So is it still a "hoax"?
Debunked... from CNN, FactCheck & Snopes of all people (you know that's bad when they agree)
https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/17/politics/joe-biden-campaign-ad-trump-coronavirus-hoax-fact-check/index.html
Full Speech:
"Now the Democrats are politicizing the coronavirus -- you know that right? Coronavirus. They're politicizing it. We did one of the great jobs. You say, "How's President Trump doing?" They go, "Oh, not good, not good." They have no clue. They don't have any clue. They can't even count their votes in Iowa. They can't even count. No, they can't. They can't count their votes.
One of my people came up to me and said, "Mr. President, they tried to beat you on Russia, Russia, Russia. That didn't work out too well. They couldn't do it. They tried the impeachment hoax. That was on a perfect conversation. They tried anything. They tried it over and over. They'd been doing it since you got in." It's all turning. They lost. It's all turning. Think of it. Think of it. And this is their new hoax."
The next day Trump was asked about this comment and tried to clarify what he said, claiming he was "referring to the action that [the Democrats] take to try and pin this on somebody, because we've done such a good job. The hoax is on them."
He's clearly calling them politicizing & criticizing his handling of it as the hoax.
My inference being all the people out there who having been calling this virus a hoax from the start.
Now that the president has it, do they think its still a hoax?
Part of the problem is repeating this disinformation that the president called it a hoax. It's a double edged sword...while attempting to humiliate the president by taking his words out of context, those same dishonest people are empowering other people to believe that it is a non-existent virus. Those same people then get upset when Trump supporters say that the virus is a hoax.
No, I get upset when people call it a hoax because people are legitimately dying out there because of this awful disease. I know that from firsthand.
If Trump getting sick actually convinces some of these people that its not a hoax, its a good thing.
So do I. Unfortunately there is a decent portion of Trump's supporters that are not very informed people. It's why I'm a bit upset when I see people/media credit Trump as calling it a hoax and the Biden campaign ad in the video repeating the disinformation. There's really no reason to egg those people on.
But is Trump an informed person?
Let me ask you - if you were president in the midst of a once a century pandemic, and you knew (which he does) that a portion of the population (and more importantly a portion that really listens to you) think that the pandemic is a hoax and there’s nothing to worry about, what would you do? Would say everything’s ok, it’ll be to zero in a week? Would you mock or minimize mask wearing? Would you talk almost exclusively about the good numbers going in the right direction?
Or.... might you at some point say “listen America THIS IS NO HOAX, take it seriously, follow the guidelines, don’t buy into tge idea that this isn’t real - it’s real”.
How would you address the hoax-sayers if you were an informed President?