An Associated Press analysis of coronavirus case data “shows the virus has moved — and is spreading quickly — into Republican areas, a new path with broad potential political ramifications.”
“States that President Trump won in the 2016 election account for about 75% of the new cases, a trend that has accelerated since the end of May. Counties that voted for Trump in 2016 have seen cases and deaths rising — now seeing an impact nearly even with counties that voted for Democrat Hillary Clinton.”
“President Trump returned from his Virginia golf course Saturday afternoon and turned his Twitter feed into a crime blotter,” the Washington Post reports.
“In less than five minutes, the president posted 15 fliers from the United States Park Police to his 82.6 million followers, complete with grainy photos of Americans suspected of vandalism at Lafayette Square. The images hearkened to the kinds of posters one would see on the wall of a local post office.”
“The president’s messages about protesters and vandals have continued apace, often in the early hours of the morning or the late hours of the evening when he is not surrounded by aides, but sometimes in interviews and executive orders.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) told reporters that the state will not reinstate restrictions or close businesses to mitigate the spread of the novel coronavirus, Axios reports.
Said DeSantis: “We’re not going back, closing things. I don’t think that that’s really what’s driving it, people going to a business is not what’s driving it. I think when you see the younger folks, I think a lot of it is more just social interactions, so that’s natural.”
Washington Post: “The president has refused to trumpet his own administration’s recommendation that people cover their faces, nor has he set an example by wearing a mask at public events. In fact, he has used his bully pulpit to mock others who do and to cast doubt on the efficacy of masks.”
“But with coronavirus cases soaring across the nation — and most precipitously across Florida, Texas and other parts of so-called Trump country — many prominent Republicans are now echoing the pleas of infectious-diseases expert Anthony S. Fauci and other health experts that people wear masks to slow the spread of the virus and help the economy reopen safely.”
“The recent shift on the political right has left Trump isolated, with the president and his White House staff openly resisting the calls for mask-wearing.”
Associated Press: Republicans, with the exception of Trump, now push mask-wearing.
A new ECU poll in North Carolina finds Joe Biden edging Donald Trump in the presidential race, 45% to 44%.
In the U.S. Senate race, Thom Tillis (R) is tied with challenger Cal Cunningham (D), 41% to 41%.
“President Trump’s re-election campaign has begun spending heavily on Facebook ads that also promote the social media pages of his campaign manager, Brad Parscale, running more than $325,000 in such ads, mostly in recent weeks,” the New York Times reports.
“Digital strategists said it was highly unusual to use a campaign staff member’s page to run ads.”
“The White House and Commerce Department forced the Census Bureau to take two new political appointees last week whose unexpected arrival has deepened fears at the agency that the 2020 census will be politicized,” Politico reports.
Said one insider: “No one has expressed any support for the decision… There’s great concern. They basically swallowed hard… They have no choice, and they must do it.”
Wall Street Journal: “At a time when historic numbers of Americans are seeking jobless benefits amid coronavirus pandemic-induced lockdowns, the president has blamed Mr. Biden for thousands of job losses because of trade deals he backed in earlier decades. With national unrest over police brutality accelerating in Mr. Trump’s fourth year in office, the campaign has pointed to Mr. Biden for pushing criminal justice laws in the 1990s that it says have destroyed ‘millions of black lives.’ Mr. Biden’s campaign dismisses the strategy as a desperate one that won’t work.”
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) warned Democrats not to mess with the filibuster rule if they win control of the chamber in November, The Hill reports.
Said McConnell: “The important thing for our Democratic friends to remember is that you may not be in total control in the future, and anytime you start fiddling around with the rules of the Senate, I think you always need to put yourself in the other fellow’s shoes and just imagine what might happen when the wind shifts.”
The Atlantic: “The United States is once again at risk of outstripping its COVID-19 testing capacity, an ominous development that would deny the country a crucial tool to understand its pandemic in real time.”
“U.S. stocks wrapped up their best quarter in more than 20 years, a remarkable rally after the coronavirus pandemic brought business around the world to a virtual standstill,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Just three months ago, investors were lamenting the end of the bull market—and the longest economic expansion on record—after major U.S. stock indexes lost about 35% of their value in less than six weeks. The subsequent rebound has been nearly as brisk.”
Former U.S Navy Seal Dan Barkhuff asks the question of President Trump in a brutal new Lincoln Project ad.
“This president is the most informed person on Planet Earth in terms of the threats that we face.”
— White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, at a press briefing today.
A new Pew Research national poll has this stunning finding: The percentage of Republicans who say they’re satisfied with the direction of the country has dropped below 50% — all the way to 19%.
Philip Bump: “New data from the Pew Research Center bolsters the idea that Trump’s position in the polls is worsening as a function of what’s happening in the country. Specifically, it seems likely that the pandemic is pushing his approval ratings lower, which, in turn, is making his position in the presidential contest more precarious.”
The Senate will incorporate the annual intelligence policy legislation into the National Defense Authorization Act — but only after Republicans stripped language from the intelligence bill that would have required presidential campaigns to report offers of foreign election help, CNN reports.
Sen. Mark Warner bemoaned what he called a “back-room deal” to strip out the provision.
Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) called on President Trump to “occasionally wear a mask,” ABC News reports.
Said Alexander: “The president has plenty of admirers. They would follow his lead. It would help end this political debate.”
A new Pew Research poll finds Joe Biden leading Donald Trump in the presidential race, 54% to 44%.
The backdrop: “Anger and fear are widespread. Majorities of Democrats and Republicans say they feel both sentiments when thinking about the country, though these feelings are more prevalent among Democrats. And just 17% of Americans – including 25% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents and 10% of Democrats and Democratic leaners – say they feel proud when thinking about the state of the country.”
Trump’s approval rate is now 20 points underwater, 39% to 59%.
Meanwhile, a new Suffolk University poll finds Biden leading nationally, 53% to 41%.
A judge granted Robert Trump a temporary restraining order halting the publication of Mary Trump’s upcoming tell-all, Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man, the Daily Beast reports.
This decision is only preliminary, leaving the book’s ultimate fate up to a later decision on the merits of the lawsuit.
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.