Will Republicans forget that Trump held 3 rallies without masks and social distancing?

Republicans are very forgiving when it’s their own, but if the problem is from the left they never forget.

I hadn’t even thought of forgiveness. Interesting.

Let’s see…Do I want to forgive Trump for not wearing a face mask or do I want full blown socialism and the end of capitalism. Hmmmm (TRUMP 2020).

At least Biden isn’t a pedophile.

@gondwanalon So, is that what it is regarding Trump? You forgive him for encouraging people to not wear masks? You won’t forget about it, and you agree he was wrong?

Yeah if Trump gets back in it will be the end of full blown democracy,hello dictatorship .

At this point, no one who supports Trump will change their minds. They have drank the kool-aid, and will follow him over the cliff. They are lemmings.

Very true @filmfann Trump could indeed walk out into the street and shoot someone and they would scream fake news, or blame the victim for getting in the way of his bullet.

Trump didn’t put in an order. This has nothing to do with dictatorship.

I don’t care that he didn’t wear a mask himself. He’s usually the person speaking, When asked before he would say everyone is distanced from him. I can see how Republicans will cling to that. On the other hand, he was not clearly saying wear a mask it will slow the spread. He did nothing to reinforce mask wearing will help the country. It’s interesting he said it’s patriotic. Why do you think he chose that wording?

The rallies he purposefully put people close together for hours with no mask. Republicans will forgive him? What are they forgiving? That he did what he thought his extremist followers would like, to get their votes even if people got sick? Or, do they think he also thought masks are worthless and bad? He never said the latter. That was just messaging in social media that had no real validity. Do you think he realizes the economy will tank if people don’t start wearing masks? What changed?

I cannot for the life of me understand why my response was moderated. But in short, how is it a dictatorship, @SQUEEKY2 , to not require masks?

I would say the opposite. A one-size-fits-all approach requiring by law everyone do the same thing, regardless of circumstances, is a dictatorship,

Trump has stated very clearly that he likes masks, and seems to be doing it for the right reasons, but is giving people individual choice, not signing a law or mandate, which would be dictatorial indeed,

If individual businesses and proprietors of events, such as rallies, gatherings, summer camps, etc. wish to require them, so be it. But Trump’s position is to not sign it into law,

I will get a bit more strict with my own position, that they should be worn in large or tight public gatherings and government events, such as the Drivers License bureau, the tax office—and venues where people have to stand in line. But if people have an option to attend and can distance themselves and use hand sanitizer then its really a judgement call as to whether people should be forced to leave them on.

@Yellowdog I didn’t see your moderated answer so I don’t know what happened there. Maybe ask the mods?

Trump isn’t putting in a mask order. Not that I know of.

There is no new information. Trump has watched for MONTHS countries that have been successful at controlling the virus and ones that haven’t. The ones that have done well wear masks or did a complete lockdown much much stricter than anything we did here, or both.

Trump didn’t seem against masks to me, he seemed to be responding, or playing, to the Trump supporters who rejected masks. He wasn’t leading, but rather just using whatever riles them up. Masks are the recent thing. This is what he does. He takes the issues Republicans are already trigger happy on and uses them.

How do you explain the maskless people at the rallies? Do you think Trump just made a mistake?

My guess is he had to change direction for a few reasons. One, he probably had pressure from the Republican party leaders. Governors are having to close down or severely hamper commerce. Two, the convention is coming up and these are not random people who don’t wear masks, these are electors and leaders who will not take the risk of hours in a room without a mask. Three, polls are showing Trump is losing ground.

Many local councils are not voting for the masks because they swore to uphold the Constitution. Dems don’t seem to understand the concept so it’s not a poor reflection on Trump, to Reps. Anyone was free to wear a mask or exercise their right to not wear a mask. ‘Murica.

@KNOWITALL So that’s true of seat belts as well? Or abortion too, I guess? Murica!

Or pants, @janbb! :-)

@KNOWITALL At first I wasn’t so concerned about putting in mask orders. I felt with the information out there people would comply. My governor has worn a mask for MONTHS and his advisory has been to wear a mask when you can’t distance, and especially to wear a mask inside. He warned not to be in large groups, even saying a ten person dinner party with friends is higher risk in his opinion. Floridians didn’t seem to hear what he has been saying. The news doesn’t pick up the information. When our numbers first started to spike in Florida cable news caught DeSantis responding “it’s going up because people aren’t wearing masks” and the media pounced on that as his fault because he didn’t put in the order. They failed to recognize he is saying wear a mask!

