]Felicia Sonmez et al., “Trump returns to White House from hospital; may not be ‘out of the woods,’ doctor says,” Washington Post, October 5, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/2020/10/05/trump-biden-live-updates/
  22. [22]Melissa Healy, “Trump received dexamethasone for COVID-19. Here’s what that says about his condition,” Los Angeles Times, October 5, 2020, https://www.latimes.com/science/story/2020-10-05/trump-dexamethasone-covid-19-condition
  23. [23]Mayo Clinic Proceedings, quoted in Melissa Healy, “Trump received dexamethasone for COVID-19. Here’s what that says about his condition,” Los Angeles Times, October 5, 2020, https://www.latimes.com/science/story/2020-10-05/trump-dexamethasone-covid-19-condition
  24. [24]Melissa Healy, “Trump received dexamethasone for COVID-19. Here’s what that says about his condition,” Los Angeles Times, October 5, 2020, https://www.latimes.com/science/story/2020-10-05/trump-dexamethasone-covid-19-condition
  25. [25]Soo Kim, “Donald Trump ‘Gasping for Air’ Video Raises Questions About President’s Health,” Newsweek, October 6, 2020, https://www.newsweek.com/coronavirus-donald-trump-breathing-difficulty-gasping-air-white-house-hospital-discharge-1536598

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