Vaccine announcement was delayed to scupper Trump’s second term

[Dongdingdong]

This is what Donald Trump is claiming. And I have to say, I’m no fan of Trump but the timing does seem very convenient. AIBU to think his suspicions may have some grounds?

Responding Trump said: “I think my timeline is going to be more accurate."

Hitting back, Joe Biden expressed doubt over Trump’s timeline for the release of a coronavirus vaccine.

Turns out he was right!

And just picking up on this half-baked thought from page 1. Unless, of course, you meant Biden was right?

You do realise that the announcement of a vaccine that shows promising results - and the release (your word above ^^) of such a vaccine are two entirely separate things?

Just a reminder for the hard of thinking - no vaccine for COVID-19 has been released yet.

@Dongdingdong

And to do it purely to harm the re-election chances of Donald Trump?

Well, possibly. I mean the man is absolutely detested and seen by many as a threat to world ‘peace’. Inverted commas around peace because while we may be technically at peace, everything feels pretty fucking fragile.

He's certainly a threat to democracy, the way he's carrying on.

The OP doesn’t care to hear about how Trump is actively undermining democracy in the US.

All the while bleating hypocritically about her need for ‘free speech’...

In any case: Trump didn't have a second term to be scuppered! The American Constitution says that a president cannot have more than two terms. It doesn't say that a president is entitled to two terms.

The companies aren't getting involved in politics. Correlation does not equal causation. Utter bollox talked by a self absorbed twat!

@Dongdingdong

To those asking why would it matter if they did... well for one thing, maybe because it’s pretty damn worrying to have big pharma companies playing politics and directly trying to influence elections? Just a thought...

Why would big pharmaceuticals prefer Biden?

Meh - your argument is purely semantics @MerchantOfVenom. Whatever your thoughts on Trump, he WAS right in what he said. Now that could be attributed to the “broken clock theory” that some previous posters have mentioned, but there’s no denying that he was correct in what he said. But some people (such as yourself) are simply incapable of acknowledging that someone is correct if they strongly dislike that person. Blinkered? Yes.Childish? Absolutely. But that’s just some people for you.

In any case: Trump didn't have a second term to be scuppered! The American Constitution says that a president cannot have more than two terms. It doesn't say that a president is entitled to two terms.

Again, boring pedantry that adds nothing whatsoever to the debate. You know very well what I meant.

He also said this would all be over by Easter.

For someone who isn't a fan of his, OP. You really seem desperate to defend him.

Just a reminder for the hard of thinking - no vaccine for COVID-19 has been released yet.

Why are you writing memos for yourself on Mumsnet?

For someone who isn't a fan of his, OP. You really seem desperate to defend him.

Nope - just interested in the possibility that the announcement could have been intentionally delayed.

that some previous posters have mentioned, but there’s no denying that he was correct in what he said

I have been following US politics closely. I cannot begin to tell you how many times he has said a vaccine is on the way. Why should you pick this time as him being right?
I would love to count how many times he's said this... it's countless.

@Dongdingdong - as I said earlier - if you look at the man’s track record - does he look like an honest and trustworthy person? In my view, he is not - if he told me it was raining, I would check out of the window.

But I also think he was wrong about the vaccine announcement being delayed, for commercial reasons. These big pharmaceutical companies could have expected to see a big hike in their share prices when they announced their vaccine - plus a rush of orders from around the world - it wouldn't make commercial sense to delay the announcement, would it? If they delayed, and another company made their announcement first, surely that would have commercial benefits for the company that announced first, to the dis-benefit of any company that held off on their announcement. I imagine that the bottom line would matter more to the shareholders and management than the possibility that delaying the announcement might affect the election.

This has far more to do with Trump being a sore loser, and yelling that “It’s not faaaaair!”

It's one thing Trump believing that the world revolves around him but you too op? Yabu

@Roussette

that some previous posters have mentioned, but there’s no denying that he was correct in what he said

I have been following US politics closely. I cannot begin to tell you how many times he has said a vaccine is on the way. Why should you pick this time as him being right?
I would love to count how many times he's said this... it's countless.

It's like the 'lay lines' brigade, @Roussette.

There are millions of archaeological deposits throughout the UK. It's statistically impossible NOT to draw a thick line on a map through the countryside and not hit at least three of them.

But it's 'significant'.

Yes, good comparison!

I think I fucked up my negatives there though

Pfizer might have had sufficient motive in wishing to get rid of Trump to act against their own interested (though as I understand it their CEO made quite a lot of money because he had arranged to sell his shares very conveniently as regards that timing) but BioNTech is a German firm and while like anyone on the planet they might wish to see Trump cease to be a threat to them, they don't have the same motivation as an American firm might.

I find it really frightening that someone who is not clearly a bedlamite would give the least scintilla of credence to any of Trump's four hundred and umpteen accusations about the conduct of the election in America, though. It's like thinking that someone is evil because Trump says so: there might be plenty of reasons to think an individual might be dodgy, but "because Trump says he is" seems to me to indicate a worrying degree of credulity.

Trump tells lies. He does it all the time, for any reason or for no discernable reason: it seems to be pathological. Believing the word of a pathological liar is foolishness.

some people (such as yourself) are simply incapable of acknowledging that someone is correct if they strongly dislike that person

Once more for the cheap seats at the back... it’s not about refusing to believe he could be right, it’s that he isn’t right. Because there isn’t a single piece of evidence. Much like his millions of other lies and claims.

I don’t follow this logic..

Are you implying that more people would have voted for the Republican Party candidate if the results of a vaccine trail had been announced several days earlier?

I don’t get this at all. There have been several vaccines in development. It is good news, but not a victory for the US incumbent.

But some people (such as yourself) are simply incapable of acknowledging that someone is correct if they strongly dislike that person.

But he’s not correct.

The absolute disingenuity on display.

‘I’m not a Trump fan, but [defend, defend, defend] [get irate when called out on it] [display blatant hypocrisy when calling for ‘free speech]’

Free speech applies both ways, and those of us not defending an incompetent, anti-democratic narcissist have just as much - if not far more - right to utilise it, as those who do defend him.

So has your glorious leader said why Pfizer would want less people to vote for him? What's in it for them?

Trump’s second term was scuppered by Trump.

I don't think OP realised my comment of yesterday ( I'd like to know if they did, so I could write them a hearty thank-you letter ) was facetious. I don't actually think they did any such thing. It's kind of sad I needed to explain that

Plus trust Trump to want to take credit for something neither he, nor his administration, had anything to do with.

Just like he wants to take credit for the Dow Jones that went up as a result of the acknowledgment of Joe Biden has President-elect.

Oh, but he doesn’t want any credit for the 260,000 Americans who’ve died from COVID-19.

Or any credit for the 40 million Americans who face eviction.

Or any credit for the 26 million Americans who don’t have enough to eat this Thanksgiving.

🙄🙄🙄

He’s an unmitigated waste of space, and 20 January can’t come soon enough.