Who would take coronavirus advice branded this way?

Trump card 1

Seriously, what use is this postcard I got in the snail mail the last couple of days (I forget which day now — probably Saturday or Monday)?

What is its practical purpose, other than as a campaign mailer? The point seems to be the “President Trump’s” part. Look! The Donald is looking out for you! You know, the guy with the great ratings!

Who, among those of us who are not suicidal, would turn to this quarter in a desperate bid for useful advice? This is the guy who, after this card was mailed, was assuring us we’d be back like gangbusters by Easter.

Yeah, I’ve got it. The idea of this card is entirely defensible, even laudable in the abstract. Any president has the duty to give out information that might protect someone from this national threat. And no doubt some folks, particularly among the most vulnerable, still turn to snail mail as a source of timely information.

But why does it have to be branded “President Trump’s…?” That’s almost like saying, look to almost any other source of information, not this one! If it said “Dr. Fauci’s…,” it might do some good.

This is dated March 16, but it feels like it must have been mailed sometime in February.

“IF YOU FEEL SICK, stay home. Do not go to work.” As of tomorrow, I will have been working from home for two weeks. You? (Admittedly, that was after the date on this card. But it feels like years ago.)

There was one bit of good news in this:

“Avoid eating or drinking at bars and restaurants — USE PICKUP OR DELIVERY OPTIONS.”

Bars deliver? Why has no one told me this? I could have used that information.

Anyway, perhaps the card was sincerely meant to help, even to reassure, making us think a benevolent entity had things well in hand.

Perhaps I’m just the wrong audience for it…

Look, the card recommends we go for more information to CORONAVIRUS.GOV. I recommend that, too. There’s probably good advice there, timely advice, advice that doesn’t bear the taint of “President Trump’s”…

Trump card 2

 

9 thoughts on “Who would take coronavirus advice branded this way?

  1. Mark Stewart

    They changed this online to “the President’s advice…”

    Still an eye-roller but probably as far as they could go with Trump minding his re-election campaign above all else.

  2. Pat

    It’s not appropriate to make it like a campaign mailing, but this is the Trump era.
    While I’m at it, what does “draining the swamp ” mean to you? I’m beginning to think I’ve been wrong about who this term refers to.

  3. Barry

    I received it and tossed it into the trash without reading it as soon as I saw trump’s name. I consider anything from him propaganda.

    My favorite is to return to sender any campaign mail I get from trump or surrogates. They can pay for that postage twice.

  4. Mark Huguley

    This is branding and it is what Trump knows. There’s no substantive reason, only a political purpose, for Trump’s name to appear on the card. A more credible and appropriate message would be to encourage following the CDC guidelines.

  5. Edisto Eddie

    Happens all the time, i.e., Curtis Loftis on TV promoting the future scholars program. An old, very old political trick for incumbents to use public funds to promote themselves in the guise of “selling” or “promoting” public programs that fall under them.

  6. Kathleen

    I cringe every time the VP holds up a similar poster of “the president’s recommendations” as though he is displaying the tablets fresh from Mt Sinai.

    1. Barry

      The funny thing is I can remember when people like limbaugh and other conservative talking heads on the radio use to say Democrats held up obama as some celebrity.

      Now Trumpers treat Trump as God incarnate.

  7. Bryan Caskey

    Roughly 80% of everything I receive in my mailbox at home is complete junk. Actually, that number may be a bit low.

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