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Porn Users Forum » WHY DOESN'T POTUS ARREST BILL CLINTON, HILARY CLINTON, AND OBAMA?
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02-22-20  11:09am - 1671 days #1551
LKLK (0)
Active User

Posts: 1,583
Registered: Jun 26, '19
Location: CA
Real news:
Trump is a man of the people.
He's fighting to save taxpayers millions of dollars, and fighting to close the deficit.
What a man. What a hero.
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Trump’s New Budget Proposal Slashes Medicaid, Medicare, Pesky CDC Funding

By Bess Levin
February 10, 2020


On Monday, Donald Trump unveiled his budget proposal for 2021, a submission that is less an order than it is a window into the president’s fantasies, given that it must be approved by Congress, which has historically rejected the White House’s budgets. Still, it’s a great opportunity for Americans, particularly those who may run against the president for office this fall, to see what sort of cuts he would put in place if there were nothing to stop him from acting on his basest instincts. And if you guessed that when left entirely to his own devices, the president would gut spending for the most vulnerable members of the nation, you guessed right!

The Washington Post reports that Trump has proposed a $4.8 trillion budget that would take a hacksaw to the social safety net and vital domestic programs while requesting $2 billion in homeland security spending for his border wall and a 12% budget increase for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration because he wants to go to Mars. Among the programs taking the biggest hit are Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program, which would lose billions, and food stamp funding, which would be reduced by $181 billion over a decade. (Trump has long made it clear that he believes the poor have gotten way too greedy about eating.) According to the Post, despite Trump claiming that Medicare is safe, the proposal would “also wring savings from Medicare,” so there’s that. The Education Department would see a cut of 8%, the Interior Department would lose 13.4%, and the State Department—that pesky little thing—would be cut by 22%.

In addition, the Environmental Protection Agency—which under Trump has proposed measures expected to kill up to 1,400 Americans per year—would see its budget slashed by 26.5% over the next year alone, while the budget for the Health and Human Services Department would be lopped off by 9%. Crucially, HHS includes the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the latter of which we’re hoping will help prevent the spread of the coronavirus, which has killed at least 910 people, a stat the World Health Organization has warned may just be the “tip of the iceberg.” (Officials have claimed that funding aimed at combating the virus would be protected, but Trump has said a lot of things in the past that turned out to be lies.) Oh, and if you were wondering if these cuts would help the president make good on his bold claims of reducing the deficit, it turns out that no, they’re mostly just for cruelty’s sake.

Even with all the proposed spending cuts, the budget would fail to eliminate the federal deficit over the next 10 years, missing a longtime GOP fiscal target. Instead White House officials plan to say their budget proposal would close the deficit by 2035. But it would only achieve this if the economy grows at an unprecedented, sustained 3% clip through 2025, levels the administration has failed to achieve for even one year so far. The U.S. economy grew 2.3% in 2019, the weakest level since Trump took office. During Trump’s first year in office, his advisers said their budget plan would eliminate the deficit by around 2028. This new budget will mark the third consecutive time that they abandon that 10-year goal and instead suggest a 15-year target.... As a presidential candidate, Trump said he would eliminate not just the annual federal deficit but all debt held by the United States after eight years in office.

During the last year President Barack Obama was in office, the deficit was less than $600 billion, but it has grown significantly since then. The 2017 GOP tax cuts and new domestic spending approved by bipartisan majorities in Congress have widened this gap markedly. However, the Trump administration’s new budget summary contains the line: “All administration policies will pay for themselves, including extending tax cut provisions expiring in 2025.” Without action by Congress and the administration, tax cuts for families and individuals would expire at the end of 2025. Budget experts have projected that extending those tax cuts would reduce revenue by roughly $1 trillion.

Not surprisingly, Democrats like Rep. John Yarmuth, chairman of the House Budget Committee, are less than enthused by the proposal, which Yarmuth said includes “destructive changes...while extending [Trump’s] tax cuts for millionaires and wealthy corporations.” The president’s plan is highly unlikely to be approved, but to sate his appetite for slashing funding that millions of Americans depend on, he’s apparently looking into alternate avenues for cutting Medicaid, Medicare, and other “entitlements,” which he’s long promised—as recently as this weekend!—to keep his mitts off of.

02-23-20  07:46am - 1670 days #1552
LKLK (0)
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Posts: 1,583
Registered: Jun 26, '19
Location: CA
Real news:
Trump and Sanders are the current candidates of choice for Russia.
Will Trump try to distance himself from Russia, because he believes he should be the only one getting help from Russia?
Will Trump blow a fuse, and send guided missiles or drones to take out Putin, his former ally?
Will Trump start World War 3 because he's lost Putin's favor?
Enquiring minds want to know: how many Americans want Trump as President-For-Life?
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Trump tells 'Crazy Bernie' Sanders: 'Don't let them take it away from you!'

NBC News
Lauren Egan
Feb 23rd 2020 8:22AM

LAS VEGAS — President Donald Trump tuned into the Nevada Democratic caucuses on Saturday, tweeting that "Crazy Bernie" was doing well and telling the Vermont senator, "Don't let them take it away from you!"

"Looks like Crazy Bernie is doing well in the Great State of Nevada. Biden & the rest look weak, & no way Mini Mike can restart his campaign after the worst debate performance in the history of Presidential Debates," Trump tweeted, short before NBC News projected Sanders would win. "Congratulations Bernie, & don't let them take it away from you!"

Since the 2016 primary, Trump has frequently suggested that the Democratic National Committee is working against Sanders to keep him from winning the party's nomination.

A scenario receiving increased attention involves Sanders arriving at the Democratic National Convention this summer having won more delegates than any other candidate but not enough for the nomination and then being outmaneuvered by Democratic deal making to give the nomination to someone else because they believe the democratic socialist and self-proclaimed revolutionary can't beat Trump.

Many Sanders supporters felt that the DNC favored Hillary Clinton in 2016 and again prefers a more centrist candidate this time around as the nominee — a chasm in the Democratic Party that Trump frequently likes to capitalize on.

"The Kremlin is reportedly backing Bernie Sanders bid to win the White House," Trump tweeted. "Why didn't somebody tell me this?"

On Friday, The Washington Post reported that Russia was attempting to help Sanders' campaign. Sanders and Trump, along with other lawmakers, had been briefed on Russia's efforts. Intelligence reports have also shown that Russia is interfering in the election to benefit Trump.

"Democrats in the Great State of Nevada (Which, because of the Economy, Jobs, the Military & Vets, I will win in November), be careful of Russia, Russia, Russia," Trump tweeted earlier Saturday morning. "According to Corrupt politician Adam 'Shifty' Schiff, they are pushing for Crazy Bernie Sanders to win. Vote!"

Although there are no Republican nominating contests being held in Nevada this weekend, Trump held a campaign rally in Las Vegas on Friday.

Trump lost Nevada to Hillary Clinton in 2016 by roughly 2.4 percentage points.

02-23-20  08:03am - 1670 days #1553
LKLK (0)
Active User

Posts: 1,583
Registered: Jun 26, '19
Location: CA
Real news:
Although the Senate acquitted Donald Trump, Clint Eastwood, a long-time Republican, no longer supports Trump as president.
Can Trump be re-elected, if he loses the support of important Republicans?
Even more important, if Trump loses the support of Russia, can Trump win re-election?
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Clint Eastwood ditches Donald Trump for Mike Bloomberg in 2020 election

Variety
Jordan Moreau
Feb 22nd 2020 4:25PM

Longtime Republican Clint Eastwood is pulling support from Donald Trump in the 2020 election. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, the actor-director signaled that he thinks a different candidate would be the better choice.

“The best thing we could do is just get Mike Bloomberg in there,” he said.

After endorsing Mitt Romney and famously delivering a speech at the 2012 Republican National Convention to an empty chair that represented Barack Obama, Eastwood never officially backed Trump. In a 2016 interview, he expressed displeasure with Trump and Hillary Clinton, saying there’s “much funny business on both sides of the aisle.”

He praised Trump at the time because he was “onto something” and “secretly everybody’s getting tired of political correctness, kissing up.”

“We’re really in a p—y generation. Everybody’s walking on eggshells. We see people accusing people of being racist and all kinds of stuff. When I grew up, those things weren’t called racist,” he said.

Now, he’s changed his tune a bit on Trump.

While he approves of “certain things” the president has done, he wishes that he would act “in a more genteel way, without tweeting and calling people names. I would personally like for him to not bring himself to that level,” he said.

Eastwood also touched on the controversy surrounding Olivia Wilde’s character, Kathy Scruggs, in his 2019 film “Richard Jewell.” He showed Scruggs, the real-life reporter who alleged Jewell planted a bomb at the 1996 Olympics, sleeping with an FBI source to get information. Lawyers for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the newspaper at which Scruggs worked, called the portrayal “entirely false and malicious, and…extremely defamatory and damaging.” The film was Clintwood’s worst opening in 40 years.

The director defended his right to cinematic freedom and said the newspaper was trying to shroud its “guilt” over a “reckless story.”

“Well, she hung out at a little bar in town, where mostly police officers went,” he said. “She had a boyfriend that was a police officer. Well, we just changed it in the story. We made it a federal police officer instead of a local,” he said.

Even though “Richard Jewell” was involved in a #MeToo-like controversy, Eastwood said he appreciates that the movement has empowered women to stand up “against people who are trying to shake [them] down for sexual favors.”

However, he believes that “presumption of innocence, not only in law, but in philosophy” has been lost in the increase of accusations of sexual misbehavior.

02-23-20  04:59pm - 1670 days #1554
LKLK (0)
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Posts: 1,583
Registered: Jun 26, '19
Location: CA
Fake news:
Trump has offered to paint the White House pink if Putin helps re-elect Trump as president.
And has offered to give Putin a special discount when Putin visits America, if Putin stays at Trump properties.

Trump is a fabulous business. He knows how to reward his friends.
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National Security
Trump angry after House briefed on 2020 Russia election meddling on his behalf
The briefing cost the acting director of national intelligence, Joseph Maguire, a shot at the permanent DNI job, current and former officials said.

Feb. 20, 2020, 1:35 PM PST / Updated Feb. 21, 2020, 9:15 AM PST
By Ken Dilanian, Andrea Mitchell and Katy Tur

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump pushed aside his acting director of national intelligence, Joseph Maguire, because he was angry about a briefing to lawmakers that said Russia is interfering in the 2020 election to aid his re-election, current and former intelligence officials briefed on the matter told NBC News.

At issue was an election briefing to House members last week by Shelby Pierson, the DNI's election security czar. The news was first reported by The New York Times.

The fast-moving developments have caused serious concern among intelligence officials.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence "is nearing a meltdown," one former official said after news broke about Maguire being forced out over the Russia briefing.
Trump is mad Dems know Russia is meddling to get him re-elected

Current and former officials previously confirmed to NBC News that Maguire, who was under consideration to be permanent DNI, will not get that job and will soon leave his post.

The top lieutenant at the ODNI, CIA officer Andrew Hallman, is also leaving, a former official said, a departure that "is very distressing to intelligence professionals."

"It is clear that the recent decisions by the president have caused a lot of consternation in the intelligence community," another former official said. "I'm not aware of any kind of planned response, but a lot of people are concerned about the role of the oversight committees going forward in this situation."

Maguire was due to leave by March 12 but the election briefing precipitated his departure.

Trump announced that he would name Richard Grenell, the U.S. ambassador to Germany, to the post, but on Thursday night, officials said the president would put forward a different name within days to fill the job permanently.

Last Thursday, Pierson gave a classified briefing to the House Intelligence Committee on 2020 election security. Current and former intelligence officials said she told lawmakers that Russia had exhibited a preference for Trump, and was seeking to interfere in the 2020 election to help the president.

One current official familiar with the matter told NBC News that Pierson overstated the extent to which there is intelligence showing a Russian preference for Trump. When lawmakers from both parties asked for examples, she could not provide any, this official said, adding that the Russian priority is sowing chaos, not electing any particular candidate.

A second current official said Democrats at the briefing asked pointed questions designed to make the intelligence look as damaging to Trump as possible, while Republicans questioned whether the Russians would prefer Trump.

A spokeswoman for Pierson declined to comment.

Regardless of what the intelligence shows, what happened after the briefing has deeply unsettled many intelligence officials, current and former officials tell NBC News.

The next day, Trump erupted at Maguire in the Oval Office, demanding to know why lawmakers were briefed on the Russia intelligence, current and former officials said, adding that Trump was concerned the Democrats would use the information against him.
Trump names controversial Richard Grenell as acting intelligence director
Feb. 20, 202001:16

Trump's anger over the briefing led him to push Maguire out, current and former officials told NBC News.

The episode has raised the specter that Trump is punishing intelligence officials for providing accurate intelligence to members of Congress who are cleared to receive it.

Pierson, a veteran intelligence official, is coordinating the intelligence gathering — and response — to foreign election threats.

While the U.S. government is working to secure the 2020 election from hackers and disinformation, Trump has avoided publicly commenting or holding meetings about the subject because he believes the issue reflects badly on his 2016 victory in an election beset by Russian interference, officials have told NBC News.

02-24-20  03:23am - 1670 days #1555
LKLK (0)
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Posts: 1,583
Registered: Jun 26, '19
Location: CA
Real news:
President Trump, the most honest and truthful president the US has ever had, reveals that scum-bag Democrats are traitors to our nation, and leaking secrets to the public.
Shame on the Democrats.
Stand with Trump in locking up these traitors to the fight of making America great again.

As Commander-in-Chief, can Trump have the Democrats arrested, and shot for treason?
Enquiring minds want to know.
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Trump accuses Schiff of leaking intelligence about Russia to hurt Sanders


Thomson Reuters
Feb 23rd 2020 12:45PM

President Donald Trump on Sunday accused Representative Adam Schiff of leaking classified information on Russian interference in the 2020 U.S. election to hurt Democratic presidential front-runner Bernie Sanders.

Speaking to reporters as he left the White House for a trip to India, Trump said he had not been briefed on intelligence that Russia was aiming to boost the campaign of Sanders, a U.S. senator from Vermont, and he called for a probe into Schiff for the leak. Schiff, a Democrat, denied the allegation.

A congressional source told Reuters on Friday that intelligence officials had told lawmakers Russia appears to be engaging in disinformation and propaganda campaigns to help both Sanders and Trump, who is seeking re-election.

"I read where Russia is helping Bernie Sanders. Nobody said it to me at all. Nobody briefed me about that at all," Trump said.

"They leaked it, Adam Schiff and his group. They leaked it to the papers and - as usual - they ought to investigate Adam Schiff for leaking that information," Trump said, without providing any evidence to back up his claims.

Schiff, who served as the lead prosecutor in Trump's impeachment trial in the Senate, said Trump was seeking to turn attention away from his own actions with the comments.

"Nice deflection, Mr. President. But your false claims fool no one," he wrote in a tweet. "You welcomed Russian help in 2016, tried to coerce Ukraine’s help in 2019, and won’t protect our elections in 2020. Now you fired your intel chief for briefing Congress about it. You’ve betrayed America. Again."

Trump changed out his acting director of national intelligence Joseph Maguire and replaced him with U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell last week, reportedly after being annoyed by the briefing to lawmakers about Russian interference.

The president has repeatedly cast doubt on U.S. intelligence findings that Russia intervened to help him in the 2016 presidential election against Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, the former secretary of state.

By raising questions about the latest findings, Trump appears to be seeking to boost Sanders, who is now the front-runner for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. As a self-described democratic socialist, Sanders is a candidate Trump would like to take on in a general election to bolster his argument that Democrats are pushing a socialist agenda.

Trump has long argued that the Democratic Party favored Clinton unfairly over Sanders in the 2016 primary race, an issue that still divides the Democratic base.

"I think what it could be is, you know, the Democrats are treating Bernie Sanders very unfairly and it sounds to me like a leak from Adam Schiff because they don't want Bernie Sanders to represent them. It sounds like it's (2016) all over again for Bernie Sanders," Trump said.

Other administration officials have cast doubt on reports that Russia was trying to help Trump again this year.

"I haven't seen any intelligence that Russia is doing anything to attempt to get President Trump re-elected," White House National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien told ABC's "This Week."

02-25-20  10:46am - 1668 days #1556
LKLK (0)
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Posts: 1,583
Registered: Jun 26, '19
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US Supreme Court protecting the rights of dead Mexicans.
Boy, am I glad we have Republican judges who will protect the rights of dead Mexicans.
The only good Mexican is a dead Mexican.
The US, where free, white and color-blind Republicans rule.
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Court closes courthouse door on slain Mexican teen's family

The Associated Press
MARK SHERMAN
Feb 25th 2020 11:52AM

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 Tuesday to close the courthouse door on the parents of a Mexican teenager who was shot dead over the border by an American agent.

