• Welcome to Religious Forums, a friendly forum to discuss all religions in a friendly surrounding.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Our modern chat room. No add-ons or extensions required, just login and start chatting!
    • Access to private conversations with other members.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!

Trump's Communications Guy Loses It

exchemist

Veteran Member
This report , from the NY Times, seems to describe a man who is going mad:

QUOTE

WASHINGTON — The top communications official at the powerful cabinet department in charge of combating the coronavirus made outlandish and false claims on Sunday that career government scientists were engaging in “sedition” in their handling of the pandemic and that left-wing hit squads were preparing for armed insurrection after the election.

Michael Caputo, 58, the assistant secretary of public affairs at the Department of Health and Human Services, said without evidence that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was harboring a “resistance unit” determined to undermine President Trump.

Mr. Caputo, who has faced criticism for leading efforts to warp C.D.C. weekly bulletins to fit Mr. Trump’s pandemic narrative, suggested that he personally could be in danger.

“You understand that they’re going to have to kill me, and unfortunately, I think that’s where this is going,” Mr. Caputo, a Trump loyalist installed by the White House in April, told followers in a video he hosted live on his personal Facebook page. Mr. Caputo has 5,000 Facebook friends, and the video has been viewed more than 850 times. It has been shared by 44 followers.

Politico first, then The New York Times and other outlets how Mr. Caputo and a top aide routinely demanded the agency revise, delay and even scuttle the C.D.C.’s core public health updates, called Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Reports, that they believed undercut Mr. Trump’s message that the pandemic is under control.

Those reports, deemed “the holiest of the holy” by one former top health official for their international respect and importance, have traditionally been so shielded from political interference that political appointees see them only just before they are published.

Mr. Caputo on Sunday complained on Facebook that he was under siege by the media and said that his physical health was in question and his “mental health has definitely failed.”

“I don’t like being alone in Washington,” he said, describing “shadows on the ceiling in my apartment, there alone, shadows are so long.” He then ran through a series of conspiracy theories, culminating in a prediction that Mr. Trump will win re-election but his Democratic opponent, Joseph R. Biden Jr., will refuse to concede.

“And when Donald Trump refuses to stand down at the inauguration, the shooting will begin,” he said. “The drills that you’ve seen are nothing.” He added: “If you carry guns, buy ammunition, ladies and gentlemen, because it’s going to be hard to get.”

Mr. Caputo’s installation at the agency was a White House move to assert greater control over Alex M. Azar II, who has been Mr. Trump’s secretary of health and human services since 2018. His job is to coordinate the messaging of an 80,000-person department that functions as the center of the American public health bureaucracy and includes the Food and Drug Administration, the C.D.C. and the National Institutes of Health, which lead the government’s pandemic response.

Mr. Caputo boasted in his Facebook talk that the president had personally put him in charge of a $250 million public service advertising campaign intended to help America to get back to normal.

Despite the criticism of his team’s interference with C.D.C., Mr. Caputo said he expected to remain in his post because Mr. Trump supported him. “I’m not going anywhere,” he said. “I swear to God, as God is my witness, I am not stopping.”

His Facebook presentation comes as Mr. Trump has increasingly singled out federal government scientists as targets, complaining without evidence that they were deliberately trying to subvert his administration’s efforts to fight the pandemic for their own political reasons.

Mr. Caputo echoed those sentiments, saying scientists “deep in the bowels of the C.D.C. have given up science and become political animals.”

The C.D.C. has traditionally been apolitical, serving Republican and Democratic administrations from its headquarters in Atlanta. In recent months, health officials at the C.D.C. and other agencies have increasingly cited political interference from Washington.

Mr. Caputo frequently touched on themes of an obstructive “deep state” that the president has used throughout his tenure and during his re-election campaign. Mr. Trump has portrayed himself as at war with federal bureaucrats determined to thwart his policies and with radical left-wing activists who he claims are sowing violence in American cities.

Mr. Caputo suggested, also without evidence, that the August killing of a Trump supporter in Portland, Ore., by an avowed supporter of the left-wing collective known as antifa was part of a broader left-wing plot to target the administration’s supporters.

