He’s telling people that we’ve turned the bend

Joe Biden, appearing last night on 60 minutes, was discussing how Trump is handling the coronavirus pandemic and what he is telling the American people:

“Right now, the biggest domestic issue is our health. Right now, COVID. COVID, the way he’s handling COVID is just absolutely totally irresponsible. He’s telling people that we’ve turned the bend, in one of his recent rallies. Well, he’s gone– as my grandpop would say, he’s gone ’round the bend. I mean, we are in real trouble.” https://www.cbsnews.com/news/joe-biden-democratic-presidential-candidate-kamala-harris-60-mintues-interview-norah-odonnell-2020-10-25/

“Turned the bend” is a congruent conflation of “turned the corner” and “rounded the bend”, both meaning to begin to find success after a particularly difficult or troubling period. Trump has used both phrases frequently, and even uttered another malaphor in the same vein – “rounding the turn”. https://malaphors.com/2020/09/07/were-really-rounding-the-turn/. Corners and bends are mental mixups waiting to happen, apparently. A big thank you to Frank King who heard this one and passed it on!