Should there have to be an order? It seems a portion of the population needs orders either to be able to say its out of their control or because people don’t pay attention unless there is an order. I mean that literally, they just aren’t watching the news or keeping up, like I don’t expect a 22 year old to bother to wear a mask unless there is an order. Not because of politics or intelligence, just they aren’t tuning in to what’s going on they are watching Netflix.

Now, we have the president not putting in an order, but reinforcing masks are good. I think it will help. I hope so. Previously, the president was asking for maskless faces in rallies. Why?

@JLeslie: Now Trump is on the mask bandwagon, or at least he says he is, but I think it’s too late. Masks have become politicized. Not wearing a mask has become “I won’t live in fear.” Not wearing a mask has become “We have rights and nobody can take those rights from us.” Not wearing a mask has become “make an excuse why you can’t wear it and they can’t make you. Just say you have a medical condition and nobody can question it.” It’s sad.

I refuse to wear pants or underwear in public, because FREEDUM!!! But they keep arresting me for it – a clear violation of my constitutional rights!

@All I’ve always wore a mask and been home FIVE months now. That doesn’t mean you can’t listen to different points of view and try to understand and empathize.
Get a grip. It’s not unconstitutional during a pandemic, I get it, but that’s where anti-maskers are coming from.

Sorry, but I can’t empathize with people who actively put others in danger.

@KNOWITALL and @jca2 The majority of my Republican friends have also worn masks and have been fairly conservative about going out.

I feel like some anti-maskers got swept up in messaging from some extremists who are working hard to divide the country. I do think some of them will now wear a mask and not feel internal conflict now that Trump has delivered this message of patriotism. I hope so. Many Republicans I know have been trying to persuade others to wear masks.

There will still be extreme people who refuse. Some of them are convinced masks make them sick, it is above and beyond the politics, even though it is a political goal at work. Others see the whole covid thing as a conspiracy.

One of my friends who is off on the most extreme of extremes regarding masks and believing Biden means we become a communist country will never wear a mask probably. Another of my no mask friends isn’t taking up arms to fight for democracy and capitalism but she leaves all the shopping to her husband who works in a supermarket.

@Darth That’s how Reps feel about protesters who have been unmasked. Goes both ways, sir.

@JLeslie To me, the more questions like this politicize it, the less safe we all are. Fact is there are all kinds of people who refuse to take it seriously. I think many of our country’s leaders could have been better examples. Even our StL Dem mayor was at the lake mask free this last weekend taking photo’s etc… He has apologized but it’s bipartisan failures.

@KNOWITALL Was your politician in a crowd? I think it’s fine to be at a lake mask free with ones family members who they live with distanced from others. However, I do understand your point, because Democrats seem quick to accuse anyone mask free in any situation as horrible. I’ve taken issue with this too, because it’s an unclear message and at least on the surface appears hypocritical. I think we basically agree on this.

Governor Cuomo was clear in the beginnings of this epidemic to say over and over to distance from people in public if they don’t live in your home. I felt like he was trying to tell people to remember 3 people not distancing might not be breaking the rules.

I know people who have a few trusted friends and don’t worry about distancing and wearing masks within that very small group. I think that reasonable too. All the friends are very careful outside of the group wearing masks and distancing in all other situations.

Cuomo has said time and time again that if you’re on a city street and nobody is around, feel free to be without the mask. However, if you’re on the street corner, near others, then wear the mask. Just like if you’re outside by yourself or with your family members, not near anybody else, don’t need the mask. If you’re sitting on a park bench, no mask needed. However, if you’re in a store, or lobby of the restaurant, or outside near others, then wear the mask.

I do see people getting rabidly mad on social media about people in public without the mask on, even though the people are not near others, and to me, that makes no sense.

I have friends on Facebook that very proudly proclaim that they will not wear a mask, they won’t live in fear, and they’ll make up some medical issue which they all tell each other nobody can ask you what your issue is. They seem to be very proud of not wanting to wear the mask and that nobody can make you.

@JLeslie Yes he was in a crowd and taking pics.

I just don’t agree it’s all Reps and Trump, which seems to be a popular lie. I have protest pics on my phone of unmasked protesters and rioters publicly posted, so it’s irritating to keep hearing about three rallys with no mention of three months of protests.

