"How did you find out over the weekend that you were dead?"

Yesterday, in the Oval Office, Peter Doocy asked Trump: "How did you find out over the weekend that you were dead?... People didn't see you for a couple days, 1.3 million user engagements as of Saturday morning about your demise. "

TRUMP: "Really? I didn't see that. You know, I have heard — it's sort of crazy — but last week I did numerous news conferences, all successful. They went very well. Like this is going very well. And then I didn't do any for two days and they said there must be something wrong with him. Biden wouldn't do them for months. You wouldn't see him. And nobody ever said there was ever anything wrong with him. And we know he wasn't in the greatest of shape. No, I heard that. I get reports now. You knew I did an interview that lasted for about an hour and a half with somebody and everybody saw that was on one of your competitors. Uh I did numerous uh shows and also did a number of Truths, long Truths. I think pretty poignant Truths. No, I was very active over the weekend. They also knew I went out to visit some people at the at the club that I own pretty nearby on the Potomac River. And no, I've been very active actually over the weekend. I didn't hear that one. That's pretty serious...."

Also, at 31:20, Doocy gets another question and asks about the mysterious throwing of something out of a White House window.

"Vice President JD Vance's... comments about being prepared to assume the presidency in case of a 'terrible tragedy' befalling President Trump set tongues wagging."

"The timing of these remarks drew attention within the political landscape as keyboard warriors started connecting dots to the prominent bruise on Trump's right hand that went viral.... The story has generated substantial engagement on social media platforms, particularly on X. Below are some tweets...."

From "'Trump is Dead' trends on X: J D Vance's remark over US president sparks frenzy; Simpsons prediction adds fuel" (Times of India).

The current state of taunting on X.

pic.twitter.com/dBMncejFBI

— Trish A (@NtvSocialBtrfly) August 25, 2025

Savannah Guthrie interrupted Trump aggressively and actively battled him throughout last night's town hall, but she failed to pin him down and left me still wondering...

... whether Trump failed to get tested the day of the debate with Joe Biden. That debate was September 29th. Look at how annoyingly evasive Trump is and how Guthrie never figures out the right question to do anything more than exaggerate the annoying evasiveness. 

I want a clear answer to the question whether it's possible that Trump already had the coronavirus during the debate and whether, suspecting that he was becoming ill, he avoided getting tested on the day of the debate. 

From the transcript:

Trump is doing a full-scale rally right now.

 You can watch here.

ADDED: He says he’s immune to Covid now so he wants to walk into the audience and KISS everyone — including “the beautiful women.”

"'I Feel Like I Have Dementia': Brain Fog Plagues Covid Survivors/The condition is affecting thousands of patients, impeding their ability to work and function in daily life."

The NYT reports.

It’s becoming known as Covid brain fog: troubling cognitive symptoms that can include memory loss, confusion, difficulty focusing, dizziness and grasping for everyday words....

“There are thousands of people who have that,” said Dr. Igor Koralnik, chief of neuro-infectious disease at Northwestern Medicine in Chicago, who has already seen hundreds of survivors at a post-Covid clinic he leads.... Leading theories are that it arises when the body’s immune response to the virus doesn’t shut down or from inflammation in blood vessels leading to the brain.... 

“It is debilitating,” said Rick Sullivan, 60, of Brentwood, Calif.... “I become almost catatonic. It feels as though I am under anesthesia.”... 

When [Erica] Taylor, 31, contracted the virus in mid-June, she thought she’d need only a brief break... One morning, “everything in my brain was white static,” she said. “I was sitting on the edge of the bed, crying and feeling ‘something’s wrong, I should be asking for help,’ but I couldn’t remember who or what I should be asking. I forgot who I was and where I was.”... She resumed working in early August, but her mind wandered and reading emails was “like reading Greek,” she said. By September, her employer urged a 13-week leave. “They finally landed on ‘You’re going to have to step away,’” said Ms. Taylor, who requested to volunteer for the nonprofit while on leave but was told no. “I’m gutted, to be honest.”

Much more at the link. Very disturbing stories. I hope this will be read and understood by those of you who've taken to saying that you hope you just get the disease and so you can get past it.  