“Remember the Trump supporter who was shot and killed?” he said. “That was a drill.”

The man suspected of the shooting, Michael Forest Reinoehl, waslater shot dead by officers from a federally led fugitive task force in Washington State. He “went down fighting,” Mr. Caputo said. “Why? Because he couldn’t say what he had inside him.” He then spoke of “hit squads being trained all over this country” — a conspiracy theory unsupported by evidence.

Mr. Caputo continued his social media effort after the Facebook event, retweeting a conspiratorial post that hinted with no evidence that armed camps were being established in Washington, D.C.: “Occupants don’t look like vagrants. Looks like forward basing for militant street ops,” J. Michael Waller, a conservative provocateur, posted.

Mr. Caputo has no background in health care. He worked on Mr. Trump’s 2016 campaign for a time but was passed over for a job early in the administration. He remained friendly with Dan Scavino, the deputy chief of staff for White House communications who is among the few of Mr. Trump’s 2016 campaign aides still on the administration’s staff. Mr. Scavino played a role in reconnecting Mr. Trump and Mr. Caputo. Some of Mr. Trump’s allies heralded Mr. Caputo’s appointment at Health and Human Services, describing him as both media savvy and intensely loyal to the president.

nation’s death toll from Covid-19, warning his friends to wear masks when they attend Trump rallies and to leave if most people there are not. The United States has lost almost 194,000 people to the virus.

“I don’t want to talk about death anymore,” he said, adding, “You’re not waking up every morning and talking about dead Americans.”

He accused officials at the C.D.C. and other government agencies — including the Department of Health and Human Services — of deliberately subverting the president’s efforts to contain the pandemic. The C.D.C., he said, was riddled with anti-Trump researchers who “walk around like they are monks” and “holy men” but engage in “rotten science.”

But he singled out Dr. Robert Redfield, the director of the agency, for praise. He “is one of my closest friends in Washington,” he said. “He’s such a good man.”

Former and current agency officials have asserted that Dr. Redfield has allowed so much political interference with the agency’s work that some career scientists are on the verge of resigning.

Mr. Caputo was among those who recommended Dr. Redfield’s new interim chief of staff. He has also helped install allies in communications jobs in various agencies under the health and human services department.

Mr. Caputo’s scientific adviser, Dr. Paul Alexander, was heavily involved in the effort to reshape the C.D.C.’s weekly reports on morbidity and mortality. The reports are widely read by the nation’s health professionals, who depend upon them for medical guidance.

Mr. Caputo acknowledged in a brief interview this weekend that it was unusual for a public affairs officer to hire his own scientific adviser. But he described Dr. Alexander, an assistant professor at McMaster University in Canada, as “a genius” to his Facebook audience, saying the public criticism had only served to make his position “permanent” as a watchdog over politically motivated scientists.

“To allow people to die so that you can replace the president is a grievous venial sin, venial sin,” he said. “And these people are all going to hell.”

UNQUOTE

The end is inadvertently funny: with the characteristic ignorance of Trump appointees, he seems to think a "venial" sin is a serious one, when in fact it means minor or trivial.

But this guy is awa' wi' the fairies.:confused:
 

Brickjectivity

Turned to Stone. Now I stretch daily.
Staff member
Premium Member
That actually manages to scare me. It scares me whether he is making it up or whether he is talking about actual politically motivated research, but he's just referring to ridiculous alarmist rumors spread warning us that: on election night, at first Trump will seem to be winning....until the postal votes are counted showing Biden the winner....AND THEN ALL HELL WILL BREAK LOSE AS CRAZED AMERICANS GRAB OUR GUNS AND START A NEW CIVIL WAR!!!! ha ha ha haa reeediculous

Here's a CNN video there the presenter is far, far too concerned about Trump's rumor mill:

Its all just stupid. People shouldn't react these rumors. Yes the vote counts will be contested...as usual. Sometimes the parties call the elections too early, and they have to recant. Its not important. We won't have a civil war. What will happen is the Supreme Court will take action along with Congress to insure the votes are counted. That's all. Even Abraham Lincoln's election was not contested, though it kicked of the first civil war. The votes will be protected, counted, double checked if necessary. If no one is elected then the speaker of the House will be sworn in. End of discussion.
 

sun rise

The world is on fire
Premium Member
This is no different than dictators do all over the world. There is no essential difference between what the current regime in power in Washington is trying to do and what they do in China, North Korea or any other dictatorship.

until the postal votes are counted showing Biden the winner....AND THEN ALL HELL WILL BREAK LOSE AS CRAZED AMERICANS GRAB OUR GUNS AND START A NEW CIVIL WAR!!!!

There have been 'war games' about nightmare scenarios. What If Trump Loses And Won’t Leave?

Of course the current regime's semi-official press outlet calls this an "anti-trump" group.

So is it time for the left to arm itself with all the arms the law allows and all the ammo to law allows to be ready just in case? Or can we rely on the military because it's not been badly corrupted yet to do what needs to be done?
 

lewisnotmiller

Grand Hat
Staff member
Premium Member
That actually manages to scare me. It scares me whether he is making it up or whether he is talking about actual politically motivated research, but he's just referring to ridiculous alarmist rumors spread warning us that: on election night, at first Trump will seem to be winning....until the postal votes are counted showing Biden the winner....AND THEN ALL HELL WILL BREAK LOSE AS CRAZED AMERICANS GRAB OUR GUNS AND START A NEW CIVIL WAR!!!! ha ha ha haa reeediculous

Here's a CNN video there the presenter is far, far too concerned about Trump's rumor mill:

Its all just stupid. People shouldn't react these rumors. Yes the vote counts will be contested...as usual. Sometimes the parties call the elections too early, and they have to recant. Its not important. We won't have a civil war. What will happen is the Supreme Court will take action along with Congress to insure the votes are counted. That's all. Even Abraham Lincoln's election was not contested, though it kicked of the first civil war. The votes will be protected, counted, double checked if necessary. If no one is elected then the speaker of the House will be sworn in. End of discussion.

Most likely, you're correct.
But I wouldn't see the current situation in the US as 'situation normal', even allowing for the fact that 'normal' is more divided and less stable than most commonly assume.
 

Howard Is

Lucky Mud
We won't have a civil war.

I doubt it too.

But I know what psychopaths are about. I would not be surprised at any dirty tricks Trump might try, including finding reasons to declare a state of emergency if there is any violence. And he is quite capable of mobilising his army of loonies to provoke/escalate violence.
He may then use the state of emergency to maintain his position, although I don’t know enough about those kinds of machinations to know how far he could take that.

But I would wager London to a brick that he’s thinking about manoeuvres like that.
 

Father Heathen

Veteran Member
I can't wait to see the groups of drunken, slack-jawed yokels in tacticool gear carrying their AR15s and tiki torches as they waddle down the street. It'll be a hoot.
 

Howard Is

Lucky Mud
I can't wait to see the groups of drunken, slack-jawed yokels in tacticool gear carrying their AR15s and tiki torches as they waddle down the street. It'll be a hoot.

I’d be out there with my 2.8GHz mind scrambler driving the poor f*****s crazy.
Go hard or go home ...
Partisan lunacy is a national sport, right ?
 

exchemist

Veteran Member
Things are getting bad in the USA when a news item more appropriate for Belarus is seen as being credible or likely for the USA, but perhaps indicates how bad a leader Trump actually is and how things have changed in America - for the worse.
I thought when I read it that Caputo was having a nervous breakdown of some sort - and he may well be. But there is a worrying trend for Americans to believe (or to affect to believe) the most ridiculous, swivel-eyed conspiracy theories at the moment. I was shocked to see that even @KenS , someone normally pretty rational, endorses a conspiracy theory about Obama colluding with the military to take over the country: Trump is angling for a third term

Obama taught constitutional law, at Chicago Law School, for over a decade!

WTF is going on? Mass hysteria?
 