I uploaded one protest pic as an example, in my profile pic. You can clearly see unmasked BLM protesters. Others had masks on in the background.

@KNOWITALL: A quick google search will easily find BLM protests where people don’t have masks on, but will also find white supremacy protests and other MAGA protests 2020 where people have no masks on.

Here’s a summary of what I’m seeing on FB: “If masks work and this virus has over a 95 % recovery rate why did the country have to nearly collapse financially, and why are we still partially shut down? Is there a logical reason why protesting is not a problem but large gatherings for barbecues, church functions, or some beaches are still closed? Is there a logical reason why Disney & Walmart’s are all open, but bars & some restaurants still can’t eat inside?”

@jca2 Yep, that’s why I said it’s a bipartisan issue.

@JLeslie Also, it was the KC Mayor who was unmasked in public. Democrat.

https://www.kmbc.com/article/kansas-city-missouri-i-regret-it-mayor-lucas-addresses-mask-less-lake-photo-circulating-social-media-covid-19-coronavirus/33367953#

I understood he was a Democrat. That’s why I agree with you about the hypocrisy. I assume he wears a mask sometimes though.

My experience is similar to @jca2.’s I don’t see any Democrats adamant about not wearing masks. The BLM protesting, especially initially, I think maybe had some Republicans in them, and also I’d say true that Democrats were so emotional the mask wasn’t forward in their mind. Moreover, the initial protests were in Minnesota which was not so affected by covid back then, so probably lots of people were more lax in that state weeks ago. When I saw protests in NYC almost everyone was masked and I saw people handing out masks. I even saw a doctor on Fox News a couple of weeks ago say the protests didn’t seem to cause any spike in covid in NY, and she said she attributed it to mask wearing. The Fox News host didn’t seem happy with her answer. BLM quickly shifted to a political divide unfortunately.

The no mask people I come across are all Trump voters. They are extremely worked up about not wearing a mask. Some of them identify as Libertarians, but they vote Republican. Others identify Independent, but they vote Republican. Some are Republicans. I’m sure there are Democrats not wearing masks all the time, but they are not the ones telling people to not wear a mask, they are not the ones trying to terrorize people saying masks are bad, they are not the ones trying to persuade others to not wear a mask, and they mask up for the grocery stores and whenever asked.

Right now the redder states are suffering with big upticks in covid cases. I say redder, because my state is very purple. We have a tremendous amount of tourism, we have a lot working against us. I’m hoping the mask orders help. I think if we had had a mask order in the state all along it would have helped avoid this big surge we are having, but we also had the problem of the bars, which were crowded and no masks.

@JLeslie While I see cases rising in red states and hope they don’t surpass blue states, with it being vacation season across the country, I certainly don’t think red states are immune.
I’ll happily read any articles or source material for your opinion though.

7/01/20
Even the NY Times says Reps are now masking up and we all know that’s biased journalism.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/01/world/coronavirus-updates.html#link-332b9d9f

7/10/20
The truth is we don’t yet know with any degree of certainty why blue states have suffered more throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s safe to say numerous variables—health care system quality and access, underlying health and age of the population, policy decisions, habits of hygiene, etc.—all play a role.
...
For now, however, the record is clear: blue states have experienced far worse devastation from COVID-19.

https://catalyst.independent.org/2020/07/10/blue-states-covid-19/

@KNOWITALL: The Catalyst is a project of the Independent Institute. If the NY Times is not to be trusted because you think it’s left-wing, then the Independent is not to be trusted because it’s right wing. Looking at the staff of the Catalyst and then looking at the Independent, I see that I’m right.

https://www.independent.org/

@jca2 The only two links on this biased Q is from you and myself. I’ll take that as a win on this site.

@KNOWITALL As I said I do have plenty of Republican friends masking up. I think the virus went to, and exploded in, CITIES that have a lot of international travel and densely populated. Moreover, a lot of the cities have public transportation, plus lots of touch points like elevator buttons. It’s similar to the electoral college map of the US that colors an entire state one color when we know there might be a lot of the other color within the state, the same has happened with covid. NYS has a lot of red actually, it is just that NYC is heavily populated, and the city has a lot of Democrats. Miami has a very very large Republican population and the mayor of the county and the mayor of Miami the city are both Republicans. However, that county usually goes blue for presidential elections.

My friends in Michigan are almost all Republicans, and they all wear masks. One of my friends there is nervous about some of the messaging about the government trying to control us, but she believes masks will slow the spread of the virus.

