Epiplexis (e-pi-plex’-is): Asking questions in order to chide, to express grief, or to inveigh. A kind of rhetorical question [–the speaker does not expect an answer].
Where are the government-stockpiled surgical masks so desperately needed by front-line caregivers? Where are the government-stockpiled gowns they need to enable them to get close to patients and stay out of danger? Where are the government-stockpiled mechanical ventilators that the most seriously ill need to keep them alive? Warehouse? Trunk of the Presidential limo? William Barr’s basement? Up Trump’s ass?
Oh, but wait! Where is the anti-malarial drug that Trump has touted as a possible cure to the virus? It’s for sale all over the internet! What’s that about? It’s effectiveness is unproven and there are significant heart attack risks associated with using it. Why is it so freely available? It’s easier to get than toilet paper. Somebody will be making a bundle of money selling it for as long as the crisis lasts and for as long as it’s legal to sell.
Hmmm. Time to do a little Googling to see if Trump or his friends have a financial stake in the drug. Google says no. But Google hints in another link that the motive for touting the drug may be some kind of desire to lift peoples’ spirits by giving them hope that a possible cure is on the way. But it’s probably a false hope, like all the other ‘hopes’ Trump has projected.
So, who the hell knows? That’s my current answer to every question I’m asked about Trump: Who the hell knows?
Definition courtesy of “Silva Rhetoricae” (rhetoric.byu.edu). Bracketed text added by Gorgias.
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