The court's five conservative justices held that the parents could not use American courts to sue Border Patrol Agent Jesus Mesa Jr., who killed their unarmed 15-year-old son in 2010.

Justice Samuel Alito wrote for the court that the case is tragic, but that strong border security and international relations issues led to the ruling against the parents of Sergio Adrian Hernandez Guereca.

“Since regulating the conduct of agents at the border unquestionably has national security implications, the risk of undermining border security provides reasons to hesitate" about allowing the parents to sue in American courts, Alito wrote.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, writing for her liberal colleagues, disagreed, saying the parents' lawsuit does not endanger border security or U.S. foreign policy.

Tuesday's outcome also is certain to doom a lawsuit filed by the parents of a teenager killed in Nogales, Mexico, from gunshots fired across the border by a U.S. agent. That case has been on hold.

The case tested a half-century-old Supreme Court decision that allows people to sue federal officials for constitutional violations. Over the years, the courts have made it harder to bring claims, known as Bivens actions after the name of the high court case.

Ginsburg wrote that “it is all too apparent that to redress injuries like the one suffered here, it is Bivens or nothing. I resist the conclusion that ‘nothing’ is the answer required in this case."

Justice Clarence Thomas, who was part of the court majority, said he would get rid of Bivens lawsuits altogether. Justice Neil Gorsuch joined Thomas' separate opinion.

Alito noted that the Justice Department and the parents disagreed about the sequence of events that led to Sergio's death. But there is no question that Mesa was standing on the U.S. side of the border when he fired into Mexico and killed him with a gunshot wound to the face.

The family said Sergio was playing a game with friends on a June evening, running through a culvert and over the border, touching it, and running back. Mesa rode up on a bicycle, took Sergio's friend into custody, then fired across the border.

The Justice Department said Mesa was trying to stop "smugglers attempting an illegal border crossing" and fired his gun after he came under a barrage of rocks. Mesa said in court filings that Sergio was among the rock throwers. Video footage of the incident seems to dispute that.

U.S. officials chose not to prosecute Mesa, and the Obama administration refused a request to extradite him so that he could face criminal charges in Mexico. When the parents of the boy tried to sue Mesa, federal judges dismissed their claims.

The Border Patrol drastically changed its use of force policies in the years after the shooting, following several complaints of excessive force. There were 15 instances where officers and agents used firearms during the budget year 2018, down from a high of 55 reported during the 2012 budget year.

02-25-20  06:35pm - 1668 days #1557
LKLK (0)
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Posts: 1,583
Registered: Jun 26, '19
Location: CA
Real news:
Rush Limbaugh tells the truth.
The coronavirus is being used by Democrats to take down President Donald Trump.
The virus is a common cold.
Nothing to be scared about.
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Rush Limbaugh claims the 'common cold' coronavirus is an effort to ‘get Trump’

HuffPost US
Josephine Harvey
Feb 25th 2020 9:21AM

Right-wing radio host Rush Limbaugh claimed on his show Monday that the potentially lethal coronavirus afflicting several countries is nothing more than a “common cold” blown out of proportion by the media to take down President Donald Trump ― even as he also asserted it was a “bioweapon” created by China in a laboratory.

“It looks like the coronavirus is being weaponized as yet another element to bring down Donald Trump,” Limbaugh said at the start of his lengthy, misinformation-filled rant.

“Now, I want to tell you the truth about the coronavirus. ... I’m dead right on this. The coronavirus is the common cold, folks.”

Coronaviruses comprise a large family of many viruses, ranging in severity from the common cold to more severe illnesses such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), an epidemic that infected more than 8,000 people in 2003. A novel coronavirus, such as the current COVID-19 outbreak, is a new strain of the virus that has previously not been identified in humans, the World Health Organization clearly explains on its site.

Limbaugh, though, chose to go off on his own tangent.

“The drive-by media hype of this thing as a pandemic, as the Andromeda strain, as, ‘Oh, my God. If you get it, you’re dead...’ I think the survival rate is 98%,” he said. “Ninety-eight percent of people who get the coronavirus survive. It’s a respiratory system virus.”

The mortality rate is not yet known, according to WHO. The organization’s latest situation report confirms 79,331 infections globally and 2,618 deaths, both widely reported figures.

Citing a debunked conspiracy theory, Limbaugh then claimed the disease was probably a “laboratory experiment” conducted by Chinese officials that is “in the process of being weaponized.”

Experts have repeatedly said that this theory, pushed in conservative circles, has no scientific basis.

“There’s absolutely nothing in the genome sequence of this virus that indicates the virus was engineered,” Richard Ebright, a professor of chemical biology at Rutgers University, told The Washington Post. “The possibility this was a deliberately released bioweapon can be firmly excluded.”

Limbaugh insisted that the disease is being “weaponized by virtue of the media” in an “effort to bring down Trump,” doing so by scaring investors into cashing out of the stock market. (Global markets fell sharply on Monday after the novel coronavirus surged in countries outside of China, raising concerns about the threat the outbreak poses to the global economy).

To wrap up his monologue, Limbaugh declared the coverage of the outbreak represents an effort by the media to show that “Trump and capitalism are destroying America and destroying the world.”

He also worked in a reference to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) during his diatribe, saying the Democratic presidential candidate wants to transform the U.S. into a “mirror image of” the country in which the novel coronavirus was first detected in humans ― China.

“It didn’t come from an American lab,” Limbaugh said. “It didn’t escape from an American research lab. It hasn’t been spread by Americans. It starts out in a communist country. Its tentacles spread all across the world in numbers that are not big and not huge, but they’re being reported as just the opposite.”

Earlier this month, Limbaugh revealed that he had advanced lung cancer. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Trump during the president’s State of the Union address the following day.

02-26-20  07:56am - 1667 days #1558
LKLK (0)
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Real news:
Trump is giving young people a chance in running the government.
He's hired a 23-year-old college student to fill one of the top positions in the Presidential Personnel Office.
The person he is replacing is Katja Bullock, a veteran of the office in her mid-70s who worked under both the Reagan and Bush administrations. Her annual salary was $145,000, according to the 2019 White House annual personnel report.
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White House hires college student for senior job amid disloyalty purge: Reports

HuffPost US
Hayley Miller
Feb 26th 2020 10:19AM

The White House has hired a college student to fill one of its top positions in the Presidential Personnel Office, Politico and CNN reported.

James Bacon, a 23-year-old senior at George Washington University, will reportedly help vet presidential appointees and oversee paperwork as the office’s director of operations.

Bacon, a loyalist to President Donald Trump who worked on his 2016 campaign, will transition to the White House from the Department of Transportation, where he focused on policy, according to Politico. Previously, he served as a White House liaison at the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Bacon’s new role reportedly comes amid a far-reaching campaign by Trump to purge staffers who are disloyal. Bacon will work under 29-year-old James McEntee, who was recently rehired to replace Sean Doocey as head of the personnel office.

Then-chief of staff John Kelly fired McEntee, who was working as Trump’s personal assistant, in 2018 over concerns about a gambling problem and tax issues, The Wall Street Journal reported at the time.

Though Doocey had reported to acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney’s deputy, McEntee now reports directly to Trump, reported The Washington Post. Doocey was pushed out to a new role in the State Department after a coalition of prominent conservatives accused him of obstructionism and called for his firing, per Axios.

Bacon will replace Katja Bullock, a veteran of the office in her mid-70s who worked under both the Reagan and Bush administrations. Her annual salary was $145,000, according to the 2019 White House annual personnel report.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.

02-26-20  03:43pm - 1667 days #1559
LKLK (0)
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Trump stands for truth and honesty.
And also stands for the right of free speech.


In 2016, Donald Trump tweeted the following:
“It is not ‘freedom of the press’ when newspapers and others are allowed to say and write whatever they want even if it is completely false!”

Re-elect Donald Trump, the bestest, most honestest, stablest genius President of the United States we have ever had.
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Trump campaign files libel suit against New York Times over Russia story


Thomson Reuters
Feb 26th 2020 4:17PM

WASHINGTON, Feb 26 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump's re-election campaign said on Wednesday it filed a libel lawsuit against the New York Times, accusing the newspaper of intentionally publishing a false story last year related to the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election.

In an escalation of the Republican president's long-running battle with the news media, campaign officials said the lawsuit was being filed in the New York State Supreme Court, the state's trial-level court. A statement from the campaign said the aim of the litigation was to "hold the news organization accountable for intentionally publishing false statements against President Trump's campaign."

The lawsuit relates to a March 27, 2019, article published by the Times. The lawsuit originated with the Trump re-election campaign, but Trump has contended the Times has at times been biased against him.

Trump, seeking re-election on Nov. 3, often refers to various news media outlets as "fake news" and has called elements of the U.S. news media "the enemy of the American people."

Former Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation documented Moscow's campaign of hacking and social media propaganda to boost Trump's 2016 candidacy and harm his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton. It documented numerous contacts between people associated his Trump's campaign and Russians. Mueller found insufficient evidence to show a criminal conspiracy between Trump's team but Russia and did not exonerate Trump of obstruction of justice related to the investigation.

"Today the President's re-election campaign filed suit against the New York Times for falsely stating the Campaign had an 'overarching deal' with 'Vladimir Putin's oligarchy' to 'help the campaign against Hillary Clinton' in exchange for 'a new pro-Russian foreign policy, starting with relief from ... economic sanctions,'" said Jenna Ellis, senior legal to Donald J. Trump for President, Inc.

"The statements were and are 100 percent false and defamatory. The complaint alleges The Times was aware of the falsity at the time it published them, but did so for the intentional purpose of hurting the campaign, while misleading its own readers in the process," Ellis said. (Reporting by Steve Holland; Editing by Will Dunham)

02-26-20  09:45pm - 1667 days #1560
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President Trump says the risk of the coronavirus is very low for Americans.
Recently, he also said that spring will bring warmer weather, and that the virus will disappear.
The Centers for Disease Control warns that Americans should prepare for disruptions of their normal lives due to the virus.
Trump says that whatever happens, we're totally prepared.
So don't worry, Americans. Trump will keep us safe.
Trump also said, earlier, that an American vaccine is very close.
However, health experts have estimated that an American vaccine is probably 12 to 18 months away.
And then there is the question of how much the vaccine will cost, when the vaccine is available to the general public.
But don't worry, Americans.
There is enough money to pay for the vaccine for President Trump and his family.
That is a matter of national security.
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Trump pushes message of confidence as health officials say coronavirus spread is inevitable

By Kathryn Watson

Updated on: February 26, 2020 / 8:24 PM / CBS News

President Trump announced in a Wednesday night press conference he's placing Vice President Mike Pence in charge of efforts to tackle the coronavirus, as the administration seeks to reassure the public and the markets amid the global coronavirus outbreak. The president, speaking for only the second time from the White House press briefing room, tried to instill confidence that his administration is on top of the health epidemic.

Speaking to reporters while flanked by Pence, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and other officials on his coronavirus task force, the president said the risk to Americans from the virus is "very low," even as the Centers for Disease Control warns Americans to prepare for disruptions of their normal lives and the spread of the virus is a matter of if, not when. Mr. Trump appeared to disagree with that assessment.

"I don't think it's inevitable. It probably will. It possibly will. It could be at a very small level or it could be at a larger level. Whatever happens, we're totally prepared," the president told reporters.

Minutes after the president ended his press conference, the CDC announced a confirmed case of the virus in California in someone "who reportedly did not have relevant history or exposure to another known patient with COVID-19," the official name for the virus that experts believe originated in China.

Azar is remaining the head of the president's coronavirus task force, but Pence said the administration will add personnel to the White House to address the outbreak, and work closely with Congress to address the situation.

Democrats and some Republicans are suggesting the $2.5 billion in funding the president has requested from Congress isn't enough. Mr. Trump, who said $2.5 billion is a "lot," said his administration is willing to spend "whatever's appropriate" to address the outbreak.

Part of that funding is going towards developing a vaccine, which is still at least 12 to 18 months away, National Institutes of Health Director Andrew Fauci told reporters. Senators had offered similar estimates after a briefing on Capitol Hill on Tuesday.

"We can't rely on a vaccine over the next several months to a year," Fauci said.

Earlier in the day, Azar said in a congressional briefing that he couldn't guarantee price controls when a vaccine is developed, sparking concerns about affordability even when a vaccine is available to the general public.

The president, when asked, said schools should be preparing for the virus to spread.

Mr. Trump has blamed news outlets and Democrats of stoking panic, as stocks suffered three days of steep losses on fears about the virus' impact. Pelosi criticized the president's response to the virus as underwhelming, and Mr. Trump took the opportunity Wednesday night to hit back at the speaker, calling her incompetent and suggesting she isn't capable of managing her own district.

"She's trying to create a panic, and there's no reason to panic," Mr. Trump said.

Mr. Trump appeared to express confidence in Chinese President Xi, saying the Chinese leader is working "very hard" to combat the outbreak. The president's own top officials, like economic adviser Larry Kudlow, have expressed they don't think China is being transparent enough with its information, and is blocking U.S. health officials from entering the country.

The president highlighted his administration's efforts to screen people coming from high-risk areas, and temporary ban on non-citizens coming to the U.S. from China. That action, Mr. Trump said, is critical.

"Had I not made a decision very early on not to take people from a certain area, we wouldn't be talking this way," Mr. Trump said. "We'd be talking about many more people being infected. I took a lot of heat. Some people called me racist because I made a decision so early. And we had never done that as a country before, let alone early. So, it was a bold decision. Turned out to be a good decision."

The administration has been inconsistent in its statements about the virus, which started last last year in China. There are now tens of thousands of cases worldwide and a handful in the United States.

The pieces of information about the virus coming from the administration have, at times, been inconsistent.

Kudlow asserted Tuesday on CNBC that "we have contained this... I won't say airtight, but pretty close to airtight." And Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf, was caught making inaccurate statements about the coronavirus during a hearing Tuesday.

On Capitol Hill, Democrats and Republicans alike have expressed frustration with administration officials about inconsistencies in the information they're providing. GOP Senator John Kennedy grew testy with Wolf, who incorrectly stated what the coronavirus mortality rate is, compared to the flu virus. Wolf also testified that the U.S. is "several months" away from a vaccine for the coronavirus, but the CDC said the timeline is closer to 12 to 18 months.

"You're head of Homeland Security, sir. Your job is to keep us safe," Kennedy told Wolf after he couldn't answer how many coronavirus cases are expected in the United States.

First published on February 26, 2020 / 10:57 AM

© 2020 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Kathryn Watson

02-28-20  09:40am - 1665 days #1561
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President Trump, protecting the rights of federal workers.
A whistleblower reported that some federal workers did not have necessary protective gear or training when they were sent to help Americans evacuate from China during the coronavirus outbreak.
But since President Trump said the coronavirus was no worse than the common cold, why should the whistleblower be paid attention.
Stop wasting time and money on whistleblowers.
They should be outed and fired.
Trump for Truth, Justice, and the American Way.
Re-elect the most stable genius President the US has ever had.
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Whistleblower: Feds helping evacuees lacked virus protection

The Associated Press
RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR
Feb 28th 2020 9:22AM

WASHINGTON (AP) — A government whistleblower has filed a complaint alleging that some federal workers did not have the necessary protective gear or training when they were deployed to help Americans evacuated from China during the coronavirus outbreak.

The complaint deals with Department of Health and Human Services employees sent to Travis and March Air Force bases in California to assist the quarantined evacuees. The Office of Special Counsel, a federal agency that investigates personnel issues, confirmed on Thursday that it had received the unnamed whistleblower's complaint and had opened a case.

Rep. Jimmy Gomez, D-Calif., said the whistleblower recently contacted his office, also alleging retaliation by higher-ups for having flagged safety issues.

“My concern from the moment I heard it is that individuals at HHS are not taking the complaints of HHS employees seriously," Gomez said in an interview. “Their superiors are not supposed to brush them off. By retaliating against people if they do call out a problem, that only discourages other people from ever reporting violations.”

HHS said it was “evaluating the complaint.”

“We take all whistleblower complaints very seriously and are providing the complainant all appropriate protections under the Whistleblower Protection Act," HHS spokeswoman Caitlin Oakley said in a statement.

Gomez's office said the complaint was filed by a high-ranking official at the Administration for Children and Families, an HHS social service agency.

The whistleblower was among a team of about a dozen employees from the agency who had been deployed to help connect the evacuees with government assistance that they might qualify for to ease their return. The team was there from mid-January until earlier this month.