Mock Turtle

Oh my, did I say that!
Premium Member
I thought when I read it that Caputo was having a nervous breakdown of some sort - and he may well be. But there is a worrying trend for Americans to believe (or to affect to believe) the most ridiculous, swivel-eyed conspiracy theories at the moment. I was shocked to see that even @KenS , someone normally pretty rational, endorses a conspiracy theory about Obama colluding with the military to take over the country: Trump is angling for a third term

Obama taught constitutional law, at Chicago Law School, for over a decade!

WTF is going on? Mass hysteria?

Well I am getting a bit worried about things all around the world, and not just in the USA, but where what happens there will affect us all. Too many nasty things happening and blame being attached so as to form sides in any conflict that might arise. And so many then blaming such (or citing a reason for such) being down to some religious belief is hardly helping either - we all deserve it, and so on. I'm not normally pessimistic but I am a bit worried that it might not take that much for some conflagration to arise - and not in the sense occurring in the USA in reality - especially when Trumpy blames poor management for the fires there rather than what many scientists are telling us.
 

Twilight Hue

Twilight, not bright nor dark, good nor bad.
I thought when I read it that Caputo was having a nervous breakdown of some sort - and he may well be. But there is a worrying trend for Americans to believe (or to affect to believe) the most ridiculous, swivel-eyed conspiracy theories at the moment. I was shocked to see that even @KenS , someone normally pretty rational, endorses a conspiracy theory about Obama colluding with the military to take over the country: Trump is angling for a third term

Obama taught constitutional law, at Chicago Law School, for over a decade!

WTF is going on? Mass hysteria?
Its just something people entertain each other with prior to an election.

Folks did it with Obama, now its Trumps turn.

Everyone is a dictator, everyone is going to declare martial law and take over.

Social media and mass communication. What a combo. Classic infotainment mixed in with media overload.
 

exchemist

Veteran Member
Its just something people entertain each other with prior to an election.

Folks did it with Obama, now its Trumps turn.

Everyone is a dictator, everyone is going to declare martial law and take over.

Social media and mass communication. What a combo. Classic infotainment mixed in with media overload.
Can you find any example of a senior government official in Obama's time making accusations like this?

I bet you can't.
 

Twilight Hue

Twilight, not bright nor dark, good nor bad.
Can you find any example of a senior government official in Obama's time making accusations like this?

I bet you can't.

Even if I can't, I'm quite sure malicious threats are exchanged in politics fairly often that goes unreported. Even precieved threats. I think it just got to him in this case.

The brain can be your own worse enemy.
 

exchemist

Veteran Member
Even if I can't, I'm quite sure malicious threats are exchanged in politics fairly often that goes unreported. Even precieved threats. I think it just got to him in this case.

The brain can be your own worse enemy.
Right, you can't. So it not just business as usual, as you were suggesting.

It is a new low in US politics for government officials to push baseless conspiracy theories of sedition within government.
 

Twilight Hue

Twilight, not bright nor dark, good nor bad.
Right, you can't. So it not just business as usual, as you were suggesting.

It is a new low in US politics for government officials to push baseless conspiracy theories of sedition within government.
I think it is. Politics is a brutal business. Its not surprising to think stuff like this goes on all the time. The unusual thing here is that it is a senior official who's apparently shell shocked expressing his concerns out in the open.
 

exchemist

Veteran Member
I think it is. Politics is a brutal business. Its not surprising to think stuff like this goes on all the time. The unusual thing here is that it is a senior official who's apparently shell shocked expressing his concerns out in the open.
Yes it is surprising. Very surprising and shocking. There is nothing normal about this.

We expect sane, rational people in senior positions in government: people who also chose their words with care. Especially when their job is communications, for God's sake.

But this administration, uniquely, has worked hard on undermining everyone's frames of reference, making them lose their bearings and, eventually, their grip on reality. "Alternative facts" have been their stock in trade, all round, for four solid years. Trump himself reverses position so often it is almost impossible to keep up. That will be why this guy has flipped - if indeed he has flipped.
 
Top