They also have an existential problem.

The strongman myth requires a strongman. COVID was supposed to cull the weak, who would die willingly to save the "economy" for everyone else.

Q: What do you do when the leader himself is stricken with COVID?

A: Embellish the myth. https://twitter.com/RadioFreeTom/status/1312520462786674688">https://twitter.com/RadioFree...
In this evening& #39;s episode from the Trump Reality Show: Trump has COVID but he is mighty and strong! Unlike lesser mortals, the Great Leader ignores his symptoms and continues working by signing his name to blank papers while posing for cameras. https://twitter.com/AndrewFeinberg/status/1312587904015835142">https://twitter.com/AndrewFei...
This thread from last April by Austrian scholar @Natascha_Strobl explains why the Trump campaign and the GOP is facing an existential crisis now that GOP leadership, including Trump himself, have fallen ill with the disease. https://twitter.com/Natascha_Strobl/status/1247606764914302979">https://twitter.com/Natascha_...
In addition to the obvious: Voting has started, election day is a month away, Trump is down in the polls, doesn& #39;t have much time to turn this around--and isn& #39;t likely to do so from a hospital room.

But their bigger problem is the way the right-wing has been looking at COVID.
Right-wing extremists (fascists) despise the weak, the unmanly, and the soft. The idea is that "men are not men anymore, by nervous, urban, over-intellectualized" sickly weaklings.

Weakness is never worthy of protection and has to be cast out. https://twitter.com/Natascha_Strobl/status/1247607526323036161">https://twitter.com/Natascha_...
The weak "pulled the short straw" and should carry their burden with dignity. They claim that should they befall by the virus, they will look death calmly in the eye.

That& #39;s what Chris Christie was getting at last May when he said this https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="⤵️" title="Nach rechts zeigender Pfeil mit Krümmung nach unten" aria-label="Emoji: Nach rechts zeigender Pfeil mit Krümmung nach unten">
h/t @RMilspo
Strobl points out the overlap between herd immunity, the Fox-Trump-GOP idea that the weak should willingly die for the economy, and racial eugenics and anti-semitism.

Now Trump and GOP leadership is getting sick.

See where I& #39;m going with this? https://twitter.com/Natascha_Strobl/status/1247608975169916931">https://twitter.com/Natascha_...
The GOP was cool with it when stats showed that the virus disproportionally affected minority communities.

I assumed that the Fox-Trump-GOP protected themselves and their own families while encouraging OTHERS to die for the economy.

Maybe not https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="⤵️" title="Nach rechts zeigender Pfeil mit Krümmung nach unten" aria-label="Emoji: Nach rechts zeigender Pfeil mit Krümmung nach unten">
@claudiamconwayy let us all know that her mother recklessly endangered the family by believing the president.

Here Strobl explains that we& #39;d expect the right-wing to want to protect their own, but they don& #39;t. https://twitter.com/Natascha_Strobl/status/1247608109536772097">https://twitter.com/Natascha_...
They view COVID as the great sorter: The weak will succumb. The strong can fight it off an thrive.

Now Trump is sick with this particular disease, along with a rapidly growing list of GOP leaders and White House advisors.

Reality doesn& #39;t always follow the script.
If for some reason Trump is no longer the nominee, his name stays on the ballot. Voting has started. The ballots can& #39;t be redone. But the Republican Party leadership (according to their rules) designate the ticket, probably Pence/ Haley. https://twitter.com/DrKCain/status/1312697674341199872">https://twitter.com/DrKCain/s...
We all know how the GOP would react should Biden get sick.

As @Natascha_Strobl explains, mocking the weak is fascist behavior.

The existential threat to the Trump campaign is that he will be classified with the weak. https://twitter.com/Telegraph/status/1312139978722275328">https://twitter.com/Telegraph...
Given the latest NBC/WSJ poll (Trump 39% and Biden 54%) the guy you quote is right: progressives would be shocked.

The question is: What will he do when that doesn& #39;t happen? What will he do when confronted with proof that his Leader isn& #39;t invincible? https://twitter.com/shanikom/status/1312663636016496640">https://twitter.com/shanikom/...
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