Although team members had gloves at times and masks at other times, they lacked full protective gear and received no training on how to protect themselves in a viral hot zone, according to a description provided by the congressional office. They had no respirators. While helping the evacuees, team members noticed that workers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were in full gear to protect them from getting sick.

Gomez's office said the high-ranking whistleblower complained to superiors and was given the choice of being reassigned or being fired. Gomez said as far as he knows none of the workers from the agency has become infected with the virus.

The COVID-19 illness caused by a new coronavirus that emerged in December in the Chinese city of Wuhan has stretched well beyond Asia. The global count of those infected as of Friday exceeds 83,000, with China still by far the hardest-hit country. Dozens of cases but no deaths have been confirmed in the United States.

Without referring directly to the whistleblower's complaint, Gomez questioned HHS Secretary Alex Azar about the situation during a congressional hearing Thursday.

“Were any of these ACF employees exposed to high-risk evacuees?” asked Gomez, adding it was his understanding that "it was kind of chaotic on the ground" when the team was sent to California.

Azar responded that he was not aware of any violation of protective practices. “Urgency does not compensate for violating isolation and quarantine protocols,” he said.

“I'd want to know the full facts and would take appropriate remedial measures,” Azar added. If one of the HHS workers had become infected, that person could then have unwittingly infected others, Gomez said.

Lawyer Ari Wilkenfeld, representing the unidentified whistleblower, said in a statement: “This matter concerns HHS’ response to the coronavirus, and its failure to protect its employees and potentially the public. The retaliatory efforts to intimidate and silence our client must be opposed.”

Oakley, the HHS spokeswoman, said the department had "nothing further to add at this time.”

The whistleblower complaint was first reported by The Washington Post.

___

Associated Press writer Carole Feldman contributed to this report.

02-29-20  02:47pm - 1664 days #1562
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There's no reason for panic.
But the US is banning travel to Iran.
Also, travel to Italy and South Korea are warned against.

Only one person in the US has died from the coronavirus.
And a few others are very ill from the virus.
But the US has millions of people, so people don't need to worry or panic.

Vote for Trump, the most stable genius President we've ever had.
And know that the coronavirus is a hoax by the Democratic party.
Was the coronavirus a hoax released by a Chinaman to bring down Donald Trump?
Be brave, fellow Americans.
We must unite behind our courageous leaders!
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U.S. ups travel restrictions as Trump says more cases 'likely'

The Associated Press
DARLENE SUPERVILLE and ZEKE MILLER
Feb 29th 2020 3:43PM

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. is banning travel to Iran in response to the outbreak of the new coronavirus and elevating travel warnings to regions of Italy and South Korea.

Vice President Mike Pence announced the new restrictions and warnings as President Donald Trump said 22 people in the U.S. have been stricken by the new coronavirus, of whom one has died and four are deemed “very ill,” and that additional cases are “likely.”

Trump added that he was considering additional restrictions, including closing the U.S. border with Mexico in response to the virus' spread — though he added: "This is not a border that seems to be much of a problem right now.

“We’re thinking about all borders," Trump said.

Travel to Iran is already quite limited, though some families are allowed to travel there on a visa. It is one of the seven initial countries on Trump’s travel ban list, which means travel from Iran also is already severely restricted.

Trump provided an update on the virus from the White House press briefing room for the second time this week after the first reported U.S. death Saturday, of someone he described as having a high medical risk before contracting the virus. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said there was “no evidence of link to travel” in the case of the person who died.

On Friday, health officials confirmed a second case of coronavirus in the U.S. in a person who didn't travel internationally or have close contact with anyone who had the virus. The U.S. has a total of about 60 confirmed cases. Trump's tally appeared to exclude cases of Americans repatriated from China or evacuated from the Diamond Princess cruise ship.

Trump said healthy Americans should be able to recover if they contract the new virus, as he tried to reassure Americans and global markets spooked by the virus threat.

He encouraged Americans not to alter their daily routines, saying the country is “super prepared” for a wider outbreak, adding “there’s no reason to panic at all.”

He added he wasn't altering his routine either. “You’re talking about 22 people right now in this whole very vast country. I think we’ll be in very good shape.”

Trump spoke a day after he denounced criticism of his response to the threat as a “hoax" cooked up by his political enemies. Speaking at a rally in South Carolina he accused Democrats of “politicizing” the coronavirus threat and boasted about preventive steps he's ordered in an attempt to keep the virus that originated in China from spreading across the United States. Those steps include barring entry by most foreign nationals who had recently visited China.

“They tried the impeachment hoax. ... This is their new hoax,” Trump said of Democratic denunciations of his administration's coronavirus response.

Trump said Saturday he was not trying to minimize the threat of the virus.

“Again, the hoax was used in respect to Democrats and what they were saying," he said.

Some Democrats have said Trump could have acted sooner to bolster the U.S. response to the virus. Democratic and Republican lawmakers also have said his request for an additional $2.5 billion to defend against the virus isn't enough. They've signaled they will provide substantially more funding.

Trump said Democrats want him to fail and argued that steps he's taken so far have kept cases to a minimum and prevented virus deaths in the U.S.

As global markets plunged this week, Trump predicted they will come back, and encouraged the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates.

“The markets will all come back," he said. "I think the Fed has a very important role, especially psychological. If you look at it, the Fed has a massive impact.”

03-02-20  10:01am - 1662 days #1563
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President Trump, our finest, most stable genius president we've ever had, is attacked by a federal judge.
The president must throw this traitor in jail. And then call for volunteers for a firing squad to execute this traitor as soon as the president is able to tweet this traitor guilty.

Vote for President Trump in 2020, make him President for Life, and also vote for Ivanka Trump as Donald's successor, the finest, most gorgeous President of the US will ever have.

God bless America and the Trump family.
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Judge rules head of immigration agency was unlawfully named

The Associated Press
ELLIOT SPAGAT
Mar 2nd 2020 10:43AM

SAN DIEGO (AP) — A federal judge has ruled that Ken Cuccinelli was unlawfully appointed to lead the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services agency and, as a result, lacked authority to give asylum seekers less time to prepare for initial screening interviews.

Cuccinelli, a former Virginia attorney general and an immigration hardliner, was named to a new position of “principal deputy director” in June, which immediately made him acting director because Lee Francis Cissna had just resigned. The agency grants green cards and other visas and also oversees asylum officers.

U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss in Washington found Cuccinelli's appointment violated the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, a 1998 law governing who is eligible to lead federal agencies in an acting capacity.

Cuccinelli, in an interview with Fox News Channel on Monday, said that President Donald Trump's administration would appeal the ruling and that his agency would take steps to try to prevent the invalidation of other decisions made under his tenure.

The ruling, issued Sunday, was at odds with Trump's penchant for temporary appointments. At Homeland Security, Chad Wolf is acting secretary, and the heads of Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Citizenship and Immigration Services are also in acting roles.

The judge wrote that Cuccinelli didn't qualify for exceptions for officials who won Senate approval for other positions or spent 90 days in the previous year at the agency.

The administration's reading of the law “would decimate this carefully crafted framework,” Moss wrote in his 55—page ruling. “The President would be relieved of responsibility and accountability for selecting acting officials, and the universe of those eligible to serve in an acting capacity would be vastly expanded.”

Moss, an appointee of President Barack Obama, set aside a Cuccinelli directive to give asylum seekers less time to consult attorneys before an initial screening interview, but his decision applies only to the five Hondurans who sued. He did not address other Cuccinelli actions.

The asylum directive gives asylum seekers at least one calendar day to prepare for the screening interview, instead of 72 hours for families and generally 48 hours for single adults. Extensions are granted only “in the most extraordinary circumstances,” such as a serious illness or mental or physical disability.

The directive is a foundation for new policies aimed at quickly completing the screening, known as a “credible fear interview,” without leaving Customs and Border Protection custody.

Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Heather Swift said, “We obviously disagree with the court's opinion and are looking more closely at it.”

Cuccinelli is now acting deputy Homeland Security secretary, the department's No. 2 position. Joseph Edlow, a longtime congressional aide who joined Citizenship and Immigration Services in July, was named last month to run the agency's day-to-day operations.

03-02-20  08:21pm - 1662 days #1564
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President Trump, the most stable genius president the US has ever had.
He is also a medical expert, who proclaims his campaign rallies are safe from the cornovirus, in spite of the Democratic party coronavirus hoax.
Vote Trump for president in 2020, and make America great again, and safe from the Democratic coronvirus.
Also, don't believe the medical experts that say the number of cases of the coronavirus in the US is rising.
Listen to Trump, who assures us that the number of cases of the cononavirus is really going down.
The medical experts are tools of the Democrats, who are flooding the US with fake news:
Trump is telling us the real news: We are safe from the coronavirus, which will disappear in the spring, when warmer weather will destroy the coronavirus.
God save America. God save Donald Trump, the finest, most stablest genius the US has ever known.
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Trump proclaims his campaign rallies 'very safe' from coronavirus

Yahoo News
David Knowles
Mar 2nd 2020 6:13PM

President Trump said Monday that campaign rallies like the one he had planned for later that evening in Charlotte, N.C., are “very safe.”

“Well, these were set up a long time ago and others are,” Trump told reporters. “You could ask that to the Democrats because they’re having a lot of rallies. They’re all having rallies. That’s what they’re doing. They’re campaigning.”

Asked whether he was worried about whether large gatherings were safe, the president replied: “I think it’s very safe.”

Despite Trump’s assurances at a White House news conference on Feb. 27 that the number of coronavirus cases in the United States was “going very substantially down, not up,” the tally of those infected has continued to rise. As of Monday morning, 87 U.S. citizens had been diagnosed with the coronavirus and six people had died from it, all in Washington state.

“The risk that all of us will become infected is increasing,” Jeffrey Duchin, MD, Seattle and King County health officer for public health, said at a Monday news conference.

While Duchin said that his office was “not recommending widespread cancellation of large gatherings,” he noted that those at higher risk “should avoid” them.

Health experts warn that the highly contagious virus can be spread through droplets in the air when an infected person sneezes or coughs.

With the presidential race nearing Super Tuesday, candidates have fanned out across the country, shaking hands and holding rallies with thousands of supporters.

As the virus has spread to more than 60 countries around the world, infecting nearly 90,000 and killing over 3,000, dozens of large events have been canceled. In the United States, Facebook scrapped plans to hold a developer’s conference in San Jose, Calif., May 5-6. The Game Developers Conference canceled its San Francisco show March 16-20. The American Physical Society canceled its annual meeting in Denver just two days before it was supposed to begin this week — after many of the more than 10,000 scientists expected to attend had already arrived in the city.

The Trump administration itself has put off a March 14 meeting in Las Vegas of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

While China has seen a significant drop in the number of new cases of the coronavirus since putting tens of millions of residents on lockdown, the virus has spread quickly in Europe. Last week France announced that it was banning all indoor gatherings of more than 5,000 people.

Bernie Sanders drew approximately 20,000 people to a campaign rally Sunday in Los Angeles, and Trump routinely fills arenas with more than 10,000 seats — and, as he boasts, many fans waiting outside.

Proximity to strangers at large political rallies is all but unavoidable, and health officials have advised avoiding shaking hands or greeting others with a kiss.

03-04-20  05:59am - 1660 days #1565
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Real news:
White House enters secrecy mode:
Filming or recording of the Vice President Mike Pence press briefing on the coronavirus were banned.
Only the White House and senior officials are allowed to speak or write about the deadly disease.
The public does not have the right to hear malicious gossip:
Only the true, golden words on the disease, spoken directly from the President or Vice President, will be allowed.
Do not be afraid:
Trump is honest, and will calm the fears of the public with the words of the most stable genius the White House has ever known.
Do not fear the Democratic Hoax of the coronavirus: Stay calm, while our courageous President leads the way to a greater America that is Free, White and Safe from Mexicans, People With Dark Colors, Non-Christian Evil Doers, and other Scum trying to destroy our great American dream.

Last week the administration vowed to be aggressively transparent with the public.
But that does not include the words or actions of the US government.
The US government enjoys and employs stealth mode to run the country, for the betterment of all.
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White House bans filming at Coronavirus briefing, triggering backlash

HuffPost US
Lee Moran
Mar 4th 2020 5:37AM

The Trump White House faced widespread criticism on Tuesday after Vice President Mike Pence conducted a press briefing on the coronavirus outbreak, but members of the media were not allowed to film or record audio of the proceedings.

The administration ― which only last week vowed to be “aggressively transparent” with the public about the spread of the virus that has now killed nine people in the U.S. ― only allowed still photographs to be taken, CNN’s Jim Acosta and other journalists in attendance tweeted.

“I asked Pence why the Coronavirus briefing is off camera today. He said he believes the briefing will be back on cam tomorrow,” Acosta later posted, noting “the closest thing to an explanation we got” was “when Pence said Trump was on camera a bunch today.”

Obama era White House chief photographer Pete Souza said he “can’t ever remember a time when a VP or POTUS spoke in the White House press briefing room and video/audio was prohibited.”

“It’s like they’re imploding,” added Walter Shaub, the former head of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.

03-04-20  10:22am - 1660 days #1566
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Extraordinary news:
President Donald Trump gloats after his former Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, fails to win the Alabama GOP Senate primary outright.
President Trump knows a loser when he sees one.
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Trump gloated after his former Attorney General Jeff Sessions failed to win the Alabama GOP Senate primary outright

Business Insider
Sinéad Baker (sbaker@businessinsider.com)
Mar 4th 2020 12:10PM

President Donald Trump gloated after his former attorney general, Jeff Sessions, was forced into a runoff in the Alabama Senate primary after Tuesday's vote.
Neither Sessions nor any of his opponents got enough vote to win outright, and Sessions will now face Tommy Tuberville in a runoff to challenge Democratic Sen. Doug Jones.
In a Wednesday tweet, Trump suggested Sessions' poor performance was because he recused himself from the Russia investigation as Attorney General, which had led to Special Counsel Robert Mueller's appointment.
Trump had previously mocked Sessions for recusing himself and said he never would have appointed him as Attorney General if he knew Sessions would make that decision.
Sessions resigned as Attorney General in November 2018 at Trump's request.

President Donald Trump mocked his former attorney general Jeff Sessions for failing to win outright in the Alabama Senate primary after Tuesday's vote.

Trump revived his old frustrations about Sessions' handling of the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election on Wednesday morning, after Sessions was forced into a runoff to reclaim his old seat.

Sessions finished slightly behind Tommy Tuberville, a former football coach. As of 7:45 a.m. ET Wednesday, with 96.93% of precincts reporting, Tuberville had 32.2% of the compared to Sessions' 31.1%, Politico reported.

The two candidates will now face off in another election, with other candidates removed, in a race to see who will get to challenge Democratic Sen. Doug Jones in the state Senate election in November.

Trump tweeted on Wednesday morning: "This is what happens to someone who loyally gets appointed Attorney General of the United States & then doesn't have the wisdom or courage to stare down & end the phony Russia Witch Hunt."

"Recuses himself on FIRST DAY in office, and the Mueller Scam begins!"

Trump's tweet suggested that the way Sessions handled the probe had harmed his electoral chances in the largely pro-Trump state.

Sessions was once one of Trump's most loyal allies — he was the first senator to endorse Trump in 2016.

But in March 2017, he recused himself from the Russia probe when it was being headed by then-FBI Director James Comey under the supervision of the Justice Department.

Sessions decision to recuse himself ultimately led to the appointment of Special Counsel Robert Mueller to oversee the investigation.

Trump later told The New York Times he never would have appointed Sessions as Attorney General had he know that Sessions would recuse himself, calling the decision "very unfair to the president."

Trump mounted several public attacks on Sessions while he was still in the role, including calling him "weak" on Twitter. Sessions has also defended his decision.

Sessions resigned as attorney general at Trump's request in November 2018.

The runoff between Sessions and Tuberville will take place on March 31, according to CBS News.

03-05-20  09:46am - 1659 days #1567
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President Trump went to college, where he demonstrated his stable genius.
The World Health Organization is spreading fake news.
Listen to President Trump, who will tell you the truth.
People in the US can get better, just by sitting at home or even by going to work.
Don't worry about the Democratic coronavirus hoax: if you are an American, you are safe from the coronavirus.

