Ben Smith: “Among the people scrambling this weekend at American newspapers are obituary writers, as major outlets assigned top reporters to update Mr. Trump’s obituary — Peter Baker at The New York Times, Marc Fisher at The Washington Post and Mark Z. Barabak at The Los Angeles Times, people at each paper told me.”
Biden Tests Negative Again
“Joe Biden tested negative for the novel coronavirus on Sunday, his third negative test since he shared a debate stage for more than 90 minutes with President Trump, who has been hospitalized with the infection,” the Washington Post reports.
Positive Tests for Senators Could Slow Barrett
“From the start, Senate Republican leaders have known their ambitious timeline to get Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett confirmed before Election Day offered little room for error,” the Washington Post reports.
“But that tightly crafted schedule has now been thrown into uncertainty with the coronavirus diagnoses of at least two Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee and the fear that other senators could test positive in the coming days.”
“Sensing an opportunity to delay, Democrats are cranking up their push to postpone the Oct. 12 confirmation hearings, citing the safety of members, aides and Barrett herself — waging a public pressure campaign because they have no powers on their own to stop the proceedings.”
Trump’s Treatment Suggests Severe Covid-19
“President Trump’s doctors offered rosy assessments of his condition on Sunday, but the few medical details they disclosed — including his fluctuating oxygen levels and a decision to begin treatment with a steroid drug — suggested to many infectious disease experts that he is suffering a more severe case of Covid-19 than the physicians acknowledged,” the Washington Post reports.
Trump’s Illness Halts His Campaign
“For President Trump’s reelection campaign, October was supposed to be the turnaround month. After trailing Democratic nominee Joe Biden all year, Trump thought this past week would be his slingshot to securing a second term by disqualifying his opponent at their first debate together, expanding his coalition of voters, raising more money and staging bigger rallies,” the Washington Post reports.
“It has not worked out the way he envisioned.”
“The past seven days have dealt the incumbent one setback after another — the extraordinary revelation in the New York Times that he had paid little to no federal income taxes in recent years; a belligerent debate performance that risked turning off many voters; the arrest of his recently demoted campaign manager in Florida; and finally the president’s own hospitalization for the coronavirus because of an outbreak in a White House that has made a mockery of public health guidelines and offered contradictory accounts of Trump’s health.”
Trump Leaves Hospital to Drive By Supporters
President Trump, wearing a mask, left Walter Reed Medical Center in the back of a suburban to ride by supporters, CNN reports.
NBC News reports pool reporters were not notified of a presidential movement, which is incredibly rare.
Dr. James Phillips, a Walter Reed attending physician: “That Presidential SUV is not only bulletproof, but hermetically sealed against chemical attack. The risk of COVID19 transmission inside is as high as it gets outside of medical procedures. The irresponsibility is astounding. My thoughts are with the Secret Service forced to play.”
Trump announced his “surprise visit” on a video.
Barr In Quarantine
Attorney General Bill Barr is now self quarantining, according to MSNBC.
According to a DOJ spokesperson, Attorney General William Barr took another test today which was negative. He has taken 4 tests since Friday morning, all negative.
GOP Senator Caught Not Wearing Mask on Plane
Delta Airlines says it is investigating after a fellow passenger posted a photo on Twitter of Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) on a flight with his mask tucked under his chin while he looked at his cell phone, the Biloxi Sun Herald reports.
Trump Didn’t Disclose First Positive Covid-19 Test
“President Trump didn’t disclose a positive result from a rapid test for Covid-19 on Thursday while awaiting the findings from a more thorough coronavirus screening,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Mr. Trump received a positive result on Thursday evening before making an appearance on Fox News in which he didn’t reveal those results. Instead, he confirmed earlier reports that one of his top aides had tested positive for coronavirus and mentioned the second test he had taken that night for which he was awaiting results.”
As the virus spread among the people closest to him, Mr. Trump also asked one adviser not to disclose results of their own positive test: “Don’t tell anyone.”
