[headmelted]

But he did call it a hoax.

Only later when he was called out on how stupid the comment was he back-pedalled and said their criticism was a hoax. That doesn’t make sense.

They weren’t really criticising him? Or they were trying to make him think they were criticising him?

The sentence doesn’t make any sense, so it’s clearly not what he meant.

[gwright]

> But he did call it a hoax.

No he didn't. He characterized the criticism as a hoax. That is an entirely different thing. By perpetuating the lie that he considered the outbreak as a hoax you are adding to the problem. If you disagree, please link to some sort of news account that backs up your statement.

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/trump-coronavirus-rally-re...

It isn't really hard to understand what he meant either. The President's critics say all sorts of things that aren't true. He is constantly calling them out on it. He has used the term 'hoax' for a long time to refer to the misleading stories his critics tell.

Doesn't mean that there aren't valid criticisms. Just means that much of the back and forth is just hot air. There is no reason to add to the madness though by spreading more misleading information.

[code_duck]

It's not even clear that his definition of hoax is. It applies to anything he doesn't like. He's basically ruining the word.

[gwright]

It is very clear. He uses it to refer to the unfounded conspiracy theories and accusations directed at him. What is so difficult to understand about that usage?

[code_duck]

No, nothing that he says is very clear. The things he labels hoaxes do not correspond to what other people would call a hoax in subtle but significant ways. It doesn't seem that he understands what the word actually means.

[wonderwonder]

Don't try to give meaning to his words or understand them. That way lies madness.