The people of the United States need to march to Washington DC, where President Trump can lay his hands on them and cure them of all mental and physical problems.
Trump has the hands of Jesus.
He was anointed by God to serve as God's representative on Earth.
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Trump claims 3.4% death rate from coronavirus is 'false,' contradicting World Health Organization

Business Insider
Sarah Al-Arshani
Mar 5th 2020 4:17AM

President Donald Trump claimed 3.4% coronavirus death rate is "false" in an interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity.
"Well, I think the 3.4% is really a false number," Trump said. "Now, this is just my hunch but based on a lot of conversation with a lot of people who do this, because a lot of people will have this and it's very mild. They'll get better very rapidly. They don't even see a doctor."
coronavirus recently reported the global death rate from coronavirus stands at 3.4%, an increase from previous estimate of 2%.
However, as Business Insider previously reported, "The death rate is likely to change further as more cases are confirmed, though experts predict that the percentage of deaths will decrease in the longer term since milder cases of COVID-19 are probably going undiagnosed."
The US has had 11 deaths so far — 10 in Washington state and one in California — with more than 150 reported cases.

President Donald Trump on Wednesday claimed the death rate from the novel coronavirus was not 3.4%, contradicting the number that the World Health Organization gave on Tuesday.

The president appeared in an exclusive interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity on Wednesday, saying he thinks the true death rate is a "fraction of 1%."

"Well, I think the 3.4% is really a false number," Trump said. "Now, this is just my hunch but based on a lot of conversation with a lot of people who do this, because a lot of people will have this and it's very mild. They'll get better very rapidly. They don't even see a doctor."


The World Health Organization recently reported the global death rate from coronavirus stands at 3.4%, an increase from previous estimate of 2%. "Globally, about 3.4% of reported COVID-19 cases have died," the WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said on Tuesday.

The number 3.4% is based on the current data, and experts do believe the number could change. As Business Insider previously reported, "experts predict that the percentage of deaths will decrease in the longer term since milder cases of COVID-19 are probably going undiagnosed."

As of Wednesday, the global death toll from the coronavirus neared 3,300, with over 95,000 confirmed cases around the world.

The US has had 11 deaths so far — 10 in Washington state and one in California — with more than 150 reported cases. However, due to a shortage of coronavirus testing kits, the US has not been testing a significant amount of people for the virus.

Trump later claimed in the interview that "hundred-of-thousands" of people get better from the virus, even though there have been less than 100,000 cases confirmed in the world.

A representative from the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.

03-05-20  06:12pm - 1659 days #1568
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Trump says the coronavirus is under control, and is safe for Americans.
However, the nurses responding to the outbreak say the federal government is full of shit.
Nurses are saying they have been poorly equipped to care for patients and protect themselves against the virus.

Is it possible that Trump doesn't know what is happening?
Or is it his job to calm our fears, and spread fake news and lies which is his area of expertise?
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Nurses blast government and hospital responses to coronavirus

HuffPost US
Dave Jamieson
Mar 5th 2020 4:35PM

Nurses fighting the spread of coronavirus unleashed a flood of criticism on the federal government and their employers Thursday, saying they have been left poorly equipped to care for their patients and protect themselves amid the outbreak.

Members of the union National Nurses United said they have faced shifting guidelines and a shortage of supplies as the tally of known infections has increased. They called on the Centers for Disease Control to quickly increase testing for COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, and demanded that federal officials implement emergency standards for hospitals and clinics around the country.

“The CDC has been behind the ball at almost every step of the way,” said Jane Thomason, an industrial hygienist for the union.

Bonnie Castillo, a registered nurse and the union’s executive director, said nurses were confident they could help contain the spread of the virus, but only if “we are given the protections and resources we need to do our jobs.”

More than 80 of the union’s nurses have been quarantined due to possible contact with infected patients, and Castillo said many facilities still lack the personal protective equipment that workers need to handle the outbreak.

“It is not a successful strategy to leave nurses and other health care workers unprotected,” Castillo said at a press conference in Oakland on Thursday. “When we are quarantined, we are not only prevented from caring for COVID-19 patients, but we are taken away from caring for cancer patients, cardiac patients and premature babies.”

The union released the results of a recent survey it conducted of 6,500 members around the country on the question of COVID-19 preparedness. Among the findings:

Only 44 percent said their employer had given them information about the virus.
Only 63 percent said they have access to N95 respirators. (These are recommended for health care workers handling potentially infected patients, but not the general public.)
A little less than two-thirds say they have been trained in how to put on and take off the appropriate protective gear.
Only 30 percent said they believe their facility has enough protective gear onhand.
Nearly a quarter said they don’t know if their facility has a plan to isolate infected patients.

Not only is the protective equipment hard to come by, union officials said many nurses still have not been trained in how to appropriately put it on and remove it in a way to avoid contamination.

“Nurses need this hands-on training now,” said Cathy Kennedy, a registered nurse and vice president with the union. “Management has told us the training is coming. Well, it’s been several weeks and the training is slowly evolving.”

After initially laying out tight guidelines on who can be tested, the CDC has loosened them so that anyone with symptoms can undergo a test with a doctor’s approval. But the test kits are still in short supply, and local health agencies say they are being overwhelmed by the demand.

The CDC has been behind the ball at almost every step of the way.Jane Thomason, National Nurses United

At its press conference, the union shared the statement of an unnamed member who works at a Kaiser Permanente facility and was required to self-quarantine for 14 days after contact with a COVID-19 patient. The nurse has not been able to undergo a test despite exhibiting symptoms, according to the statement.

“I’m appalled at the level of bureaucracy that’s preventing nurses from getting tested,” the member said.

California and Washington state declared emergencies due to the virus on Wednesday, the same day U.S. officials confirmed the 11th COVID-19 death and at least 150 cases in 18 states. More than 3,000 have died in China, where the number of cases has begun to ebb. South Korea and Italy have also been hit hard.

The House and Senate have approved an $8 billion spending package to address the outbreak, sending the legislation to the White House Thursday for President Donald Trump’s signature. Trump has continued to minimize the seriousness of the virus, telling Sean Hannity in an interview Wednesday that he believes the death rate to be much lower than what health officials have said.

National Nurses United and other unions have been calling on the Trump administration to issue an emergency standard for infectious disease through the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, so that hospitals and other employers have safety guidelines for coronavirus that they are legally required to follow. There is no such standard currently on the books.

“This is not the time to relax our approach,” Castillo said. “This is the time to step it up.”

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.

03-05-20  06:21pm - 1659 days #1569
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Are federal officials required to tell the truth?
Of course not.
They can lie and spin the news to support their agenda.
Nothing new.
But under Trump, lying seems to become a daily event.
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Judge blasts William Barr for distorting Mueller report

HuffPost US
Ryan J. Reilly
Mar 5th 2020 6:34PM

A federal judge appointed by President George W. Bush laid into Attorney General William Barr’s “lack of candor” in a court opinion on Thursday, accusing the nation’s chief law enforcement official of producing a “distorted” summary of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report on Russian interference in the 2016 election.

U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton, in an opinion issued in the course of a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed by BuzzFeed, questioned whether Barr intended to create a “one-sided narrative” that would benefit President Donald Trump.

“The speed by which Attorney General Barr released to the public the summary of Special Counsel Mueller’s principal conclusions, coupled with the fact that Attorney General Barr failed to provide a thorough representation of the findings set forth in the Mueller Report, causes the Court to question whether Attorney General Barr’s intent was to create a one-sided narrative about the Mueller Report — a narrative that is clearly in some respects substantively at odds with the redacted version of the Mueller Report,” Walton wrote.

Barr released a summary of the Mueller report before its public release that mischaracterized the report’s findings in a manner that helped Trump. Mueller complained to Barr that his summary “did not fully capture the context, nature, and substance” of Mueller’s full report, but the report shaped public opinion on the findings of the Mueller investigation for weeks.

Walton also criticized Barr for holding a press conference ahead of the report’s release last April, saying he could not “reconcile certain public representations made by Attorney General Barr with the findings” of the Mueller report:

The inconsistencies between Attorney General Barr’s statements, made at a time when the public did not have access to the redacted version of the Mueller Report to assess the veracity of his statements, and portions of the redacted version of the Mueller Report that conflict with those statements cause the Court to seriously question whether Attorney General Barr made a calculated attempt to influence public discourse about the Mueller Report in favor of President Trump despite certain findings in the redacted version of the Mueller Report to the contrary.

Walton said that Barr’s credibility issues led him to the conclusion that he needed to review the unredacted report himself to provide “independent verification in light of Attorney General Barr’s conduct and misleading public statements about the findings in the Mueller Report.”

This is a developing story and will be updated.

03-07-20  12:42pm - 1657 days #1570
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Real fake news:
A Chinese hotel used to observe virus collapses.
Trump orders the hotel to be destroyed in a nuclear strike.
Although Trump is a beloved friend of China, Trump, with regret, orders a nuclear strike to destroy the hotel.
The hotel, built in 2018, was a direct competitor of Trump Hotels Worlwide.
So the destruction of the hotel has great rewards:
-It shows that Trump Hotels are the best in the world.
-It increases the likelihood more people will stay in Trump properties, instead of competing properties.
-It increases the profits of Trump properties, which flow monies into Trump's pockets.
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Chinese hotel used to observe virus contacts collapses


The Associated Press
Mar 7th 2020 2:02PM

BEIJING (AP) — A hotel used for medical observation of people who had contact with coronavirus patients collapsed in southeastern China on Saturday, trapping some 70 people, state media reported. There were no immediate reports of deaths.

At least 33 people were rescued from the wreckage of the Xinjia Express Hotel in Quanzhou, a city in Fujian province, the Xinhua News Agency, the Communist Party newspaper People’s Daily and other outlets reported.

The 80-room hotel had been converted by the city government for observation of people who had contact with virus patients, according to People’s Daily.

The hotel collapsed at about 7:30 p.m., news reports said, citing the city government.

Photos on news websites showed rescue workers with flashlights climbing over the debris. Rubble was piled on cars in front of the building.

The hotel opened in June 2018, with rooms on the fourth to seventh floors of the building, the newspaper Beijing Youth Daily said.

An unidentified hotel employee cited by the Beijing Youth Daily said the owner carried out ”foundation-related construction" before the disaster. It gave no details.

China, where the virus first emerged in December, has confirmed more than 80,000 cases, by far the most in the world. It reported 99 new cases on Saturday, its first daily increase of less than 100 since Jan. 20. The government also reported 28 new fatalities, raising the mainland's death toll to 3,070.

03-07-20  01:07pm - 1657 days #1571
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The truth is slowly coming out.
President Trump, the most stable genius the US has ever had, had an uncle who was a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor.
This is where President Trump gained his deep understanding of science and ethics.
And this far-reaching knowledge is what allows President Trump to ignore the false theories of medical experts on the coronavirus: Trump is the Man, the one who knows how the virus will be defeated.

Don't listen to the enemies of the US who are trying to drag us down:
Instead, listen to President Trump, who will save American lives and destroy the coronavirus.

President Trump reveals the truth: When talking about Jay Inslee, the governor of Washington state, Trump called Inslee a "snake". Does this mean that Inslee cannot be trusted to help the people in Washington state who are facing the coronavirus?

Trump has a duty to the America people: lock up the Democrats, who are helping spread the coronavirus Democratic hoax.
And help the America people against the virus, which is spreading throughout our great land.

God bless Donald Trump, the finest, most stablest genius the US has ever had.
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Pence gently tries to correct Trump's false coronavirus testing claims

Yahoo News
Alexander Nazaryan
Mar 7th 2020 10:57AM

WASHINGTON — Friday evening found Vice President Pence in an uncommon and uncomfortable position: Having to downplay and contradict assertions made by his boss. It proved a delicate act for Pence, who has become the face of the administration’s coronavirus response, and who has sought to project an aura of steely confidence.

Trump can sometimes frustrate those efforts, as he did during visit to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta on Friday afternoon.

Wearing a red “Keep America Great” baseball cap, the president used the occasion to offer his freewheeling thoughts on everything ranging from Fox News ratings to the educational pedigree of his uncle John Trump, who was a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor.

But there were also blatantly incorrect claims, too, as when Trump said that “anybody that needs a test gets a test” for coronavirus. In fact, the CDC has badly lagged in preparing a nationwide testing regime, and only a minuscule percentage of Americans can currently be tested. That percentage will grow in the coming days, but not nearly as quickly as public health experts believe is necessary to contain the disease, which has infected at least 280 people and killed 15 in the U.S..

Trump also said during his CDC tour that the tests are “all perfect,” comparing it to his “perfect” phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. That phone call served as the basis for the impeachment inquiry that culminated in Trump’s acquittal last month.

In fact, an initial CDC test was flawed, which delayed its implementation by about two weeks, during a critical period in February when the virus was spreading in Washington state and elsewhere.

Trump added that he would rather not allow infected Americans to disembark the Grand Princess cruise ship that has been floating off the coast of Northern California. “I don’t need to have the numbers double because of one ship,” Trump complained as his secretary of Health and Human Services and the director of the CDC looked on.

The White House briefing of the coronavirus task force began almost as soon as Trump’s remarks in Atlanta ended, which all but assured that Pence — who Trump appointed to head the task force — would be forced to account for the president’s statements.

Pence tried to do so cautiously, aware that Trump is sensitive to any efforts to upstage or contradict him. Speaking of the coronavirus testing regime, which has been mired in confusion, Pence admitted that “we have a ways to go yet.” About 2,500 kits have been shipped out to laboratories. That means that 1.5 million tests are available. Because of testing protocols, however, those tests can be administered to only about 500,000 people.

In an implicit rebuke to Trump, Pence said it would be a “matter of weeks”

before the tests would be “broadly available.”

Pence also addressed the issue of the Grand Princess. He said that 21 people on board the cruise ship have been infected with the coronavirus. Ignoring Trump’s complaints about infection statistics, Pence said he and California Gov. Gavin Newsom had “developed a plan” to have the ship dock at a “noncommercial” port.

“Those that need to be quarantined will be quarantined, those that require additional medical attention will receive it,” Pence said. Food and Drug Administration Director Stephen Hahn added that test would “available significantly” by the end of next week.

On Thursday, Pence visited with Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, whose leadership he has praised since the state became an epicenter of the coronavirus epidemic, despite Inslee being a Democrat often critical of the Trump administration.

In his remarks in Atlanta, Trump offered his own thoughts on Inslee, calling him a “snake.”

Pence was later confronted with that statement at the White House briefing, but the vice president ignored the question. In the course of the briefing, Pence also effusively praised Newsom, the California governor, who is another Trump nemesis.

03-07-20  01:51pm - 1657 days #1572
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Real news:
You have to admire Trump and his administration:
They know how to act bravely and decisively.
And when to ignore the advice of the "fake" medical experts.
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Trump Regime Overruled CDC, Flew Coronavirus-Infected Americans on Plane With Healthy People

Matt Novak
2/21/20 7:00AM
Filed to:coronavirus


The U.S. State Department overruled the advice of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), choosing to bring 14 Americans who were infected with the new coronavirus back from Japan, according to the Washington Post. The new report raises serious questions about the U.S. government’s decisions at a time when the coronavirus, which causes an illness called Covid-19, threatens to become a global pandemic.

The American evacuees were passengers on the Diamond Princess cruise, which has been quarantined in Yokohama, Japan since February 5. Over 600 of the 3,700 passengers from the Diamond Princess have tested positive for the virus, and it was announced yesterday that two Japanese passengers in their 80s recently died. The U.S. chartered two Boeing 747 planes to bring Americans from the cruise ship to military bases in California and Texas where they’re being quarantined for 14 days.

One of the U.S. State Department’s evacuation planes was loaded with 328 Americans on Monday when new lab results came back showing that 14 of the passengers had tested positive for the coronavirus. The CDC’s principal deputy director, Anne Schuchat, recommended that the 14 passengers be taken off the plane and receive medical attention in Japan. But Trump officials like Robert Kadlec, assistant secretary for preparedness and response at HHS, disagreed with the CDC, according to the Washington Post.

Kadlec, who previously worked as a special assistant to President George W. Bush and serves as a member of the Trump regime’s coronavirus task force, reportedly argued that the planes that had been chartered by the government contained seats which could be cordoned off for any infected passengers. This news wasn’t shared with the other healthy passengers on the flight, many of whom only learned about flying with infected passengers after they landed in the U.S. and saw news reports.

Videos posted online by American passengers from the evacuation flights show potentially infected passengers being put in a special area of the plane. One health worker in a blue suit appears to instruct some passengers with his hands above his head.
Gif: Ruptly/YouTube

The U.S. State Department made the final decision to allow the infected passengers to fly, siding with Kadlec over the CDC. As a result, officials from the CDC asked that the Trump regime leave their names off the press release about the evacuation.