Physician Withheld Specifics to Lift Trump’s Spirits
White House communications director Alyssa Farah said that White House physician Sean Conley withheld specific details at Saturday’s press briefing about Donald Trump’s medical condition in order to “convey confidence” and “raise the spirits” of the president, Axios reports.
Biden Expands His Lead In Another National Poll
A new Yahoo News/YouGov poll finds Joe Biden leads Donald Trump nationally by 8 percentage points, 48% to 40%. The previous poll had Biden ahead by 5 points.
Among registered voters who watched the first presidential debate, 46% said Biden won; only 28% said the same of Trump.
The president’s hectoring performance — 59% of debate watchers rated it as “poor,” compared to only 32% for Biden — was followed by a collapse in his support among likely independent voters.
Biden Urged to Resume Negative Ads
“An increasing number of Democrats are vocally urging Joe Biden’s campaign to resume running negative ads against Donald Trump, arguing that their party’s nominee should not relent even as the president remains hospitalized after contracting the coronavirus,” McClatchy reports.
“With Election Day less than a month away and early voting already in progress in key battleground states, some Democratic operatives said Biden must push forward with the messaging that has helped provide him with a stable lead in the presidential race, especially as the Trump campaign has continued to air attack ads.”
It Turns Out No Ballots Were Found In Wisconsin Ditch
“No Wisconsin absentee ballots were found in mail discovered in a ditch in the Fox Valley last week,” the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.
“Three trays of mail were found in a ditch in Greenville last week, and the Outagamie County Sheriff’s Office said at the time it included several absentee ballots.”
Toomey Won’t Run Again
Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) won’t run for reelection or for Pennsylvania governor, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
“Toomey was widely seen as the likely Republican favorite for governor in 2022. His decision not to run for that office or for Senate could create two wide open contests on the Republican side.”
Trump Given Steroids Typically Used for Those Very Ill
Dr. Sean Conley said that President Trump had been given the steroid dexamethasone on Saturday, the New York Times reports.
“The drug has been shown to help patients who are severely ill with Covid-19, but it is typically not used in mild or moderate cases of the disease, and in fact could be harmful early in the course of the disease, when steroids could dampen the body’s own immune response.”
“Nonetheless, the doctors said, Mr. Trump is doing better and they projected he could be discharged back to the White House from the hospital as early as Monday.”
Stat: Trump getting a steroid usually for patients with severe COVID-19.
Trump ‘Furious’ with His Chief of Staff
“President Trump is furious with chief of staff Mark Meadows after the top West Wing official contradicted the White House physician’s assessment Saturday of the President’s health,” CNN reports.
“Meadows is now widely known inside the White House to be the unnamed source who spoke to reporters following the medical briefing yesterday and offered a more dire assessment than Navy Cmdr. Dr. Sean Conley had given shortly before.”
Trump’s Physician Continues to Mislead
Dr. Sean Conley was asked at a press briefing this morning why he was so misleading on Saturday and replied he was trying to reflect the team’s “upbeat attitude” and didn’t want to “steer the course of illness in another direction,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
He added: “In doing so, it came off that we were trying to hide something, which wasn’t necessarily true.”
Dr. Sanjay Gupta on CNN said doctors at Walter Reed are throwing “the kitchen sink” at Trump, feeding him three different “serious” medications, one of which is experimental in nature.
He suggests this is far more serious than what Conley is letting on.
Trump Adviser Says Biden Uses Mask as a Prop
Jason Miller, a senior adviser to President Trump’s re-election campaign, argued to ABC News that Joe Biden has often “used the mask as a prop” and defended the campaign’s handling of the coronavirus even as Trump remained in the hospital.
Said Miller: “You know, I would say that with regard to Joe Biden, I think too often he’s used the mask as a prop. A mask is very important, but even if he’s — he could be 20, 30 feet away from the nearest person and still have the mask on.”
He added: “That’s not going to change anything that’s out there. But also we’ve seen with — with Joe Biden, I mean, we can’t all just stay in our basement for the rest of our lives.”
