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Americans losing faith in what Trump says about the coronavirus: Reuters/Ipsos

debian3 7y ago
“And 98% of Americans said they would not try to inject themselves with bleach or other disinfectants if they got the coronavirus, including 98% of Democrats and 98% of Republicans. That is a near-unanimous rejection of an idea that Trump floated at a time of widespread anxiety about the virus.” Why is that 2% haven’t been eliminated by evolution.
- krallja 7y ago
  One problem with polling is that people answer contrary to their own actual beliefs. They didn’t hear the question right, or they misspoke and are too embarrassed to correct it, or they’re trolling the pollster.
  - Gibbon1 7y ago
    Yeah it's like the false positives that plague attempts to measure rates of covid19. If you ask about briefs vs boxers the errors cancel. Run with scissors yay or nay, it doesn't.
- mindslight 7y ago
  It's worth pointing out that it is this article itself that is equating "injecting bleach" with "idea that Trump floated". He did not actually say to inject bleach. So did the 2% hear the question wrong, answer on expected party lines, would approve of a doctor doing it, partisan trolling, or who knows? FWIW I think what Trump actually did say demonstrates a gross misunderstanding of basic physical knowledge and common sense, typical of empty headed business types. And while another mentally incompetent person could take his words as inspiration to inject themselves with disinfectants, he didn't literally promote this. It doesn't serve truth to exaggerate that he did. (The terrifying thought is that this kerfuffle was actually a product of him trying to operate in an open minded brainstorming mode. It's not actually a result of him acting stupidly, but rather a product of him trying to be the smartest he can be)
- downshun 7y ago
  > eliminated by evolution You mean natural selection, and it doesn't select towards perfection https://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/evo_32 https://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/evo_32 Great news: it means you're part of the select 2% by some other measure! Good job.
- yellowapple 7y ago
  What's interesting to me is that a whole 2% of Democrats are willing to inject themselves with household cleaners, too. I.E. that the number of people who think "this just might work!" is consistent across party lines.
- selimthegrim 7y ago
  These are probably somewhere holed up with the mysterious black David Duke supporters in polls.
eutropia 7y ago
If extrapolated literally, 6.6 million US citizens think it's not a terrible idea to inject bleach to fight coronavirus. Explains the more than doubling of poison control center calls after those reckless comments..
- forgot_my_pwd 7y ago
  No one was saying to inject bleach. And Trump was probably just crudely restating some experimental treatment he had heard about in one of his many briefings. Speculative disinfectant treatments have been mentioned. It's a very minor issue and clearly grasping for a smear by the President's opponents. Anyone who tried to drink bleach because of Trump's offhand comments that in no way endorsed doing so is beyond help or hope.
  - EdwardDiego 7y ago
    True, he merely suggested it _could_ be injected. > And then I see the disinfectant, where it knocks it out in a minute. One minute. And is there a way we can do something like that, by injection inside or almost a cleaning. Because you see it gets in the lungs and it does a tremendous number on the lungs. So it would be interesting to check that. So, that, you're going to have to use medical doctors with. But it sounds—it sounds interesting to me. But getting hung up on whether he gave a direct imperative to inject bleach, or merely floated it as something that could be worthwhile is a case of not seeing the wood for the trees. It doesn't help that the Venn diagram of people who were already self-medicating (or worse, medicating their children) with bleach and people who support Trump probably has a significant intersection. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/13/health/drinking-bleach-autism-cancer.html https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/13/health/drinking-bleach-au...
    - forgot_my_pwd 7y ago
      Nowhere did he mention bleach, this is an example of stretching being done to make it sound like he said something worse than he actually did. I believe most people see the media's making a story out of this for what it is, just another example of biased vendetta driven reporting.
adelHBN 7y ago
How is this news?
ericzawo 7y ago
I can't honestly believe how many smart, empathetic and otherwise responsible people continue to defend the man.
- ars 7y ago
  It's because he's so open about what does and thinks. He doesn't act like a typical politician and hide it. He'll say things like "We are in Iraq for the oil". Everyone knew that, but no president would admit it. He's also incredibly self-centered, and he acts only in order to get re-elected, and/or praised. But that means he does what the people want, rather than what is best. There are a lot of people who believe a politician should represent the will of the voters, rather than act in the best way they know. Obviously you can argue which is better course of action, but at least you can understand why people vote for him. Also: You would do well to ignore what he says, and pay attention only to what he does. He says everything and anything, just to gauge reactions. His actions are then based on what reaction he got. (Remember he's very self centered and wants praise.) I've found that people who really hate him pay way too much attention to what he says, thinking that what he says has some bearing on what he's actually going to do.
  - Dylan16807 7y ago
    The frustrating part is not that he says whatever he wants with no regard to truth or keeping promises. It's that people keep believing his words, and defending them, with no acknowledgment that he's doing so!
biolurker1 7y ago
The fact that 47% after all these lies and misinformation still doesn't get it hurts my brain
matttproud 7y ago
Put me in the bucket of Americans who lost faith in the American people. Absolutely unconscionable.