“CDC did weigh in on this and explicitly recommended against it,” the CDC’s Schuchat wrote in an email to the Trump regime that was shared with the Washington Post. “We should not be mentioned as having been consulted as it begs the question of what was our advice.”

The number of coronavirus cases outside China continues to climb, with South Korea and Iran reporting their first deaths from Covid-19 this week. And new cases of the disease are popping up daily in places like Italy. Cases in South Korea doubled overnight, bringing the total number of infected people in that country to 204, according to the Korea Times.

And even within China, where the virus is thought to be slowing its spread, there are some frightening new reports. A 29-year-old doctor in Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak, died on Friday, a worrying sign in a region where at least 3,000 health care workers have been stricken with the virus. The doctor’s age has also alarmed some public health experts since the vast majority of fatalities from the virus had previously been in people over the age of 60.

Prisons across China are also trying to control the virus, as Rencheng Prison in the Chinese province of Shandong has reported over 200 cases of the new coronavirus in prisoners on Thursday, with seven guards also contracting the disease. An additional 230 cases were reported at Wuhan Women’s Prison on Friday, according to the South China Morning Post.

Meanwhile, allies of President Donald Trump, like anti-China commentator Gordon Chang, have become darkly boastful that the Covid-19 has been hitting China incredibly hard. Chang appeared on Tucker Carlson’s Fox News show this week and tweeted about how China will decline on the world stage in the wake of the virus.

“Many smart people, knowing that China would dominate the world, thought they should try to manage America’s decline,” Chang tweeted on Thursday. “Look who’s declining now. It ain’t America. Funny what a tiny microbe can do.”

Aside from being a disgusting thing to say on a human level, it’s way too early for anyone outside China to assume that they won’t see the virus impact their country soon.

“Yes, the U.S. is already being affected, and it will get worse,” Chang conceded in a follow-up tweet. “Our society will not, however, be afflicted to the same degree.”

We’ll certainly see about that. With Trump at the wheel, I wouldn’t get too cocky.

03-07-20  11:49pm - 1657 days #1573
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The governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, declares a state of emergency due to the coronavirus.
This is a mistake. President Trump has declared that the coronavirus is a Democratic hoax, and that the United States is safe and there is no reason to panic.
As soon as the weather warms up, the virus will disappear, and Americans will be free to make America Free, White and Great again.

Also, real news, President Trump has declared the virus is not our fault.
(It's probably the fault of China and Democratic traitors.)
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New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo declares a state of emergency and confirms 76 cases of coronavirus in the state

Business Insider
Sonam Sheth (ssheth@businessinsider.com)
Mar 7th 2020 1:57PM

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo declared a state of emergency on Saturday as the number of novel coronavirus cases surge across the US.
Twenty more people in New York have tested positive for coronavirus, officials said Saturday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the state to 76.
Cuomo said there are 11 confirmed cases in New York City, 57 in Westchester County, two in Rockland County, four in Nassau County, and two in Saratoga County.
The total number of confirmed cases across the US is 312, and there have been 17 deaths as of Saturday.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo declared a state of emergency on Saturday as the number of novel coronavirus cases surge across the US.

Twenty more people in New York have tested positive for coronavirus, Cuomo said Saturday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the state to 76.

Cuomo said there are 11 confirmed cases in New York City, 57 in Westchester County, two in Rockland County, four in Nassau County, and two in Saratoga County.

Officials have reported 312 cases of coronavirus and 17 deaths across the US as of Saturday. Florida reported the first death on the East Coast on Friday and a number of new cases along with Georgia on Saturday. Meanwhile, 21 people on board the Grand Princess, a cruise ship docked off the coast of California, have tested positive for the virus.

In New York, according to The New York Times, a taxi or ride-hailing driver tested positive, resulting in more than 40 doctors and others at the hospital treating him to go into self-quarantine.

Also on Saturday, Amtrak canceled its nonstop service between New York and Washington, DC, because of a lack of demand.

The company said it would cancel service until May 26 and said in a statement, "We are making temporary adjustments to our schedule, such as removing train cars or canceling trains when there is a convenient alternative with a similar schedule that will have minimal impact to customers."

The Trump administration, meanwhile, is facing intense scrutiny over its response to the coronavirus outbreak.

President Donald Trump has largely downplayed the severity of the outbreak and placed officials with little to no background in managing public health crises or infectious diseases in charge of spearheading the White House's response.

On Friday, the president drew sharp backlash when he told reporters that although scientific and medical experts had urged him to bring infected Americans off the cruise ship, he didn't want to do so because it would cause the number of reported cases to go up and it "wasn't our fault."

03-10-20  08:49am - 1654 days #1574
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Real fake news:
Trump's camgaign chief is sending money to Trump's family.
Trump does not want his children to be forced to live on food stamps and governmental assistance.
So Trump is willing to give his family money.
What a generous man.
Trump, the most stable genius the US has ever known.
======
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Trump campaign chief is funneling pay to Eric Trump's wife, Don Jr.'s girlfriend: Report

HuffPost US
Mary Papenfuss
Mar 10th 2020 10:29AM

President Donald Trump’s campaign manager is quietly channeling money to Eric Trump’s wife, Lara Trump, and Donald Trump Jr.’s girlfriend, Kimberly Guilfoyle, The New York Times reported Monday.

The payments are hidden from public view because they’re made through campaign manager Paul Parscale’s private company, Parscale Strategy, based in San Antonio, sources told the Times. Typically, such payments would be part of public filings required by the Federal Election Commission so that donors can find out how their contributions are being used — in this case, to pay members of the president’s family.

The family benefits are linked to a network of politically connected private companies — operating with the support and help of Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner — that have charged roughly $75 million since 2017 to the Trump reelection campaign, the Republican National Committee and other Republican clients, according to the Times.

Guilfoyle last year angrily confronted Parscale about late checks owed to her, two witnesses told the Times. He reportedly promised that the situation would be rectified by his wife, Candice Parscale, who often handles his company accounts.

One of Lara Trump’s most notorious contributions to her father-in-law’s campaign early this year was to mock rival Joe Biden’s stutter, which he has grappled with since he was a child.


She was initially hired as a senior consultant in early 2017 by another Parscale company, digital vender Giles-Parscale, also based in San Antonio, The Associated Press reported. Lara Trump was to serve as a liaison between the company and Donald Trump’s campaign, headquartered in Manhattan’s Trump Tower, which is owned by the president’s Trump Organization. Parscale was named Trump’s reelection campaign manager the following year.

The Trump campaign announced in January that Guilfoyle, a former Fox News personality who stated dating Trump Jr. two years ago, would lead the joint fundraising drive between the campaign and the RNC.

Guilfoyle left Fox News in 2018 following a human resources investigation into allegations of inappropriate behavior, including sexual misconduct, HuffPost reported at the time. An attorney for Guilfoyle denied all accusations as “unequivocally baseless.”

HuffPost could not immediately reach Parscale for comment.

Parscale declined to comment to the Times “in detail” on the article, the paper reported. He has, however, said in the past that private companies provide greater flexibility in a campaign, given campaign finance law requirements, noted the Times.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.

03-11-20  07:35am - 1653 days #1575
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Real news:
The coronavirus is good news for the US.
It encourages people to stay home and buy American.
Which boosts the GNP.
And increases Trump's chances of winning a second term.

Trump is a stable genius, who sees the bright side of everything.
He's the best man to lead our country, and make America great again.

Also, Trump is confident the virus will go away as the weather warms up, probably sometime in April.
Trump's uncle was a PHd at MIT, and that's where Trump gets his genius.
What a president. What a genius.

On a side note: the US has a problem with distributing test kits for the virus.
But rest assured, Trump says that anyone who wants a test kit can get one.

Trump, man of the people.
Trump, man of the billionaires.
--------------------------
Italy passes 10,000 infections as clusters spur worry in U.S.

The Associated Press
NICOLE WINFIELD and MATT SEDENSKY
Mar 11th 2020 9:17AM

ROME (AP) — Expanding clusters of the new coronavirus were eyed warily Wednesday as the outbreak upended daily life and reshaped everything from the United States presidential race to Pope Francis’ travel.

In the U.S., the caseload passed 1,000, and outbreaks on both sides of the country were stirring alarm, while in Europe, an increasingly locked-down Italy counted more than 10,000 infections and recorded soaring deaths among its aging population.

“Right now, the epicenter — the new China — is Europe,” said Robert Redfield, the head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Rome’s usual boisterous hum was reduced to a whisper as Italy’s 62 million people were told to mostly stay home. Though shops, cafes and restaurants remained open, police around the country were enforcing rules that customers stay 1 meter (3 feet) apart and certain businesses shutter by 6 p.m.

Authorities said 631 people have died of COVID-19 in Italy, with an increase of 168 fatalities recorded Tuesday. The health crisis was dealing a serious blow to the country’s economy — the third-largest of the 19 countries using the euro — and threatened instability worldwide.

Markets across Asia dropped Wednesday despite Wall Street’s gains a day earlier. Investors seemed encouraged by promises by U.S. President Donald Trump of a relief package to cushion economic pain from the outbreak. Governments around Asia and elsewhere have also announced billions of dollars in stimulus funds, including packages revealed in Japan on Tuesday and Australia on Wednesday.

“Investors are still worried that those fiscal stimulus packages may not be able to contain the virus outbreak as well as to mitigate the impact on the economy,” said Louis Wong of Philip Capital Management.

For most, the coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. But for a few, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illnesses, including pneumonia. More than 119,000 people have been infected worldwide and over 4,200 have died.

The virus has disrupted travel, closed schools and halted manufacturing in places around the globe.

The Vatican’s representative to the half-island nation of East Timor said Wednesday that an expected visit by Pope Francis, though never made official, would not happen later this year.

Francis' Wednesday audience — typically a boisterous affair that fills St. Peter's Square or the Vatican auditorium with tens of thousands — was instead held in the privacy of his library and shared by livestream. The square was empty, with Vatican City adopting Italy's lockdown measures.

In the U.S., dozens of cases were being tied to a conference in Boston, and leaders in multiple states were announcing curbs on large events. Colleges around the country emptied their classrooms as they moved to online instruction and uncertainty surrounded the upcoming opening of the major league baseball season and college basketball’s championships. Even the famed buffets of Las Vegas were affected, with some of the Strip’s biggest being closed in a precautionary measure.

“It’s terrifying,” said Silvana Gomez, a student at Harvard University, where undergraduates were told to leave campus by Sunday. “I’m definitely very scared right now about what the next couple days, the next couple weeks look like.”

New York’s governor said National Guard troops would scrub public places and deliver food to a suburb where infections have spiked. In Washington state, where a Seattle-area nursing home was the center of an outbreak, officials said the virus had spread to at least 10 other long-term care facilities. In California, thousands of restless passengers remained stuck aboard a cruise ship, waiting for their turn to disembark to begin quarantines.

Two men vying to take on Trump in the U.S. presidential election abruptly canceled rallies Tuesday and left open the possibility that future campaign events could be impacted, too. Trump's campaign insisted it would proceed as normal, though Vice President Mike Pence conceded future rallies would be evaluated “on a day to day basis.”

It was all evidence of the continuing westward push of the virus. In China, where it first cropped up, officials said they’d counted only 24 new cases on Wednesday.

In a reversal of positions, China is seeing new cases brought in from overseas. In Beijing, the capital, all the new cases of COVID-19 reported on Wednesday came from outside the country, five from Italy and one from the United States.

“The epidemic situation is at a low level and the prevention and control are continuously going well," said Mi Feng, spokesman for the National Health Commission.

The province at the center of China’s virus outbreak said Wednesday that manufacturers, food processors and other businesses deemed essential to the national economy or providing daily necessities can resume operation.

The other major outbreak site in Asia, South Korea, continued to report improving numbers, too, with 242 new cases announced Wednesday. Still, a cluster of infections connected to a call center in one of the busiest areas of that country’s capital was raising alarms.

___

Sedensky reported from Bangkok. Contributing to this report were Associated Press writers John Leicester in Paris; Joe McDonald and Ken Moritsugu in Beijing; Yuri Kageyama in Tokyo; and Kim Tong-hyung in Seoul, South Korea.

03-12-20  10:50am - 1652 days #1576
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Real new: Trump is sending infected spies to Australia to spread the disease.

Trump is hoping that if the rest of world struggles with the coronavirus, the US will stand tall and proud, and make money off of the virus.
Trump has said the virus should disappear in April in the US.
But now he is having second thoughts:
Maybe the disease can continue to spread around the world, and help make America the greatest country on earth, which is its right place.

All bow down to Trump, the most stable genius the US has ever know.
Trump, president in 2020, President For Life in 2024.
Ivanka, his favorite daughter, is waiting to be the next President For Life after her father makes America great again.
What a woman. What a leader she will be.

God bless the Trump family, our most holy leaders on earth.
-----------------------

The Hollywood Reporter
Tom Hanks, Rita Wilson Contracted Coronavirus in U.S., Australian Officials Say

12:50 AM PDT 3/12/2020 by Pip Bulbeck

Now in isolation in a Queensland hospital, government officials say that people who have come in close contact with the couple will now need to self-isolate and quarantine.

Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson are believed to have contracted the coronavirus in the U.S., or in transit from there, according to officials from Queensland Health, the Australian government department overseeing the outbreak of the disease in that state.

On Thursday, a Queensland Health official, without specifically naming the couple, said that all new reported infections are non-contact cases and that the patients are believed to have “contracted the illness outside Australia and traveled to Queensland with the virus.”

Hanks and Wilson, both 63, had been in Australia for at least a week prior to their diagnosis. Hanks is down under for the production of Baz Luhrmann’s as-yet-untitled Elvis Presley movie for Warner Bros., while Wilson was accompanying him there and also performing concerts of songs from her new album Halfway to Home.

The married celebrity couple are two of seven new cases reported in Queensland on Thursday, among a total of over 130 cases across Australia.

The pair are in isolation for 14 days in a hospital on the Gold Coast. Hanks first confirmed the positive test for the virus in an Instagram post. They are also assisting Queensland Health with contact tracing. Details of their movements outside Australia have not yet been made public.

According to their sons Chet and Colin, Hanks and Wilson are doing well, but their quarantine period has forced production to shut down for at least two weeks on Luhrmann's Elvis biopic, in which Hanks was due to play Presley’s manager Colonel Tom Parker.

It's unclear how many of the cast and crew have been in contact with Hanks since their return to Queensland from the U.S. recently, but all production personnel have been sent home and are awaiting instructions.

Local news outlets report that Luhrmann issued a statement to cast and crew requesting they stay home and that “all work activity on the production is cancelled and will not resume until further notice”.

Principal photography was due to start on the film, which has a release date of Oct. 2021, next Monday.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said Thursday that "people who have come in close contact with Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson will now need to self-isolate and quarantine."

"I have been in contact with Baz Luhrmann quite often today and he has said to me that he wants to pass on to everyone that we stand with the people of Queensland in making sure we comply with any restrictions and of course that we want to see a speedy recovery," Palaszczuk added.

"The filming has been going extremely well on the Gold Coast and of course there will be a halt to some of the filming at the moment whilst Tom and Rita get the very best care that they will get in our Queensland hospital," she said.

Since Hanks and Wilson's arrival in Australia, Wilson has made several public appearances. She was a guest on the Nine Network’s Today Extra talk show in Sydney on March 9, and earlier performed at the Emporium Hotel in Brisbane on March 5 and at the Sydney Opera House on March 7.

Today Extra show host David Campbell has self-isolated for 14 days following Wilson’s diagnosis. Channel Nine confirmed it had taken action "in line with our crisis response plan" after the Wilson visit.

"Those who were in prolonged contact with her are self-isolating for 14 days," a statement from Nine said. "Our premises is currently being cleaned in all areas she visited," it added.

The Elvis biopic is based at the Village Roadshow Studios on the Gold Coast and is the only production working at the studios at present. A Village Roadshow spokesman told THR the studios and Village Roadshow theme parks adjacent to the studios are still operating and open as normal. The company said it is following Queensland Health and Australian government health guidelines.

Several other international productions are currently shooting in Australia, including Marvel's Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. So far, no other film shoots in the country are known to have been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.

03-12-20  03:52pm - 1652 days #1577
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Real news:
The Democrats are using the coronavirus as a scare tactic to destroy Donald Trump, the greatest, most genius President of the United States of America.

On Wednesday, Trump banned travel from Europe for 30 days, Trump boasted that “the virus will not have a chance against us.”

So Trump stands firm against the virus, while demon Democrats Biden and Sanders are running in fear.