And what if President Trump were experiencing symptoms of this kind. Would he admit it? I don't think he would. Perhaps he wouldn't even admit it to himself, but I'm pretty sure he'd tell us he feels great, tippy-top.

"I will be leaving the great Walter Reed Medical Center today at 6:30 P.M. Feeling really good! Don’t be afraid of Covid. Don’t let it dominate your life."

"We have developed, under the Trump Administration, some really great drugs & knowledge. I feel better than I did 20 years ago!"

Tweeted Trump a few minutes ago.

AND: Look what that means. Apart from the news item — he feels good and is about to leave the hospital — we can see the beginning of his new framing of the covid issue: Fear not! Don't let it run your life! We have great treatments, great medical personnel! It's the new-old Trump optimism. He's still advocating getting out and living your life. He's been through the illness and what he's learned is, it's not so bad. I'm sure his opponents will pounce with recitations of the number who have died — 215,000!! They'll take the side of closing up, locking down, hiding your face, waiting and waiting to get back to life. They may be right, but maybe people will vote for what they want: Freedom! Back to normal! Don't be afraid!

"Has Trump guaranteed himself the win by getting coronavirus and showing a more human side?"

Asks somebody on Quora. The top-rated answer comes Mark VandeWettering:

No, I don’t think so. If there is one thing I have to give Trump, his popularity has been remarkably consistent throughout his Presidency. Not actually good, mind you, but at least consistent. But I think that this bout with COVID-19 so close to the election isn’t going to actually boost him, and very well might hurt him. First of all, he’s sick because of his disdain for the consensus opinions for science and medicine.... Trump’s policies couldn’t even protect himself. He’s likely to recover... He apparently hasn’t learned much at all about showing a more human side. His followers will likely continue to follow, all the while tutting about how we should show empathy for him as he recovers in a luxurious, dedicated suite at Walter Reed. But I don’t think he’s going to gain a lot of followers.

Second-highest rated, from Wayne Spillett:

"Yet upon learning that the fascist, Kremlin-controlled, Nazi-like dictator had become ill, Maddow launched a one-woman crusade demanding that her fellow liberals pray earnestly for his recovery."

"She first posted an extremely effusive tweet: 'God bless the president and the first lady. If you pray, please pray for their speedy and complete recovery…' Presumably in response to widespread liberal confusion and criticisms — wait, you spent four years telling us he’s a fascist racist Nazi-like despot and now you insist that we pray for his health? — Maddow devoted a segment on her show in which, with great passion and emotion, she urged her viewers to react to Trump’s COVID diagnosis with the same compassion and through the same prism as if a friend who smokes cigarettes learned she had lung cancer.... There are a few potential explanations that may account for this extremely unusual and confounding behavior of praying for, rather than against, the well-being of a fascist dictator. Perhaps Democratic leaders are simply pretending to be hoping for Trump’s well-being for political purposes while secretly hoping that he suffers and dies. Or perhaps national Democratic politicians have ascended to a state of spiritual elevation rarely seen in modern political history, in which they are capable of praying for even those they most dislike, including ones they believe are imposing fascism on their nation? Or perhaps, maybe more likely, Democratic leaders do not really believe the things they have spent four years saying about Trump...."

Writes Glenn Greenwald in "Why Are Democrats Praying for the Speedy Recovery of a 'Fascist Dictator'?/People typically rejoice over, not lament, the death of someone they genuinely believe is a fascist dictator'" (The Intercept).

"Joe Biden tested negative for the coronavirus for the third time since he was potentially exposed at Tuesday’s presidential debate, his campaign said Sunday night."

"The Democratic nominee is not yet in the clear, however, because most people incubate the virus for two to 14 days before testing positive or showing symptoms," WaPo reports. "President Trump, meanwhile, could be discharged from the hospital as early as Monday, his doctors said."

"It's been a very interesting journey. I learned a lot about covid. I learned it by really going to school. This is the real school. This isn't the let's-read-the-book school. And I get it. And I understand it. And it's a very interesting thing."

pic.twitter.com/0Bm9W2u1x7

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 4, 2020

President Trump, wearing a mask, rides by his supporters outside Walter Reed while in the back of a Suburban. pic.twitter.com/nsCJyYXHdK

— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) October 4, 2020

"President Trump’s doctors said his condition was improving and he could be discharged from the hospital as soon as Monday..."

