Washington Post: “The U.S. ambassador to South Africa attended a dinner at President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club with Brazilian officials who later tested positive for the novel coronavirus. But she told her State Department employees she did not consider herself at risk because the dinner was outside and she believed the virus could not withstand the Florida heat.”
Laid-off Bloomberg Staffers Exposed to Coronavirus
“Mike Bloomberg’s shuttered presidential campaign alerted staffers on Thursday night that two floors of its New York headquarters were exposed to the novel coronavirus,” Politico reports.
“On Friday morning, the campaign then laid off hundreds of staffers across the country, including at least several dozen in the New York office who are potentially at risk and are now being asked to finish their employment working from home. While staffers in battleground states have health coverage until the end of April, the dismissed Bloomberg employees in the New York City headquarters will lose health insurance after March 31.”
Bloomberg Spent Nearly $1 Billion
Per a new FEC filing, Mike Bloomberg spent $936,225,041 on his failed presidential campaign for the Democratic nomination.
Trump Lies His Way Through a Pandemic
Frank Rich: “The president who is leading this country into battle cares about no one but himself, continues to lie to Americans daily about the most basic imperatives of a public-health catastrophe, and presides over an administration staffed with incompetent, third-tier bootlickers and grifters. And I am not just talking about Mike Pence, Jared Kushner, and Wilbur Ross. There are now three college seniors serving in White House positions, thanks to a new purge of ostensibly disloyal staffers being conducted by Trump’s former body man, the 29-year-old John McEntee, recently installed as director of the Presidential Personnel Office.”
“Trump calls himself a ‘wartime president,’ but his only previous wartime experience was partying during Vietnam, when he was spared military service because of ‘bone spurs.’ Those bone spurs long ago migrated to his brain. If America rises to the occasion, it will be despite him, not because of him.”
White House Brings Back Ex-Economic Adviser
“The Trump administration is bringing back former chief economist Kevin Hassett, whose grim public comments about the potential economic toll of the coronavirus stand in sharp contrast with some of the rosier predictions floated by current White House advisers,” Politico reports.
Senate Majority May Hinge on Montana
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Bonus Quote of the Day
“When we hear about these deaths, most of the time we won’t know the individual. It will be another number, but we must remember that when we hear about a death, it was someone who was loved, someone who wanted to live longer.”
— Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R), announcing his state’s first death from the coronavirus pandemic.
Illinois Governor to Issue Stay-at-Home Order
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) plans to issue a “shelter-in-place” order for the entire state starting Saturday, essentially commanding residents to stay in their homes as the officials take drastic measures to slow the spread of the coronavirus, the Chicago Tribune reports.
Congressman Says Country Is Overreacting to Virus
Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO) believes the country is panicked and overreacting to the coronavirus outbreak due to a lack of leadership from both major political parties, the Denver Post reports.
Said Buck: “You don’t shut restaurants down for 30 days.”
He added: “I have no problem with stopping sporting events or things that don’t impact our civil liberties and don’t impact everyday life. Those are things that I think we can suspend for a period of time. But it’s just craziness to shut down businesses or parts of the economy that are absolutely necessary.”
Mnuchin Says GOP Stimulus Bill Is Too Small
“Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin sees the proposed Senate Republican stimulus measure as too small in some areas and wants it to include direct payments to more individuals to mitigate the economic consequences of the coronavirus outbreak,” Bloomberg reports.
Trump Will Use Defense Act Powers for Medical Supplies
“President Trump said that he would start using his powers under a Korean War-era law to try to increase the production of ventilators and masks, as hospitals around the country warn of shortages,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
Said Trump: “I invoked the Defense Production Act, and last night we put it into gear.”
He provided no details. He later refused to name any companies he claims were asked to produce the needed medical equipment.
Trump Downplays Senators Dumping Stock
President Trump’s former press secretary, Sean Spicer, asked the president about reports of U.S. senators dumping stock last month as they received private briefings on the scope of the coronavirus pandemic, Vox reports.
Said Trump: “I’m not aware of it. I find them all to be very honorable people, and they said they did nothing wrong.”
Exchange of the Day
At today’s briefing by the coronavirus task force, Peter Alexander of NBC News asked President Trump:
NBC NEWS: What do you say to Americans that are scared?
TRUMP: I say you’re a terrible reporter.
Garrett Graff: “This is a actually a super basic and softball question. The fact that the president doesn’t realize it is deeply troubling. He really only sees himself in all this.”
Quote of the Day
“If help doesn’t come, we’re going to lose people who should not die. Where the hell is the federal government?”
— New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio, quoted by the Daily Beast.
Sean Spicer Returns to the White House
Sean Spicer joined White House press corp at today’s coronavirus task force briefing by taking the Newsmax seat in briefing room, the Daily Mail reports.
Spicer has a show on the conservative network.
Kelly O’Donnell: “It is simply not appropriate for the former press secretary to sit among journalists to ask questions of the president he served. The door between politics and media sometimes revolves but it is not appropriate to question one’s former boss.”
Cuomo Orders Tighter Restrictions in New York
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo told his state’s 19 million residents to stay indoors as much as possible and ordered nonessential businesses to keep all of their workers home, the New York Times reports.
The measures, the state’s most drastic yet, come as confirmed coronavirus cases in New York topped 7,000, by far the most in the nation.
Said Cuomo: “These provisions will be enforced. These are not helpful hints.”
Bloomberg Transfers Campaign Assets to Democratic Party
“Mike Bloomberg has decided to donate significant componentsof his shuttered presidential campaign to the Democratic Party, a historic bequest that includes an $18 million cash infusion to organize for the general election in swing states,” the Washington Post reports.
“The decision, which exploits a provision in campaign finance law available only to federal candidates, amounts to a shift in strategy for the billionaire political activist, who had previously promised to personally fund ground staff and offices in six states through an independent expenditure effort.”
Social Distancing May Be In Place for Rest of Year
The British scientists advising the U.K. government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic has warned that social-distancing restrictions will have to be enforced for “at least most of a year” if they’re going to control the spread of the disease, the BBC reports.