God bless Donald Trump, our finest president.
---------
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Happening now icon Disneyland temporarily closes its theme parks as virus spreads

Biden reveals coronavirus plan, calls Trump’s handling a ‘colossal’ failure

Yahoo News
Brittany Shepherd
Mar 12th 2020 3:45PM

WASHINGTON—Former vice president Joe Biden announced his campaign’s plan to combat coronavirus while slamming the Trump administration’s handling of the spread of the outbreak during a speech Thursday afternoon.

“The administration’s failure on testing is colossal,” said Biden in Wilmington, Delaware. “It’s a failure of planning, leadership, and execution.

“We have to help the world to drive coordinated global strategy, not shut ourselves out from the world. Unfortunately, this virus laid bare the severe shortcoming of the current administration.”

Biden offered thinly veiled criticism of Trump as he ticked through the details of his campaign’s plans, which included free virus testing and collaboration with doctors and experts. He chided the White House’s travel bans for Europe.

"Neither should we panic or fall back on xenophobia... labeling [coronavirus] a foreign virus does not displace accountability for misjudgments that have been taken thus far by the Trump admin,” said Biden, a reference to some conservative voices online that have referred to coronavirus as the “Wuhan Virus,” a term not used by the scientific community. “Coronavirus does not have a political affiliation."

Biden’s address comes as economic and health uncertainty seemed to reach a fever pitch. Plummeting stock market numbers coupled with mixed messages from the Trump administration on the severity of the outbreak have left many questioning the fates of their investments and driving others to stockpile medical supplies with damaging consequences.

“The markets will respond to strong, steady, capable leadership that addresses the root of the problem, not efforts to cover it up,” said Biden.

Positioning himself as a de-facto leader, Biden is attempting to clear a path to the nomination where he’s seen as not only the commander, but also healer-in-chief, able to unite a fractured Democratic party and a country desperate for answers.

His Delaware speech is the first of several case tests to see if his message will stick with voters.

Biden and rival Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders have cancelled campaign events amid growing calls for individuals to practice social distancing and concerns that COVID-19 will spread in close quarters. The Biden campaign announced a public health advisory committee earlier in the week “to minimize health risks for the candidate, staff, and supporters.”

The group of doctors and experts will advise the campaign on a continuous basis. During his speech, Biden says his campaign is “reimagining” the format for upcoming large planned events.

“Downplaying it, being overly dismissive, or spreading disinformation is only going to hurt us and further advantage the spread of the disease,” said Biden.

Sanders held a coronavirus roundtable in Detroit alongside medical professionals before the Michigan primary and pushed for a free vaccine once it is developed. He’s set to make his own remarks later Thursday evening.

CNN made dramatic changes to their debate format, too, moving the location from Arizona to D.C., and cutting the live audience as well as the media spin and file room, instead asking journalists to tune in from home.

Over the last few weeks, Trump has attempted to downplay the effects of COVID-19 despite warnings from government doctors about the disease’s severity. During a testimony on Capitol Hill, National Institutes of Health doctor Anthony Fauci said that “many, many millions” could be infected with the virus if the government mishandles. “Things will get worse than they are right now,’” Fauci added.

The World Health Organization Wednesday declared the coronavirus crisis a pandemic. More than 4,2000 have died from the virus globally, 38 of those deaths happening in the U.S, a majority in Washington state.

Still, in an Oval Office address Wednesday evening, after banning travel from Europe for 30 days, Trump boasted that “the virus will not have a chance against us.”

_____

03-13-20  08:36am - 1651 days #1578
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Real news:
Although President Trump has declared the coronavirus will not hurt the US, he has also stated that testing for the virus will soon happen on a large scale.
Do not fear, US citizens.
Our brave, stable-genius President will lead us out of the pandemic, with courage and grace.

The president has also revealed that not only is China the source of the virus, but that the Center for Disease Control, based in the US, has not been doing its job of protecting American citizens:
The CDC would "always be inadequate and slow for a large scale pandemic."

Harsh words from a president, but the president is a truthful man.
The president has been cutting funding for the CDC for at least a few years now, because he knew the money was being wasted, and could be spent on better things like building a wall to keep out the dirty Mexicans.

The president needs to fire the entire CDC staff and get volunteers who can work for free and save our great nation.

Here is a brief summary of some of the cuts Trump did to the CDC (and he proposed further cuts in 2021):
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Trump administration budget cuts could become a major problem as coronavirus spreads
By
Chris Morris

February 26, 2020 9:45 AM EST


The Trump administration recently requested $2.5 billion in emergency funds to prepare the U.S. for a possible widespread outbreak of coronavirus. Critics, though, are pointing out that money might not be necessary if the administration hadn’t spent the past two years largely dismantling government units that were designed to protect against pandemics.

The cuts started in 2018, as the White House focused on eliminating funding to Obama-era disease security programs. In March of that year, Rear Adm. Timothy Ziemer, whose job it was to lead the U.S. response in the event of a pandemic, abruptly left the administration and his global health security team was disbanded.

That same year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was forced to slash its efforts to prevent global disease outbreak by 80% as its funding for the program began to run out. The agency, at the time, opted to focus on 10 priority countries and scale back in others, including China.

Subscribe to Fortune’s Outbreak newsletter for a daily roundup of stories on the coronavirus outbreak and its impact on global business.

Also cut was the Complex Crises Fund, a $30 million emergency response pool that was at the secretary of state’s disposal to deploy disease experts and others in the event of a crisis. (The fund was created by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.)

Overall in 2018, Trump called for $15 billion in reduced health spending that had previously been approved, as he looked at increasing budget deficits, cutting the global disease-fighting budgets of the CDC, National Security Council (NSC), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and Health and Human Services (HHS) in the process.

The effects of those cuts are being felt today. While the CDC announced plans to test people with flu-like symptoms for COVID-19, those have been delayed and only three of the country’s 100 public-health labs have been able to test for coronavirus. The administration’s request for additional funding came roughly two weeks after officials said HHS was almost out of funding for its response to the virus.

The cuts could be especially problematic as COVID-19 continues to spread. Health officials are now warning the U.S. is unlikely to be spared, even though cases are minimal here so far.

"It's not so much of a question of if this will happen in this country any more but a question of when this will happen and how many people in this country will have severe illness," Dr. Nancy Messonnier, the director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said during a press call Tuesday.
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Trump: coronavirus testing will soon happen on 'large scale'

Thomson Reuters
Lisa Lambert
Mar 13th 2020 7:57AM

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Friday morning that coronavirus testing in the United States will soon happen on a large scale, but did not provide any details on how that would be accomplished.

"The changes have been made and testing will soon happen on a very large scale basis. All Red Tape has been cut, ready to go!" he wrote in a tweet.

Trump also criticized the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one of the U.S. organizations leading the fight against the deadly infection, for having a testing system that he said would "always be inadequate and slow for a large scale pandemic."

Trump did not elaborate on why the system was inadequate, but on Thursday, the top U.S. official on infectious diseases, Anthony Fauci, said people cannot get tests easily and the U.S. testing system "is not really geared to what we need right now."

U.S. officials and lawmakers are struggling to get a sense of how many people in the country have contracted the virus, which they attribute to low testing rates.

03-13-20  10:13am - 1651 days #1579
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The real news is slowly coming out:
President Trump reveals that it's the CDC and former black President Obama who are responsible for the coronavirus.
If the CDC and Obama had done their job, America would be much better prepared to fight the virus.
But the CDC and Obama were incompetent.
It took a Republican president, Donald Trump, to step in fight the virus with truth, justice, and the American way of fighting a clean, healthful fight to save American lives.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, testified at a House hearing that the U.S. has failed to meet the capacity for testing.

On Thursday, Trump revealed in a tweet that ex-Vice-President Joe Biden was responsible for the death of thousands of Americans from illness.

Shame on the CDC and Obama and Biden.
Vote for Trump, in 2020.
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Trump slams CDC for lack of coronavirus testing, blames Obama

NBC News
Rebecca Shabad
Mar 13th 2020 11:40AM

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Friday criticized the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for being ill-prepared to test for the coronavirus and he blamed President Barack Obama for the situation.

"For decades the @CDCgov looked at, and studied, its testing system, but did nothing about it. It would always be inadequate and slow for a large scale pandemic, but a pandemic would never happen, they hoped. President Obama made changes that only complicated things further.....," Trump wrote.

In a follow-up tweet, Trump continued his broadside, ".... Their response to H1N1 Swine flu was a full scale disaster, with thousands dying, and nothing meaningful done to fix the testing problem, until now. The changes have been made and testing will soon happen on a very large scale basis. All Red Tape has been cut, ready to go!"

On Thursday, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, testified at a House hearing that the U.S. has failed to meet the capacity for testing.

"The system is not really geared to what we need right now," he said. “That is a failing. Let's admit it."

Two issues have led to the slow process in testing for COVID-19. One was that the CDC had initially put out narrow guidelines for who could be considered for testing. Those criteria were eventually expanded and so far about 11,000 specimens have been tested, according to the CDC. South Korea, on the other hand, has been testing nearly 20,000 people each day for the disease, according to reports.

There were also technical issues with the test kits in which they tested for more than just the novel coronavirus, and the glitch affected the integrity of the kit.

Trump tweeted on Thursday that "Sleepy Joe Biden was in charge of the H1N1 epidemic which killed thousands of people," and said "The response was one of the worst on record."

Biden campaign spokesman Andrew Bates responded that Trump should focus on fighting the current outbreak instead of "desperately tweeting lies about ten Obama-Biden Administration."

03-22-20  08:20am - 1642 days #1580
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The truth is revealed:
The coronavirus is a weapon developed by China aimed at the US.

But the US is fighting back:
They are offering to help Iran, with the virus.

Except Iran thinks the US might be using the virus to destroy Iranian lives.

Why can't we trust each other to play fair?
Do leaders from different countries really want to kill the people of those other countries?

Enquiring minds want to know:
Do you trust the leader of China?
The leader of the US?
The leader of Iran?

Is the US trying to spread the virus in Iran with a fake offer of aid?
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Iran leader refuses US help, citing virus conspiracy theory

The Associated Press
JON GAMBRELL
Mar 22nd 2020 9:50AM

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran's supreme leader refused U.S. assistance Sunday to fight the new coronavirus, citing an unfounded conspiracy theory that the virus could be man-made by America.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's comments come as Iran faces crushing U.S. sanctions blocking the country from selling its crude oil and accessing international financial markets.

But while Iranian civilian officials in recent days have increasingly criticized those sanctions, 80-year-old Khamenei instead chose to traffic in the same conspiracy theory increasingly used by Chinese officials about the new virus to deflect blame for the pandemic.

“I do not know how real this accusation is but when it exists, who in their right mind would trust you to bring them medication?" Khamenei said. "Possibly your medicine is a way to spread the virus more.”

He also alleged without offering any evidence that the virus “is specifically built for Iran using the genetic data of Iranians which they have obtained through different means.”

“You might send people as doctors and therapists, maybe they would want to come here and see the effect of the poison they have produced in person," he said.

There is no scientific proof offered anywhere in the world to support Khamenei's comments.

However, his comments come after Chinese government spokesman Lijian Zhao tweeted earlier this month that it “might be US army who brought the epidemic to Wuhan. Be transparent! Make public your data! US owe(s) us an explanation!”

Lijian likewise offered no evidence to support his claim, which saw the U.S. State Department summon China's ambassador to complain.

Wuhan is the Chinese city where the first cases of the disease were detected in December. In recent days, the Trump administration has increasingly referred to the virus as the “Chinese” or “Wuhan” virus, while the World Health Organization used the term COVID-19 to describe the illness the virus causes. Even a U.S. senator from Arkansas has trafficked in the unfounded conspiracy theory it was a man-made Chinese bioweapon.

For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. The vast majority of people recover from the new virus.

Scientists have not yet determined exactly how the new coronavirus first infected people. Evidence suggests it originated in bats, which infected another animal that spread it to people at a market in Wuhan. The now-shuttered Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market advertised dozens of species such as giant salamanders, baby crocodiles and raccoon dogs that were often referred to as wildlife, even when they were farmed.

An article published last week in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Nature Medicine similarly said it was “improbable” that the virus “emerged through laboratory manipulation of a related SARS-CoV-like coronavirus.”

Khamenei made the comments in a speech in Tehran broadcast live Sunday across Iran marking Nowruz, the Persian New Year. He had called off his usual speech at Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad over the virus outbreak.

His comments come as Iran has over 21,600 confirmed cases of the new coronavirus amid 1,685 reported deaths, according to government figures released Sunday.

Iran is one of the hardest-hit countries in the world by the new virus. Across the Mideast, Iran represents eight of 10 cases of the virus and those leaving the Islamic Republic have carried the virus to other countries.

Iranian officials have criticized U.S. offers of aid during the virus crisis as being disingenuous. They have accused the Trump administration of wanting to capitalize on its “maximum pressure” campaign against Tehran since withdrawing from the nuclear deal in May 2018. However, the U.S. has directly offered the Islamic Republic aid in the past despite decades of enmity, like during the devastating Bam earthquake of 2003.

Reassigning blame could be helpful to Iran's government, which faced widespread public anger after denying for days it shot down a Ukrainian jetliner, killing 176 people. Widespread economic problems as well has seen mass demonstrations in recent years that saw hundreds reportedly killed.

Iranian hard-liners have supported conspiracy theories in the past when it suited their interests. Following the Sept. 11 attacks, some publicly doubted al-Qaida's role and state TV promoting the unfounded conspiracy theory that the Americans blew up the building themselves.

Former hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad similarly raised doubt about the Sept. 11 attack, calling it a “big lie," while also describing the Holocaust as a “myth.”

Meanwhile on Sunday, Iran imposed a two-week closure on major shopping malls and centers across the country to prevent spreading the virus. Pharmacies, supermarkets, groceries and bakeries will remain open.

___

Associated Press writer Aya Batrawy in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report.

03-22-20  09:31am - 1642 days #1581
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President Trump offers US aid to North Korea in the fight against the coronavirus.
North Korea says there have been no cases of the coronavirus in North Korea: But international officials suspect North Korea may be hiding the truth, and fear a major outbreak in a nation with a struggling public health system.

But that's no problem, because Trump himself has said the US is well-defended against the virus, and will become even stronger and prouder because America is so well prepared.

Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump, two heroes in the fight against disease.
Can Trump honor Kim Jong Un with the Congressional Medal of Freedom?
Can Kim honor his best buddy Trump with the highest medal of honor for North Korea?
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Trump wrote to Kim Jong Un offering coronavirus help, says North Korea

HuffPost US
Mary Papenfuss
Mar 22nd 2020 9:28AM

President Donald Trump wrote a letter to Kim Jong Un offering help dealing with a coronavirus outbreak in North Korea, the state-run Korean Central News Agency reported Sunday.

The White House confirmed that the president sent a letter, but would not reveal its contents.

But an unnamed senior administration official told The New York Times and Agence France Presse that the letter was “consistent” with Trump’s “efforts to engage global leaders during the ongoing pandemic.”

North Korean policy aide Kim Yo Jong, who is Kim’s younger sister, said in a statement carried by the news agency: “We regard it as a good judgment and proper action for the U.S. president to make efforts to keep the good relations he had with our Chairman.”


She said that Trump reaffirmed his intention to promote good relations between the nations, and “expressed his intent to render cooperation in the anti-epidemic work.” The president said he was “impressed by the efforts made by the Chairman to defend his people from the serious threat of the epidemic,” the statement added.

Kim had “mentioned his special personal relations with President Trump again and appreciated the personal letter,” said his sister. But his sister suggested that the leaders’ personal relationship may not be sufficient to promote better ties between the nations.

Talks between the nations have stalled over the past year after a failed summit in Vietnam last February to address the country’s nuclear ambitions. Kim has since pledged to jump-start the weapons program, saying in January that North Korea was no longer bound by a moratorium on testing.

On Saturday, Kim witnessed the launch of what appeared to be two short-range ballistic missiles from the country’s east coast into the sea.
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Pyongyang has insisted there have been no coronavirus cases in the nation. But international officials suspect North Korea may be hiding the truth, and fear a major outbreak in a nation with a struggling public health system.

U.S. critics would likely prefer Trump focus on helping the U.S. His administration has come under fire for serious delays in rolling out COVID-19 testing and failing to adequately address a supply shortage of ventilators for patients and protective gear, including face masks, for health care professionals.

03-22-20  08:40pm - 1642 days #1582
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President Trump is a man with a heart of gold.
He's willing to forgive his enemies in this time of the coronavirus problems:
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President Trump after hearing of Mitt Romney’s isolation due to coronavirus exposure: ‘Gee, that’s too bad’

Published: March 22, 2020 at 8:31 p.m. ET
By Shawn Langlois

Utah Senator Mitt Romney announced on Sunday that he would self-quarantine after fellow Senator Rand Paul announced he had tested positive for COVID-19.