The states in the middle of the country didn’t get a lot of initial cases, because they don’t have all of that travel in the winter from other places, especially not other countries and since the virus is an exponential growth, it is a sleeper for a few weeks before it gets huge. Middle of the country also tends to be more Republican. California, which is majority Democrat, should have been one of the worst states in the beginning, but that governor happened to pay attention to what was happening in Asia and Europe very early, and he mitigated very early. California is starting to have trouble now.

But, again, I don’t see any Democrats refusing to wear a mask or trying to tell people they shouldn’t wear masks. I am not trying to say all Republicans won’t wear masks, I am saying of all the people refusing to wear masks, they all seem to be Republicans, or Republican voters. They almost all seem to be part of the group that also thinks at least 4 or more of the following: Gates is trying to track everyone, Gates purposely gave Africans Polio, the government is going to try to force everyone to get a covid vaccine, we should be trying to achieve herd immunity by letting people get sick, they have strong immune systems and aren’t worried, they are right with God and aren’t worried, masks reduce your oxygen, masks mean you are afraid, the covid numbers are all lies, if masks work why do you care if I wear one, doesn’t your mask work, and Democrats are all Socialists.

I think it is interesting. We have had the discussion on a different thread about the efficiency of the masks most people wear. You all know I think they are useless and potentially a hazard. But there seems to be a worry about Trump holding rallies and having people not wearing masks. I get the worry. Yet when the George Floyd protests were going on, there were many not wearing masks or not wearing them right (i.e. nose sticking out). And there is zero worry about that. And it “seems“https://www.thecity.nyc/coronavirus/2020/6/14/21290963/nyc-covid-19-trackers-skipping-floyd-protest-questions-even-amid-fears-of-new-wave that the Dems are actively trying to avoid showing that had any impact at all. So if masks are the end-all-be-all, why do we not want to allow the virus trackers to actually do their jobs? Think they are told not to ask if people attended a Trump rally?

@JLeslie Interesting. In my area it’s a very mixed political crowd, but our area is historically pretty anti-big govt. Even in the war between the states, we were half and half on each side, because the govt was hated equally.

Here it’s mostly people who refuse to ‘bow to the govt masters’ when we’re seeing Florida and others with false test results which were heavily inflated. It’s hard to trust the numbers and change your life, when we keep hearing ‘corrections’.

We also saw the Florida Teachers Union suing the state about opening school. I don’t see that happening in our area, yet anyway.

@seawulf575 I honestly don’t think these cheap paper masks or homemade masks are much protection against anything either. I wear them to do my part, be the brick in the wall as our fluther doc told me, nothing more.
As I posted earlier, there is literally nothing that I found on Google showing red states have surpassed blue states, at this point. Quite the opposite actually. Perhaps it’s an age/ generational thing?

@KNOWITALL That is interesting that you don’t necessarily see the mask wearing along party lines. is that what you are saying?

Regarding Florida numbers, I noticed the positivity rate being screwy before that became news. There were a lot of labs reporting 100% positivity, which seemed impossible, even though in some situations very high positivity is not unusual. For instance in ER’s they usually see very high positivity rates, because people who are that critical tend to have covid this time of year, while people who schedule themselves for a covid test because they have cold symptoms more likely have a typical cold. Even so, it was blaring all of these 100% positivities showing up from labs daily. What I don’t know is if the positivity rate was recorded incorrectly, but the actual amount of positives possibly was accurate? Or, was the positive inaccurate also? I willingly admit there is data mistakes out there.

Even if 20% of the data is incorrect, there is still reason for people to be careful.

I always say, we don’t need government regulation if companies just behave with integrity. Regulations should be in line with what is ethical and moral to start. I see the same with masks. We don’t need the orders if people would just use masks, but too many people don’t. It would be better in my opinion if people just did it on their own, so the few people who truly have a problem wearing a mask can go maskless without fear of government or scrutiny. Maybe they can wear a shield or just distance. That would be a very small number and not a big deal. What if I forget my mask one day and I have to go to a store? I always wear a mask, but one day I forget and have to run this errand, because of these obstinate people now I have to worry about the government issuing me a ticket? Not where I live, we don’t have a mask order, but I mean as a general example.

It’s exhausting. It should not be necessary to involve orders, but it is because people are purposely putting false information out there about masks. As soon as masks are unnecessary the orders will be taken away.

