Trump has convinced his supporters that it is 'normal' to just move on and accept COVID-19 deaths: conservative

In a column for the conservative Bulwark, Robert Tracinski stated that Donald Trump's claim that he could shoot someone on 5th Avenue and his fans would not care has been borne out by the COVID-19 pandemic that has already claimed over 80,000 lives and yet they are still standing by him.

Claiming that "Trump understood his supporters earlier than anyone else," he added, "He was right. There has proven to be nothing his core supporters won’t excuse to keep from having to admit that they were wrong. At this point, that means stubbornly, and even insistently, welcoming mass death."

According to the author, there is a three-stage process that comes into play every time Trump does or says something controversial.

"First insist it’s not real, that he didn’t do it, that it’s all a hoax," he explained. Then admit it’s real but it’s being overblown and taken out of context by the media. Then defiantly proclaim that sure, of course he did it. It’s normal, it’s perfect, it’s what everybody does, so why are you making such a big deal out of it?"

Noting that people are leaving their homes despite the coronavirus health crisis -- with the president's blessing because he wants to jumpstart the economy to salvage his re-election -- the columnist stated the president is embracing the "Swedish model" for dealing with the crisis -- which involves stoically accepting some people are going to die.

"But there really is no 'Swedish model,' not as a strategy for containing the virus or reducing its death toll. Swedes are not social distancing enough to slow the spread of the virus, they’re not working toward test-and-trace, and they deny that they are trying to achieve herd immunity. They have no strategy except to grit their teeth and endure whatever happens," he explained. "The real Swedish model is simply to decide that they are willing to accept a large number of deaths. Given that this is now President Trump’s strategy, you can see why conservatives are rushing to embrace it."

As the author notes, Trump's plowing ahead without expressing any concern for the dead and the dying has caught on with his most rabid fans, making it easier to accept fate --assuming it is someone else's bad luck. 

And, besides, it's easier.

"None of this is necessary. Yes, a test-and-trace system would be very difficult to implement, particularly this late in the pandemic. It would require a vast effort. But it will never happen if we don’t even try—and gosh darn it, this is America. We have never accepted that we are less capable than other countries of doing difficult things. If we accept it in this case, it will be because the president decided not to bother doing the work," he wrote.

"As the death tallies rise and tick into six figures, it is important to remember that this was a choice, even if it was made by default," he lamented, before claiming, "It was all done in broad daylight, and his supporters are now ratifying that decision."

You can read the whole piece here.