A disturbing sign with the words “Hang Fauci” appeared in a news report about coronavirus lockdown protesters whom President Trump hailed on Saturday as “great people,” the HuffPost reports.
Murdoch Is a ‘Cancer on Democracy’
Former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd told CNN that Rupert Murdoch’s media empire is a “cancer on democracy” in the U.S., U.K. and Australia, using “mafia”-like intimidation tactics against dissenting voices.
Lockdown Protests May Have Spread Virus Widely
The Guardian: “Cellphone location data suggests that demonstrators at anti-lockdown protests – some of which have been connected with Covid-19 cases – are often traveling hundreds of miles to events, returning to all parts of their states, and even crossing into neighboring ones.”
“The data raises the prospect that the protests will play a role in spreading the coronavirus epidemic to areas which have, so far, experienced relatively few infections.”
Trump Revives Clinton Playbook to Battle Biden
Associated Press: “Trump and his allies are dusting off the playbook that helped defeat Hillary Clinton, reviving it in recent days as they try to frame 2020 as an election between a dishonest establishment politician and a political outsider being targeted for taking on the system. This time, however, the so-called outsider is the sitting president of the United States.”
White House Struggling to Keep Staffers Safe
Politico: “Trump’s own top staffers are increasingly working from home. The White House has started to schedule more meetings by teleconference after two staffers tested positive for Covid-19, including one of the president’s military valets. Aides are now required to wear face masks around the White House, and in-person meetings, if they occur at all, are held in the largest conference rooms possible. Even the White House mess, where staffers grab lunch and coffee, has shut down and is open only through the take-out window.”
“The most prominent office in America — with all of the testing, resources and doctors it needs — is still struggling to keep its employees and leaders safe, even as more than a dozen states reopen businesses, restaurants, parks and beaches.”
Fed Chair Sees Unemployment Hitting 25%
“Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Sunday warned that the nation’s unemployment rate could soar to 25 percent during the worst of the coronavirus crisis, though he said the economy should recover more quickly than during the Great Depression, when joblessness last reached those levels,” CBS News reports.
Swing State Republicans Warn Trump on Pandemic
Politico: “Interviews with nearly a dozen former governors, members of Congress, and other current and former party leaders revealed widespread apprehension about Trump’s standing six months out from the election.”
“Many fret that Trump’s hopes are now hitched to the pandemic; others point to demographic changes in once-reliably red states and to the challenge of running against a hard-to-define Democratic opponent who appeals to a wide swath of voters. The concerns give voice to an assortment of recent battleground state polling showing Trump struggling against Biden.”
If Democrats Hold Big Convention, Will Anybody Come?
“Three months before their national convention is to kick off in Milwaukee, Democratic Party officials are planning for three scenarios depending on the severity of the coronavirus pandemic at the time. But the planners face a substantial problem in putting on the quadrennial event that is recognizable to Americans as the traditional launch of the presidential general election campaign: Many of the delegates don’t want to go,” the New York Times reports.
“Interviews with 59 members of the Democratic National Committee and superdelegates who will formally nominate former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. in August found that the vast majority of them don’t want to risk their own health or the health of others by traveling to Milwaukee and congregating inside the convention facilities.”
Grassley Demands Explanation for Watchdog Firing
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), co-chair of the Whistleblower Protection Caucus, told NBC News that Congress is entitled to a more thorough explanation of President Trump’s firing of the State Department’s inspector general.
Said Grassley: “As I’ve said before, Congress requires written reasons justifying an IG’s removal. A general lack of confidence simply is not sufficient detail to satisfy Congress.”
São Paulo Health System is Near Collapse
The mayor of Brazil’s largest city, São Paulo, which has been hard hit by the coronavirus with some 3,000 deaths, said its health system could collapse, the BBC reports.
“Brazil’s far-right president Jair Bolsonaro has been strongly criticised both at home and abroad for his handling of the country’s escalating coronavirus crisis.”
“He defied global health advice on social distancing on Sunday when he posed for photographs with supporters and children in the capital, Brasília.”
Pompeo Backs Away from Wuhan Lab Theory
“Secretary of State Mike Pompeo appears to be backing away from a theory he and President Trump were pushing that the coronavirus pandemic may have originated at a lab in Wuhan, China,” CNN reports.
Pompeo said in an interview with Breitbart that “we know it began in Wuhan, but we don’t know from where or from whom, and those are important things.”
“Pompeo has for weeks publicly espoused the theory that the virus that has infected more than 1,400,000 Americans originated from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, claiming in an interview earlier this month that there was ‘enormous evidence’ and a ‘significant amount of evidence’ this was the case.”
Watchdog Was Probing Pompeo Errands Done by Staffer
“The State Department inspector general fired by President Trump last week was investigating whether Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made a staffer perform a variety of personal errands, including walking his dog and picking up dry cleaning,” CNN reports.
“The revelation will likely add new scrutiny to Trump’s dismissal of Steve Linick on Friday evening.”
New York Times: Inspector general’s firing puts Pompeo’s use of taxpayer funds under scrutiny.
Trump Dismisses Obama Over Criticism
President Trump dismissed his predecessor as “grossly incompetent,” a day after former President Barack Obama said leaders weren’t “even pretending to be in charge” amid the coronavirus pandemic, Politico reports.
Deborah Birx Is the Real Power Doctor
Jonathan Swan: “Don’t be fooled by the grandmotherly demeanor and whimsical scarf collection. Administration officials say they’ve been taken aback by Deborah Birx’s masterful political skills — including a preternatural ability to get what she wants while telling people what they want to hear.”
“She’s better than any of the other public health officials at talking to Trump. While MAGA-land has spent weeks trying to get Anthony Fauci fired, Birx has been far more adept at influencing the president and shaping the administration’s response to the global coronavirus pandemic.”
Trump Leans Towards Making Full Cuts to WHO
“President Trump is leaning toward preserving his total funding cut for the World Health Organization after being on the brink of announcing he’d restore partial funding,” Axios reports.
“Trump spent his weekend at Camp David with some of his closest Republican allies in the House of Representatives. A source familiar with the private discussions said that House members at Camp David pressed Trump ‘to not give a dime to WHO.'”
Lawmaker Who Engaged In Terrorism Won’t Run Again
Controversial Washington state Rep. Matt Shea (R), who was suspended from the House Republican caucus after an investigation concluded he had engaged in domestic terrorism, will not seek reelection this fall, the Seattle Times reports.
The surprise development came after Shea had for months defiantly refused calls from Republican and Democratic leaders to resign, vowing to fight on and not bow down to what he called “a coup” against him.
Crisis Shows How America Hollowed Out Its Government
Dan Balz: “The government’s halting response to the coronavirus pandemic represents the culmination of chronic structural weaknesses, years of underinvestment and political rhetoric that has undermined the public trust — conditions compounded by President Trump’s open hostility to a federal bureaucracy that has been called upon to manage the crisis.”
America Has Failed Itself and the World
Financial Times: “American leadership in any disaster, whether a tsunami or an Ebola outbreak, has been a truism for decades. The US is renowned for helping others in an emergency.”
“In hindsight, Trump’s claim to global leadership leaps out. History will mark Covid-19 as the first time that ceased to be true. US airlifts have been missing in action. America cannot even supply itself.”
“South Korea, which has a population density nearly 15 times greater and is next door to China, has lost a total of 259 lives to the disease. There have been days when America has lost 10 times that number. The US death toll is now approaching 90,000.”