I think of it similar to the curfews. I was the jelly saying protestors should obey curfews and if there is a curfew that is too strict then they should argue for a later curfew. I have a lot of experience with curfews, because we deal with them in Florida after hurricanes. As soon as they can lift the curfews they do. I have confidence the government only does them when needed and immediately gets rid of them when the danger is over.

I try to hold onto believing my local government wants to protect me, and try not to be afraid that they are trying to control me or harm me. What gets me through any worry is the history I have experienced here.

@JLeslie Correct. The general belief here is that with 80% of positives just being mild and not requiring hospitalization, they simply won’t put their lives on hold any longer.

Out of 293,086 people in our county, 9 have died, most in nursing homes.

My cousin who volunteered in NY during the spike a month or so ago has repeatedly been called a liar by people who have known her her entire life, when she posts about the dangers of Covid and not wearing masks and washing, etc… Even one of her own colleagues at the hospital. It’s disappointing.

@KNOWITALL: I don’t understand your comment.

@seawulf575: Was that supposed to be a link that’s buried in your comment? It didn’t work.

@jca2 My comment means I’m not going down the rabbit hole of arguing sources here, again, when I’m the only one who posted one to back up my claims. Per usual.

@KNOWITALL Wow. That’s exactly what I mean, some people won’t believe what is happening. Areas that have not been hard hit don’t believe the stories coming from the places that are very hard hit. Some of it I blame on the reporting. Like, Florida is reporting ICUs are full, but fail to say when a particular hospital can expand their ICU capability, and in fact most large hospitals in Florida can do just that. It is still important to know hospitals are filling with patients, but we (Floridians) want to know accurately is our hospital where we live FULL and if I get sick will I have no help, or is there still machines for oxygen available and staff available to help me.

My Republicans friends who have defected from Trump work in healthcare in hot cities. They have told their Republican parents not to vote for him, I think there is a good chance they will simply not vote for president at all. If Trump turns around the mask thing he might get their votes back. It will be interesting.

@JLeslie Sure, I believe that. I think adding partisanship has caused many to tune out, too.
I’ve even heard theories that Covid will disappear after the election in November.

@jca2 I’ try again.

@seawulf575: I took the Contact Tracer training, mandated for my job. We learned not to ask specifically but more general questions. If one were to ask “did you take part in the George Floyd protests” one may as well also ask “did you cheat on your spouse and if so, can I have that person’s name?” It’s more “Can you think about what you did the past few weeks” and stuff like that. Then the person says “well, I spoke to the landscaper when he came to get his check” and stuff like that.

@KNOWITALL “That’s how Reps feel about protesters who have been unmasked. Goes both ways, sir.”

You speak as if I give a flying fuck about political alignment here. I do not. I don’t care what your politics are – if you’re in public, around others, with no mask on then you’re a shitbag, period.

@Darth_Algar I couldn’t agree more actually.

Forget, nope. They are totally okay with it.

@Darth_Algar So then Dr. Fauci is a shitbag.

@seawulf575

Maybe he is. He’s also with his family and they’re setting well apart from anyone else in that photo. Try again.

@Darth_Algar Except only one of the people was his wife. The other wasn’t family. He also tried explaining it away saying he pulled his mask down to take a drink of water and then put it right back up again. Why lie about it? He wasn’t drinking water, he had his cell phone in his hand and was chatting with the guy to his right. Here’s another picture of that same game. Still no mask on and still not drinking water. So now I guess he’s a lying shitbag. And this pic shows that not only does HE not have a mask on, but the rest of the task force doesn’t either. So the entire task force are shitbags. But wait! No masks here. Gotta few here, but not all. Wow…lots of shitbags in DC it seems.

Oh shit, gee, you got me. Want a cookie now?

Maybe you shouldn’t be so judgemental, eh? Especially when it is so easy to toss you so many examples that show it to you.

Considering that I’m high risk I’ll be as judgemental as I please on this issue. I don’t give a shit if bothers you or not.

Gee…judgmental people are just shitbags.

@Darth_Algar O shit. I agree. Life is one big ball of shit.

I hope you’re including yourself in ,with your last post @seawulf575 .

@seawulf575

Is that supposed to bother me? I’ve been called worse by who mean much more to me than you do.

@SQUEEKY2 I do! I am a self-aware type of guy. But the jolly part is that I can admit to my faults which is far more than most on these pages.