What does President Trump think of that?

‘Gee, that’s too bad.’

When asked by a reporter at the White House briefing Sunday if he was being sarcastic, the president denied it. Watch the full exchange and judge for yourself:

Needless to say, the two have history. Romney was the only Senate Republican to break from the party and vote to convict Trump on abuse of power after the Senate impeachment trial.

The disease can be fatal, especially for those 60 and above and/or with pre-existing conditions.

Romney is 73 and his wife, 70, has MS.

03-24-20  05:04am - 1641 days #1583
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Real news:

Texas Lt. Governor suggests the elderly should risk their lives to save the economy.
Dan Patrick says that senior citizens need to start buying things to save the economy, which is far more important the the lives of senior citizens.
Seniors are expendable. But our great way of life, America, is far more important.
Besides, mortuaries and cemeteries need the business.
So, people, start shopping today, and hug as many people as you can.
Forget about the virus.
Listen to the President.
If President Trump says to go out shopping, that is more than good enough for this Texan politician.
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Texas Lt. Governor suggests the elderly should risk their lives to save the economy

Yahoo Entertainment Video
Stephen Proctor
Mar 24th 2020 5:13AM

As the coronavirus continues to spread in the United States, forcing people to stay in their homes and causing an economic downturn, Lieutenant Governor of Texas, Dan Patrick, joined Tucker Carlson Tonight where he made headlines by suggesting we get back to our normal lives to save the economy even at great risk to the country’s senior citizens. Patrick, who turns 70 next week, believes it’s up to older Americans to take that risk.

“Tucker, no one reached out to me and said, ‘As a senior citizen, are you willing to take a chance on your survival in exchange for keeping the America that all America loves for your children and grandchildren?’ And if that’s the exchange, I’m all in,” Patrick said, later adding, “My message is, let’s get back to work. Let’s get back to living. Let’s be smart about it, and those of us who are 70-plus, we’ll take care of ourselves.”

Patrick’s suggestion was not well received on Twitter.

And though the mortality rate for seniors is much higher than for others, Patrick believes it’s worth it to stem the economic downturn caused by the pandemic.

“Our biggest gift we give to our country, and our children and our grandchildren, is the legacy of our country,” Patrick said. “And right now that is at risk, and I feel like, as the president said, the mortality rate is so low, do we have to shut down the whole country for this?”

Patrick also believes the country will collapse if we shut down for more than three months, and when asked if that would be worse than dying, he said that it was. However, Patrick didn’t suggest that everyone go back to work immediately, just that it happens sooner rather than later, and that he’d trust President Trump to make that decision.

Earlier in the day, Trump showed signs of growing impatience with coronavirus-related shutdowns, saying he’s “not looking at months.”

Tucker Carlson Tonight airs weeknights at 8 p.m. on Fox News Channel.

03-27-20  05:34am - 1638 days #1584
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Trump rejects New York's plea for ventilators. Says it's their own fault.


New York is full of hot air.
Saying they need lots of ventilators.
If they really needed the ventilators, they should have bought them in 2015 but “turned it down.”

Trump is a man with a heart of gold. And he loves New York. But he was forced to leave New York and make Florida his official residence, because of legal issues.
But Trump is still willing to help New York, because Trump loves all Americans.

Even people from New York.

Also, Trump wants everyone to go to church on Easter. To pray for the country.
So ignore what health care officials are saying: obey the president of the United States.
Go to church on Easter.
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Trump rejects New York’s plea for ventilators: ‘I don’t believe you need’ that many

HuffPost US
Nick Visser
Mar 27th 2020 4:32AM

President Donald Trump rejected calls from New York’s governor that the state needed tens of thousands of new ventilators to treat a mass of patients infected with the novel coronavirus, saying he didn’t believe those numbers were accurate.

“I have a feeling that a lot of the numbers that are being said in some areas are just bigger than they’re going to be,” Trump told Fox News’ Sean Hannity on Thursday night. “I don’t believe you need 40,000 or 30,000 ventilators. You know, you go into major hospitals sometimes, they’ll have two ventilators. And now all of a sudden they’re saying can we order 30,000 ventilators?”

He added: “Look, it’s a very bad situation. We haven’t seen anything like it, but the end result is we’ve got to get back to work, and I think we can start by opening up certain parts of the country.”

The president’s statements came as public health officials declared the United States the leading country in terms of coronavirus cases with more than 81,300 infected. More than 1,000 people have been killed by the virus, many in New York, which has the worst outbreak in the nation.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) warned Thursday that the state’s hospitals could soon be overwhelmed with patients afflicted with the COVID-19 disease, noting more than 5,200 people had been hospitalized, including 1,290 in intensive care.

On Tuesday Cuomo said the Federal Emergency Management Agency was sending 400 ventilators after he warned that the state needed thousands more to deal with an impending “apex” of its infection rate that he estimated would take place in a few weeks.

“What am I going to do with 400 ventilators when I need 30,000?” Cuomo said at a news conference at Manhattan’s Javits Center, which is being turned into a makeshift hospital to treat New Yorkers. “You want a pat on the back for sending 400 ventilators? You’re missing the magnitude of the problem.”

Trump later said 4,000 additional ventilators would be sent to New York’s hospital system, but he blasted the governor’s leadership, saying he had a chance to buy the machines in 2015 but “turned it down.” Cuomo has ordered that 7,000 more be purchased but warned it’s still not nearly enough. The state approved a plan to allow two patients to share one ventilator if needed as infections grow more dire.

The president has been insistent that the country can soon “open up” after many states have urged residents to self-isolate and socially distance in their communities to halt the spread of the virus. He’s pushed the Easter holiday weekend as his deadline, despite warnings from health officials that doing so could spell disaster.

“I think we can open up sections, quadrants, keep them going until the whole country’s opened up,” Trump told Hannity on Thursday. “The people want to get back to work. They want to get back.”


- This article originally appeared on HuffPost.

03-28-20  07:55am - 1636 days #1585
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Is Fox News distancing itself from the greatest, most stable genius the US has ever had?
Fox has fired Trish Regan after she stated her beliefs that the coronavirus was "another attempt to impeach the president".

I, myself, have thought that the virus was a hoax dreamed up by the Chinese and scummy Democrats (are there any kinds of Democrats other than scummy?) to attack our great leader in the White House.

Fox used to be one of the only sources of real news.
Standing 1,000% behind President Trump and supporting his every action and belief.

But now Fox is no longer Trump's staunch supporter.
There are cracks in Fox's loyalty.

Can President Trump bring down his fists of power upon Fox, and force the network to straighten out and speak the truth again?

Or will Fox go down in infamy and start spreading lies and untruths about President Trump like the rest of the Fake News?

Enquiring minds want to know: Can we believe in Fox News any more?
I have doubts.
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Fox Business host out after coronavirus comments

The Wrap
Lindsey Ellefson
Mar 27th 2020 5:29PM


Fox Business Network has parted ways with Trish Regan days after her comments that the coronavirus was “another attempt to impeach the president” went viral.

“Fox Business has parted ways with Trish Regan – we thank her for her contributions to the network over the years and wish her continued success in her future endeavors. We will continue our reduced live primetime schedule for the foreseeable future in an effort to allocate staff resources to continuous breaking news coverage on the coronavirus crisis,” the network said in a statement.


Regan added in her own statement, “I have enjoyed my time at Fox and now intend to focus on my family during these troubled times. I am grateful to my incredible team at Fox Business and for the many opportunities the network has provided me. I’m looking forward to this next chapter in my career.”

Her show, “Trish Regan Primetime,” as well as another, “Kennedy,” were removed from the lineup at the outset of the coronavirus crisis, followed by “FBN am” and “Bulls & Bears” last week.

At the time, Fox Business president Lauren Petterson said, “While FBN will remain committed to delivering up to the minute breaking business news and analysis, our first priority is the health and safety of our employees. This scaled back schedule will ensure we continue to deliver critical information to our audience amidst this global pandemic and time of market volatility while helping to fight the further escalation of the coronavirus.”

03-28-20  08:07am - 1636 days #1586
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President Trump must call upon his war powers and put the traitorous doctors in jail.
Doctors are spreading lies, saying that people must be kept separate.
While Trump wants to ignore social distancing and reopen churches and businesses by Easter.
Vote on whether you believe in Trump, or a pack of treasonous doctors who seek to spread fear and civil disobedience throughout our great nation.
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800,000 physicians tell Trump social distancing must continue

HuffPost US
Sebastian Murdock
Mar 27th 2020 4:42PM

More than 800,000 physicians across the country signed a letter urging President Donald Trump to keep social distancing practices in place after he said he wants to reopen businesses by Easter.

“Significant COVID-19 transmission continues across the United States, and we need your leadership in supporting science-based recommendations on social distancing that can slow the virus,” the letter, released by the Council of Medical Specialty Societies, said. “Our societies have closely adhered to these measures by moving our staff to fulltime telework and canceling in-person meetings (including annual meetings). These actions have helped to keep physicians and other health professionals in health care facilities, including hospitals, and reduce the risk of spreading COVID-19.”
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The virus continues to spread across the U.S. and has killed at least 1,000 people in the country. In order to slow the spread of the virus, many states have closed schools, restaurants and other places where people gather in large numbers, and nonessential workers have been told to stay home.

The president, along with his sycophants at Fox News, have continuously downplayed the threat, at one point falsely claiming the virus was a Democratic or media “hoax” made up to hurt the president’s chances of reelection. A lack of testing kits and an administration downplaying the threat has only exacerbated the dangerous situation.

Earlier this week, Trump said he wanted to end social distancing and have the economy back up and running by Easter, a date he chose for no other reason than it would be “a beautiful time.”

“Easter’s a very special day for me,” Trump told Fox News on Tuesday. “Wouldn’t it be great to have all of the churches full? You’ll have packed churches all over our country. I think it would be a beautiful time.”

Medical professionals disagree.

“Federal, state, and local governments should only set a date for lifting nationwide social distancing restrictions consistent with assessments by public health and medical experts,” the letter from CMSS said. “Lifting restrictions sooner will gravely jeopardize the health of all Americans and extend the devastation of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.

03-28-20  11:28pm - 1636 days #1587
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Real news:
In an emergency, you have to prioritize where your resources go, to make the best use of them.
President Trump has decided Michigan does not need medical supplies for the coronavirus, because Michigan can take care of itself.

Trump declares he loves the people of Michigan, who will always be in his heart.
But his love for Michigan's governor is not as strong, because she doesn't appreciate all the help he's given to the state.

Trump is a stable genius, able to make these hard decisions.
Thank God for Trump.


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Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer says medical vendors were told not to supply state

HuffPost US
Mary Papenfuss
Mar 28th 2020 10:08AM

President Donald Trump’s latest target, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, told a radio station Friday that medical supply vendors informed her they’ve been told “not to send stuff” to her state amid the battle against COVID-19.

Whitmer, a Democrat, didn’t say if the orders were coming from the White House or if vendors may have been intimidated by Trump’s feud with the governor. But she did appear to link the problem to the president because she told WWJ-AM in Detroit that she tried Thursday night to call the White House to discuss the issue.

She couldn’t get through to Trump, who was at the time trashing Whitmer — whom he referred to as “that young ... woman governor from Michigan” — to Sean Hannity on Fox News. “We don’t like to see the complaints,” Trump said in a phone interview.

Whitmer told WWJ: “When the federal government told us that we needed to go it ourselves [on medical supplies], we started procuring every item we could get our hands on. But what I’ve gotten back is that vendors with whom we had contracts are now being told not to send stuff here to Michigan.”

She added: “It’s really concerning. I reached out to the White House last night, asked for a phone call with the president, ironically at the time that all this other stuff was going on.”

Whitmer told CNN later in the day that the state’s shipments of personal protective equipment are being “canceled” or “delayed” — and sent instead to the federal government. She said it’s happening to other states as well.

Trump’s willingness to punish a state’s residents amid a pandemic over a feud with a governor appeared evident in a statement at his press briefing Friday. The president said he had instructed Vice President Mike Pence, who heads up the president’s coronavirus task force, not to call the governors of Washington or Michigan. The two states have among the highest number of coronavirus cases in the nation, and Michigan is experiencing a dramatic spike in cases from 350 a week ago to nearly 3,000 Friday.

“I say, ‘Mike, don’t call ... the woman in Michigan. It doesn’t make any difference what happens,’” Trump said.


Whitmer told WWJ that she has been critical of the weak federal response to her state’s needs amid the fight against rising COVID-19 cases but that other governors have also complained about the lack of “federal preparation.” She complained earlier this week that the number of masks and gowns sent to her state by the federal government was barely enough to cover a single shift at a besieged hospital. The state hasn’t received a single ventilator despite a critical need.

“I’ve been uniquely singled out,” Whitmer said. “I don’t go into personal attacks. I don’t have time for that, I don’t have energy for that, frankly. All of our focus has to be on COVID-19 right now.”

She said she remained thankful to Pence, with whom she has a “really good working relationship.”

Trump said at his press briefing that he expects governors to be “appreciative” for any federal help.

Whitmer has asked the president for an emergency declaration in her state, which frees up funds and other aid. But the president told Hannity: “She doesn’t get it done, and we send her a lot. Now she wants a declaration of emergency, and, you know, we’ll have to make a decision on that.” He claimed, though, that he “loves” the people of Michigan, a swing state where Trump beat Hillary Clinton in 2016 by less than 11,000 votes.

Whitmer’s office could not immediately be reached by the HuffPost to provide more details on the governor’s comment about vendors. A spokesperson declined to comment further to Crain’s Detroit Business.

Michigan emergency room doctor Rob Davidson posted an angry video on Twitter before his shift Thursday defending Whitmer and attacking Trump.

03-29-20  12:50am - 1636 days #1588
Loki (0)
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Trump did not declare an emergency in Michigan, with a Democratic governor he's feuded with, but he did declare one in Texas, with a Republican governor he likes.

This is what our Republic has devolved to under Trump--playing favorites with states while people suffer and die. "A man talking sense to himself is no madder than a man talking nonsense not to himself."

03-30-20  02:39pm - 1634 days #1589
LKLK (0)
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Posts: 1,583
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This is real news. Or maybe it's political news.
If I didn't read it on the internet, I would think it was fake news.
President Trump says if 100,000 to 200,000 Americans die from the coronavirus, he will have done a very good job.

I assume he is setting the bar low, so he can brag what a wonderful president he is.
But 100,000 to 200,000 American deaths, from the virus, seems like a lot of deaths.

I assume, since there were secret briefings for the US President back in January and February, warning about the virus, and almost nothing was done to prepare for it, the possible death toll should probably be far less than 100,000.
But I haven't read a lot about the potential death toll, until Trump announced that 100,000-200,000 American deaths would be a victory for the Trump presidency.

What I can figure from this possible tragedy, is that, God forbid, if the US got into a war with someone powerful, there would be massive draft dodgers and massive protests about the way the US war was being handled.
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Trump now says if 100,000 Americans die from coronavirus he will have done 'a very good job'

Yahoo News
Dylan Stableford
Mar 30th 2020 12:11PM

At the first formal press briefing of his coronavirus task force on Feb. 26, President Trump said he didn’t agree with the assessment but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that an outbreak was “inevitable” in the United States, noting that the country had just 15 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and no deaths attributed to the virus.

“When you have 15 people, and the 15 within a couple of days is going to be down to close to zero, that’s a pretty good job we’ve done,” Trump said. “We have it so well under control. I mean, we really have done a very good job.”

Ever since, Trump has been moving the goal posts on the pandemic, and on Sunday, with coronavirus cases and deaths mounting, Trump said that keeping the U.S. death toll between 100,000 and 200,000 would be “a very good job.”

“We can hold that down, as we’re saying, to 100,000, that’s a horrible number, maybe even less, but to 100,000 — so we have between 100- and 200,000 — we all, together, have done a very good job,” Trump said during a task force press briefing in the White House Rose Garden.

The president repeatedly cited a projection by medical experts on the task force that as many as 2.2 million people would have died if the administration had not instituted social distancing and other mitigation measures.

“Two-point-two million people would have died if we didn’t do what we’re doing,” Trump said at the briefing, during which he cited that number 16 times. “And now we’re looking at numbers that are going to be much, much, much lower than that. And it makes everything we’re doing feel much better to me.”

In an interview with NBC’s “Today” show Monday, Dr. Deborah Birx, a member of the White House task force, predicted there would be up to 200,000 deaths in the U.S. even “if we do things almost perfectly.”