"... but also acknowledged that his oxygen levels have dropped twice, most recently on Saturday. After days of contradictory information from doctors and advisers, the president’s physician, Dr. Sean Conley, again briefed reporters Sunday at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, saying his condition 'continues to improves.'.... Asked why he didn’t offer the more serious details about the president’s condition at a briefing Saturday, Dr. Conley said: 'I was trying to reflect the upbeat attitude that the team, that the president, through this course of illness, has had. I didn’t want to give any information that would steer the course of illness in another direction and in doing so it came off that we were trying to hide something, which wasn’t necessarily true.'"

The Wall Street Journal reports, without raising my level of enlightenment. Wasn’t necessarily true?! At least Conley's forthright about not being forthright, but how can I believe anything he says? Conley talks about Trump the way Trump talks about the virus. He wants to keep it "upbeat."

It's the old "Power of Positive Thinking" — the Norman Vincent Peale self-help that Trump has long embraced:

Psychologist Martin Seligman, former APA president and founder of positive psychology... writes that, “positive thinking often involves trying to believe upbeat statements such as 'Every day, in every way, I’m getting better and better,' in the absence of evidence, or even in the face of contrary evidence.”... Similarly, Donald Meyer, in his book The Positive Thinkers, critiques the effectiveness of Peale's techniques saying that Peale always “reacted to the image of harshness with flight rather than competitive fight.” Meyer later quotes Peale as saying, “No man, however resourceful or pugnacious, is a match for so great an adversary as a hostile world. He is at best a puny and impotent creature quite at the mercy of the cosmic and social forces in the midst of which he dwells." Meyer argues that positive thinking is disempowering to the individual; for, Peale presents individuals as weak compared to the “hostile world” with only the help of his techniques to overcome negative circumstances....

"Until we see how Trump’s condition progresses, it’s impossible to say where the election campaign will go from here."

"The possibilities range from Trump making a rapid recovery and resuming his campaign, perhaps virtually at the start, to him becoming incapacitated and having to transfer power, at least on a temporary basis, to Vice-President Mike Pence, who so far has tested negative for the virus. In a worst-case scenario, Trump could be forced to withdraw from the race. The Republican National Committee, which is made up of officials from across the country, would then have to select a new candidate—presumably Pence. Given the calendar, things could get complicated...."

From "Trump’s Hospitalization Is Another Challenge for Democratic Norms" by John Cassidy (The New Yorker). Go to the link or elsewhere for details on the complications of swapping in Pence for Trump at this late date. Assuming it can be done, are you hoping to see this swap?

All the attacks have been focused on Trump, the man, and we can see in the polls that Trump is way behind. Make the candidate Pence and suddenly nearly all the arguments that Biden has used disappear. Biden would have to refocus, this late in the game, on Mike Pence, about whom one might say: He's articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy — that's a storybook, man.

What do you think of swapping in Mike Pence for Trump? (You can pick multiple answers.)

It's too complicated procedurally.

It's not fair to the Democrats, who've focused their attack on Trump.

It's too disrespectful to Trump, who deserves special sympathy now.

Clever, but maybe too clever. It might feel wrong to people.

It would demonstrate wisdom and flexibility on the part of the GOP.

Mike Pence isn't that good. People want Trump.

It depends almost entirely on how much Trump declines.

If Pence does well enough in the VP debate, then it will become a good idea.

I'm offended by this poll. We should be concentrating on praying for Trump's speedy recovery.

 

pollcode.com free polls

Fake news comes around after going around.

I can't decide what's funnier: having the president sign a blank piece of paper with a giant Sharpie like a child, or sending the photos with the EXIF data that shows they were staged and taken 10 minutes apart: https://t.co/RROmRqBUZs

— Caitlin Murray (@caitlinmurr) October 4, 2020

AND:

The difference in Trump's complexion between Tuesday (left) and Saturday (right) is jarring pic.twitter.com/qNdKORSspt

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 3, 2020

Yes, now we — finally! — know the orange is makeup, not tanning or fake tan.

