Silly season endures at White House and on campaign trail, even during pandemic

They used to call it silly season when campaigns got underway. This year, even with sports and concert seasons canceled, President Donald Trump and challenger Joe Biden are putting different doses of silly in the political season.

On Thursday, Trump told reporters that his daily coronavirus test had come back negative. "I tested very positively in another sense," he went on. "I tested positively toward negative, right? So no, I tested perfectly this morning. Meaning I tested negative. But that's a way of saying it. Positively toward the negative."

The president's word play was nowhere near as silly as his accusing people of nonexistent crimes. On Twitter on Wednesday, the president said Michigan was illegally sending everyone absentee ballots — which the state wasn't.

Trump called mail-in ballots fraudulent — which they are not.

He threatened to cut off funds to Michigan and Nevada over the issue — which he will not.

Why did Trump issue these silly falsehoods? Maybe he's overreacting to the notion that greater voter participation threatens his job security. Or maybe he just wanted to squirt some verbal seltzer down the pants of those who might view him as a clown.

In a speech while visiting a Ford plant in Michigan Thursday, Trump wandered down another silly path. "The company founded by a man named Henry Ford — good bloodlines, good bloodlines if you believe in that stuff. You got good blood," the president told Ford's descendants. This prompted some public rebuke given the late Ford's famous support for eugenics and anti-Semitism.

The visit marked Trump's third taxpayer-funded trip to a swing state this month, as his campaign rallies remain on hold due to the pandemic. He has been bringing the giddiness of those stadium appearances to his "official" events despite a deep crisis in America. Last week, he repeated one of his favorite zany little fictions: "I was honored as the Man of the Year in Michigan" — which he never was.

By far, the goofiest episode out of the visit to Ford involved the president's refusal to keep a mask on, even as a minor courtesy gesture. Trump told reporters he wore a mask mostly while away from cameras so as not to "give the press the pleasure." He was photographed in a mask anyway and the image was widely circulated.

Americans dislike monopolies, and Republican Trump cannot corner the market on verbal silliness. Democrat Biden, the former vice president, is known to roll out unlikely reminiscences, fudge his record and commit loopy gaffes despite his aides' best efforts. Late last week, he drew attention for his crossfire with African American radio host Charlamagne tha God, who challenged Biden's commitment on racial-justice issues.

“Listen, you’ve got to come see us when you come to New York, VP Biden,” Charlamagne said, after Biden said he had to leave. “It’s a long way until November. We’ve got more questions.”

“You’ve got more questions?” Biden replied. “Well, I tell you what, if you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or Trump, then you ain’t black.” Biden on Friday walked back the remark.

There are different types of silly, of course. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi last week called Trump "morbidly obese" while earnestly accusing him of irresponsibly pushing hydroxychloroquine as a coronavirus treatment. Pelosi said she was giving the president "a taste of his own medicine."

The president peddles the antimalarial drug for COVID-19, as if promoting Trump-brand neckties or steaks. Experts call this not only silly, but potentially dangerous. As reported Friday, a study of 96,000 hospitalized coronavirus patients here and abroad found those receiving hydroxychloroquine had a higher risk of death than those who hadn't.

Sometimes a silly season turns serious — especially this one.

By Dan Janison

dan.janison@newsday.comDanJanison

Dan Janison is a member of the Newsday editorial board.