“And 98% of Americans said they would not try to inject themselves with bleach or other disinfectants if they got the coronavirus, including 98% of Democrats and 98% of Republicans. That is a near-unanimous rejection of an idea that Trump floated at a time of widespread anxiety about the virus.” Why is that 2% haven’t been eliminated by evolution.

krallja 7y ago
One problem with polling is that people answer contrary to their own actual beliefs. They didn’t hear the question right, or they misspoke and are too embarrassed to correct it, or they’re trolling the pollster.
- Gibbon1 7y ago
  Yeah it's like the false positives that plague attempts to measure rates of covid19. If you ask about briefs vs boxers the errors cancel. Run with scissors yay or nay, it doesn't.
mindslight 7y ago
It's worth pointing out that it is this article itself that is equating "injecting bleach" with "idea that Trump floated". He did not actually say to inject bleach. So did the 2% hear the question wrong, answer on expected party lines, would approve of a doctor doing it, partisan trolling, or who knows? FWIW I think what Trump actually did say demonstrates a gross misunderstanding of basic physical knowledge and common sense, typical of empty headed business types. And while another mentally incompetent person could take his words as inspiration to inject themselves with disinfectants, he didn't literally promote this. It doesn't serve truth to exaggerate that he did. (The terrifying thought is that this kerfuffle was actually a product of him trying to operate in an open minded brainstorming mode. It's not actually a result of him acting stupidly, but rather a product of him trying to be the smartest he can be)
downshun 7y ago
> eliminated by evolution You mean natural selection, and it doesn't select towards perfection https://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/evo_32 https://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/evo_32 Great news: it means you're part of the select 2% by some other measure! Good job.
yellowapple 7y ago
What's interesting to me is that a whole 2% of Democrats are willing to inject themselves with household cleaners, too. I.E. that the number of people who think "this just might work!" is consistent across party lines.
selimthegrim 7y ago
These are probably somewhere holed up with the mysterious black David Duke supporters in polls.

eutropia 7y ago

If extrapolated literally, 6.6 million US citizens think it's not a terrible idea to inject bleach to fight coronavirus. Explains the more than doubling of poison control center calls after those reckless comments..

forgot_my_pwd 7y ago
No one was saying to inject bleach. And Trump was probably just crudely restating some experimental treatment he had heard about in one of his many briefings. Speculative disinfectant treatments have been mentioned. It's a very minor issue and clearly grasping for a smear by the President's opponents. Anyone who tried to drink bleach because of Trump's offhand comments that in no way endorsed doing so is beyond help or hope.
- EdwardDiego 7y ago
  True, he merely suggested it _could_ be injected. > And then I see the disinfectant, where it knocks it out in a minute. One minute. And is there a way we can do something like that, by injection inside or almost a cleaning. Because you see it gets in the lungs and it does a tremendous number on the lungs. So it would be interesting to check that. So, that, you're going to have to use medical doctors with. But it sounds—it sounds interesting to me. But getting hung up on whether he gave a direct imperative to inject bleach, or merely floated it as something that could be worthwhile is a case of not seeing the wood for the trees. It doesn't help that the Venn diagram of people who were already self-medicating (or worse, medicating their children) with bleach and people who support Trump probably has a significant intersection. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/13/health/drinking-bleach-autism-cancer.html https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/13/health/drinking-bleach-au...
  - forgot_my_pwd 7y ago
    Nowhere did he mention bleach, this is an example of stretching being done to make it sound like he said something worse than he actually did. I believe most people see the media's making a story out of this for what it is, just another example of biased vendetta driven reporting.

adelHBN 7y ago

How is this news?

ericzawo 7y ago

I can't honestly believe how many smart, empathetic and otherwise responsible people continue to defend the man.

ars 7y ago
It's because he's so open about what does and thinks. He doesn't act like a typical politician and hide it. He'll say things like "We are in Iraq for the oil". Everyone knew that, but no president would admit it. He's also incredibly self-centered, and he acts only in order to get re-elected, and/or praised. But that means he does what the people want, rather than what is best. There are a lot of people who believe a politician should represent the will of the voters, rather than act in the best way they know. Obviously you can argue which is better course of action, but at least you can understand why people vote for him. Also: You would do well to ignore what he says, and pay attention only to what he does. He says everything and anything, just to gauge reactions. His actions are then based on what reaction he got. (Remember he's very self centered and wants praise.) I've found that people who really hate him pay way too much attention to what he says, thinking that what he says has some bearing on what he's actually going to do.
- Dylan16807 7y ago
  The frustrating part is not that he says whatever he wants with no regard to truth or keeping promises. It's that people keep believing his words, and defending them, with no acknowledgment that he's doing so!

biolurker1 7y ago

The fact that 47% after all these lies and misinformation still doesn't get it hurts my brain

matttproud 7y ago

Put me in the bucket of Americans who lost faith in the American people. Absolutely unconscionable.