"The man whose father told him there are only killers and zeros, the man who cruelly castigated others as losers, the man who was taught to fear losing above all else..."

"... has been doing some very public losing of his own. Upsetting as it is to see the president and first lady facing a mortal threat — and the glee and memes from some on the left were vulgar — it was undeniable that reality was crashing in on the former reality star.... Tuesday’s debate pierced another reality that Trump had been hawking on Fox for months — that his opponent was an addled husk who would need performance drugs to stand at the podium, and that Trump would stride in like a colossus and clobber him in a trice. Instead, the ugly reality was there for all to see: Trump was truculent, whiny and nasty, and Joe Biden was fine. Trump was indecent, on everything from white supremacists to Hunter Biden’s addiction, and Biden was decent. And, in the end, the con man in the Oval Office could not con the virus. He was a perverse Pied Piper of contagion, luring crowds to his rallies and events on the White House lawn, even as he mocked the safety measures recommended by his own government, sidelined and undermined Dr. Anthony Fauci, and turned the mask into a symbol of blue-state wimpiness.... It seemed inevitable that Trump would get infected, given his insouciance on the issue of protective measures combined with his age, weight and ambitious travel schedule. He seemed oddly intent on tempting fate...."

That's Maureen Dowd, detailing the narrative arc of tragedy, in "Reality Bursts the Trumpworld Bubble/In a moment that feels biblical, the implacable virus has come to the president’s door" (NYT).

"BPP. That should be the name of the channel. Big Potential Problems."

I say out loud, overhearing CNN heads yammering after the President's doctor gave his little press briefing. There must be problems. They commentators are urgently, fervently trying to scare up some Orange-Man-Bad news. I hear the phrase "big potential problems" and start writing this post. Before I can get to the end, I hear "potentially disturbing revelations." The word "potential" appears over and over. They're so hot to come up with some stories, just brainstorming in front of the cameras. We're laughing.

UPDATE: Now they've reported that Chris Christie — who was involved in Trump's debate prep — has tested positive.

Also on CNN, Dr. Sanjay Gupta nails the serious anti-Trump theme: "It could have been avoided with basic public health measures." Yes, why wasn't Trump scrupulously protected? I presume he chose not to accept the protection, and that protecting the President from disease is not like protecting him from other kinds of physical threats, where security experts overrule the President's preference.

"If Trump and Pence both get very sick, it’s not clear who would be president/President Pelosi? Invoking the Succession Act would lead to chaos."

That's the headline on a May 20, 2020 WaPo article by lawprof Sanford V. Levinson, which is getting tweeted about this morning as there's a lot of wild talk about Nancy Pelosi becoming the first woman President laterally — that is, breaking not the glass ceiling by opening the glass window that never had a working lock anyway.

It's good to have some sober, thoughtful, professional analysis standing by:

Should only the president become ill, then the vice president can take over, following the protocol laid out in the 25th Amendment. But if the vice president becomes incapacitated as well, then we could face a constitutional crisis. It would be triggered by the inadequacies of the Presidential Succession Act passed in 1947 (when there was no vice president, because Harry Truman had succeeded Franklin D. Roosevelt)....

This is hate speech against the disabled — the idea that if you have something physically wrong with you, you can't do your job.

He should resign immediately.

— Jennifer 'Vote Early' Rubin (@JRubinBlogger) October 2, 2020

The shocking/not shocking headline this morning is: "Trump Tests Positive for the Coronavirus."

Subheadline — in the NYT — imposes the narrative: "The president’s result came after he spent months playing down the severity of the outbreak that has killed more than 207,000 in the United States and hours after insisting that 'the end of the pandemic is in sight.'"

When did this begin? Was he sick at the debate? I thought he looked weary, and his performance was off. He seemed under-powered at his Minnesota rally the next day. Did he expose Joe Biden? Both Trump and Joe have extra vulnerability.

Can we stop talking about what Trump failed to say exactly right about white supremacy as the debate? That was already over-played.

The VP debate next week looms large. We've been talking about how Kamala Harris is perhaps secretly the real presidential candidate, and now we can say the same thing about Mike Pence.