According to Johns Hopkins University, which has been tracking the pandemic since before its outset, there have been more than 143,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the United States — more than any other country — and over 2,500 deaths attributed to the virus.

There are 724,945 confirmed coronavirus cases worldwide, and more than 34,000 deaths.

The president’s latest comments come amid criticism that his administration was too slow in responding to the coronavirus threat — and that he sought to downplay the risks against the advice of doctors and medical experts as the outbreak took hold.

In press briefings and tweets Trump has repeatedly contrasted his administration’s handling of the coronavirus with the Obama administration’s response to the swine flu epidemic, which was overseen by Vice President Joe Biden. As many as 17,000 Americans died in that outbreak in 2009 – 2010.

His last tweet on the subject came on March 15.

“You can’t spin a pandemic,” David Axelrod, Obama’s former senior adviser, wrote on Twitter. “People are sick. People are dying. The media is covering the grim reality of the pandemic and the government’s response, which was laggard. This enrages him.”

03-31-20  02:31am - 1634 days #1590
LKLK (0)
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Real news:
Our US government in action.

A US senator was saying how great the US was doing to prepare against the coronavirus.
While he was selling a huge part of his stock market holdings, before the stock market plunge.
The senator also told a group of his wealthy donors to prepare for the coronavirus to hit America.
After telling his wealthy donors to prepare for a panic, the senator made a public statement:
"The US is in a better position than any other nation to handle a public health emergency like coronavirus."
The senator's lawyer said Burr did nothing wrong.
It's OK to tell a group of donors inside information, and to sell stock, while telling the general public everything is fine.
Unless you have compelling evidence that some law was broken.
Is there a smoking gun?
Has he senator confessed he was guilty?
No, the senator is innocent.
Maybe he needed the money from the stock sales to go on vacation.
Senators are like everyday people, who need a little extra cash to do things.
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US senator under fire for early coronavirus warning to donors

GOP senator also sold as much as $1.5m in stock after receiving classified briefings in the early days of the outbreak.
by William Roberts
19 Mar 2020

United States Senator Richard Burr, a Republican, is drawing fire after a secret recording emerged on Thursday of him warning an insider group of contributors that the coronavirus outbreak in the US would be very serious six days before he first acknowledged it publicly.

In the February 27 recording, obtained and broadcast by National Public Radio, Burr can be heard comparing the coronavirus pandemic to the 1918 influenza outbreak that killed more than 20 million people worldwide.

"There's one thing that I can tell you about this: It is much more aggressive in its transmission than anything that we have seen in recent history," Burr said in the recording. "It is probably more akin to the 1918 pandemic."

His remarks to a group called the Tar Heel Circle at an exclusive Republican club near the US Capitol came on the same day President Donald Trump was putting a positive spin on US preparedness.

"I think it's an incredible achievement what our country's done," Trump told reporters at the White House that day.

Limiting the number of US cases at the time to 15 was "like a miracle" Trump said, and he suggested the virus "will disappear".

At the time in late February, Trump had just appointed Vice President Mike Pence to lead the White House coronavirus task force and had just put in place restrictions on travel from China.

"The comments that have come to light, what Senator Burr was saying to his monied constituents at a donor-class luncheon, are appalling," said Dr Gavin Yamey, a professor of global health and public policy at Duke University in North Carolina.

"He was not providing other constituents across my state the same warning. He could have used his credibility, his megaphone, his standing to break with the president and tell the country what was coming," Yamey told Al Jazeera.

"Instead, he put allegiance to Trump before his concern for North Carolinians," said Yamey. "The administration knew this catastrophe was coming and was asleep at the wheel."

Burr is the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and is one of the lead authors of the key US law providing for federal response to a pandemic.

He and other senators had received a classified briefing from US officials on the coronavirus only two days earlier on February 25.

After that closed-door briefing, Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat, expressed outrage on Twitter.

"This morning's classified coronavirus briefing should have been made fully open to the American people -they would be as appalled & astonished as I am by the inadequacy of preparedness & prevention," Blumenthal said.

It was also reported on Thursday that Burr sold what was described as a significant portion of his US stock holdings during the same period. Citing financial disclosure forms, ProPublica reported that Burr sold between $582,000 and $1.5m worth of stock in 29 separate transactions on February 13.

Members of the Tar Heel Circle group that met with Burr included dozens of invited guests from his home state of North Carolina who collectively had donated more than $100,000 to Burr's campaigns in the past, according to NPR, which obtained a copy of the RSVP list for the event.

Burr also warned the group's members against travel to Europe, which has since emerged as the new global hot spot, and suggested public schools may have to close, which has now happened.

"Every company should be cognizant of the fact that you may have to alter your travel. You may have to look at your employees and judge whether the trip they're making to Europe is essential or whether it can be done on video conference. Why risk it?" Burr said.

"There will be, I'm sure, times that communities, probably some in North Carolina, have a transmission rate where they say, 'Let's close schools for two weeks. Everybody stay home,' " Burr said.
US Congress passes coronavirus aid for families, workers (2:41)

Burr even warned that the US military might be mobilised to combat the coronavirus.

"We're going to send a military hospital there; it's going to be in tents and going to be set up on the ground somewhere," Burr reportedly said at the luncheon.

"It's going to be a decision the president and DOD [US Department of Defense] make. And we're going to have medical professionals supplemented by local staff to treat the people that need treatment," the senator warned.

But Burr said nothing publicly until March 3, when he put out a relatively confident statement after the first case of COVID-19 was identified in North Carolina.

"The US is in a better position than any other nation to handle a public health emergency like coronavirus," Burr touted.

Scott Huffman, a Democratic candidate for the US House of Representatives, slammed Burr's handling of the matter.

"I am utterly disappointed at Senator Burr's warning to a small group of his well-connected donors about the effects of the coronavirus," Huffman told Al Jazeera.

"This administration and its enablers - to me, for lack of a better word - totally ignored public health and safety," Huffman said.

Huffman tweeted:

The editorial board of the Raleigh News & Observer, a top newspaper in North Carolina, criticized Burr's actions as "regrettable but not surprising".

"Now it appears North Carolina's senior senator was wary of publicly disputing Trump's efforts to calm the financial markets by downplaying the coronavirus threat," the editorial board wrote on Thursday.

A spokeswoman for the senator did not respond to a request for comment from Al Jazeera. A statement given to NPR emphasised Burr's past track record as an advocate for public health.

SOURCE: Al Jazeera News


© 2020 Al Jazeera Media Network

03-31-20  06:30am - 1633 days #1591
LKLK (0)
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President Donald Trump, the most stable genius the United States has ever produced, is like a walking encyclopedia.
He knows facts know one else knows.
There's no sense in trying to check the facts on the internet against Trump's facts: he's a better source of knowledge than the internet.
When a reporter asked Trump on the coronavirus testing capabilities of the United States, Trump fired back with detailed knowledge of South Korea.
The population of Seoul is 38 million people, according to Trump.
That figure is far bigger than the 10 million people the South Korean website officially admits to.
The difference is that Trump has secret, classified briefings from US officials that tell the true facts, instead of the fake news that governments give out.

Donald Trump, the bestest, most honestest, most glorious President of the United States we've ever had.
No one else has ever come close the the glory and honor of Donald Trump.
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Trump tried to flex by asking a reporter about the population of Seoul - then he got it wrong

Business Insider
Jake Lahut
Mar 31st 2020 4:26AM

To evade a reporter's question on the United States' coronavirus testing capabilities, President Donald Trump tried to flex with a fun fact.
"I know South Korea better than anybody," Trump said when responding to the question from PBS NewsHour's Yamiche Alcindor. "It's a very tight — do you know how many people are in Seoul? Do you know how big the city of Seoul is? 38 million people. That's bigger than anything we have."
Seoul-proper — officially known as the Seoul Special City — has a population of around 10 million, according to the city government's English language website.

03-31-20  06:50am - 1633 days #1592
Loki (0)
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So the president thinks 75% of South Korea's population lives in one city. So what? Don't 260 million Americans live in New York City?? LOL "A man talking sense to himself is no madder than a man talking nonsense not to himself."

04-03-20  01:05pm - 1630 days #1593
LKLK (0)
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President Donald Trump is a man of honor and of God.
He has tried to forgive the treachery of a naval captain who has brought shame to the US Navy.
Should Trump have the captain put in front of a firing squad and executed for treason?
Enquiring minds want to know:

Update: the naval captain was not removed for insubordination.
There are reports the naval captain failed to maintain personal hygiene, and did not brush his teeth in the morning, or before going to bed at night.
The navay is trying to prepare documentation on the captains improper behavior.
And if they can't find proof, the Republican National Committee will dig up the dirt (or manufacture it) as needed.
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Dismissed U.S. carrier captain gets hero's ovation from crew

Thomson Reuters
Apr 3rd 2020 12:03PM

WASHINGTON, April 3 (Reuters) - The captain of a U.S. aircraft carrier relieved of his command after seeking stronger measures in response to a coronavirus outbreak aboard his ship was given a hero's ovation by his crew when he left the vessel, video posted on Twitter showed.

A brief clip showed Captain Brett Crozier walking down the gangplank of the Theodore Roosevelt as crew members repeatedly chanted "Captain Crozier, Captain Crozier!"

Crozier turned to wave at the crew after he stepped ashore in Guam.

The removal of Crozier, first reported by Reuters, was announced by acting U.S. Navy Secretary Thomas Modly, who said the captain of the nuclear-powered vessel of 5,000 crew members had exercised poor judgment in the way he "broadly" distributed a letter to superiors.

In his four-page letter, Crozier, who took command in November, described a bleak situation aboard the carrier as more of his crew began falling ill.

He called for "decisive action": removing more than 4,000 sailors from the ship and isolating them, and wrote that unless the Navy acted immediately it would be failing to properly safeguard "our most trusted asset - our sailors."

The letter put the Pentagon on the defensive and alarmed the families of those on the vessel, whose home port is in San Diego.

President Donald Trump, when asked about the captain during a White House news conference on Thursday, disputed the notion that Crozier appeared to have been disciplined for trying to save the lives of sailors.

"I don't agree with that at all. Not at all. Not even a little bit," Trump said.

Democratic presidential contender Joe Biden said that the Trump administration showed "poor judgment" in relieving a warship commander who was trying to stem a coronavirus outbreak among his crew.

Separately, acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly told Reuters on Friday that Crozier would not be thrown out of the Navy, but rather reassigned as the Navy probed the incident. (Reporting by David Brunnstrom; Editing by Mary Milliken and Paul Simao)

04-03-20  04:47pm - 1630 days #1594
LKLK (0)
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Donald Trump, the most stable genius the US has ever had, wants face masks to stop going to Canada.
Why should masks go to Canada, one of our known enemies, who have tried to lie and sabotage our efforts in the current health care crisis?
If Canadian doctors and nurses enter America to help our citizens, they don't need masks.
God will protect them.
And the peoples back in Canada also don't need any masks, if they are God-fearing people who worship in the right way.
God bless America, the land of the Free White Men.
Amen.

Edit: If Trump fires a few guided missiles into Canada, he can claim he's cleared up the coronavirus threat from coming down into the US.
Great idea?
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3M fires back at Trump over order to produce more face masks

The Associated Press
DAVID KOENIG and ZEKE MILLER
Apr 3rd 2020 3:13PM

Manufacturing giant 3M pushed back Friday against criticism from President Donald Trump over production of face masks that are badly needed by American health care workers.

The company said it has been producing as many masks as possible for the U.S. “over the last several weeks and months.”

3M also said the administration asked it to stop exporting medical-grade masks to Canada and Latin America, which the company said raises “significant humanitarian implications” and will backfire by causing other countries to retaliate against the U.S.

The unusual but not unprecedented spat between the president and a leading American manufacturer broke out after Trump directed heads of the Homeland Security Department and Federal Emergency Management Agency to use their authority under the 1950 Defense Production Act to acquire the “appropriate” number of N95 respirators from 3M and any of its affiliates.

The N95 masks, also called respirators, provide more protection against the new coronavirus than ordinary surgical masks. Governors and hospital officials around the country have warned of a dire shortage of masks and other protective gear for health care workers treating people with COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus.

The president followed up his order with a barbed tweet Thursday night at the Minnesota-based manufacturer.

“We hit 3M hard today after seeing what they were doing with their Masks. ‘P Act’ all the way. Big surprise to many in government as to what they were doing - will have a big price to pay!” Trump tweeted.

The events leading to Trump's order against 3M began weeks ago. A White House official said when Vice President Mike Pence visited a 3M factory in Minnesota last month, he was told that 3M had 35 million N95 masks that were intended for commercial uses but could be used by health care workers.

This week, after 3M received liability protection that it sought, the White House learned that not all of those masks were ready for the U.S. market, the official said.

Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, has been leading administration contacts with the company to learn where the masks went and why some were not available as promised. The situation led Trump to invoke the Defense Production Act, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss events that have not been made public.
AdChoices

The company said it has been working with the Trump administration since last weekend and has shipped masks that it produces overseas back to the U.S., including 10 million N95 masks 3M made in China.

3M also raised concerns over what it said was a request by the administration to stop exporting masks to Canada and Latin American countries, where the company is a critical mask supplier.

“Ceasing all export of respirators produced in the United States would likely cause other countries to retaliate and do the same, as some have already done. If that were to occur, the net number of respirators being made available to the United States would actually decrease,” the company said. “That is the opposite of what we and the Administration, on behalf of the American people, both seek.”

The White House did not immediately comment on the company’s statement about limiting exports.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said essential health supplies and workers flow both ways across the border, and blocking exports of 3M masks would be a mistake.

“I think of the thousands of nurses who cross the bridge in Windsor to work in the Detroit medical system every day,” Trudeau said. “These are things American rely on.”

Doug Ford, premier of Ontario province, said he protested to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, expressing concern that Trump could create a shortage of masks for Canadian doctors and nurses.

“The health and well-being of our frontline workers depend on these essential medical items and now more than ever our countries need to work together to combat COVID-19,” Ford tweeted.

Last week, Trump invoked the same 1950 law to force General Motors to build ventilators used to treat COVID-19 patients. The president accused GM of not moving quickly enough and trying to charge the government too much. GM said it had been working on ventilators for weeks. Two days later, Trump praised the auto maker, saying it was “doing a fantastic job.”

___

Robert Gillies in Toronto contributed to this report.

04-03-20  05:09pm - 1630 days #1595
LKLK (0)
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Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of the most stable genius president the US has ever had, reveals that most people are mistaken about the Federal Government.
The stockpiles of much-needed supplies that states were requesting are not meant for the use of the states:
“The notion of the federal stockpile was it’s supposed to be our stockpile,” Kushner said. “It’s not supposed to be states’ stockpiles that they then use.”

Federal law is above state law.
And federal supplies are meant for the federal government, not for states.
(That's why Trump is a federal employee, and Jared Kushner works for the federal government, not a state government. Trump and Kushner are too smart to work for a state.)
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Jared Kushner ripped for saying 'our stockpile' isn't meant for states to use

HuffPost US
Ed Mazza
Apr 3rd 2020 9:34AM

Jared Kushner, son-in-law of and adviser to President Donald Trump, declared on Thursday that the stockpiles of much-needed supplies governors were requesting to help with the coronavirus pandemic weren’t actually meant for the states.

“The notion of the federal stockpile was it’s supposed to be our stockpile,” Kushner said. “It’s not supposed to be states’ stockpiles that they then use.”

At another point in the briefing, Kushner patted himself and the administration on the back, claiming, “We’ve done things that the federal government has never done before, quicker than they’ve ever done it before.”

Kushner also insisted that they had found and distributed them “where we anticipate there will be needs.”

But his explanation about the federal stockpile and its purpose didn’t sit right with many ― and was at odds with the statement on the Strategic National Stockpile website:

“When state, local, tribal, and territorial responders request federal assistance to support their response efforts, the stockpile ensures that the right medicines and supplies get to those who need them most during an emergency.”

The website also noted that the stockpile could “resupply state and local public health agencies in a catastrophic health event.”

Twitter users were quick to school Kushner and wonder who the “our” in his statement referred to, if not the people of the United States:
AdChoices


This article originally appeared on HuffPost.

04-04-20  08:07pm - 1629 days #1596
careylowell (0)
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JK did three things right: born to well off parents, arranged Daddy’s donations to oil his way into Harvard, married Pres bone spurs daughter. All other aspects of his life have been failures: real estate, Wall Street, Mid East peace effort and now task force on C-19 virus.

04-05-20  09:56am - 1628 days #1597
LKLK (0)
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Trump agrees that the Navy captain should be fired for sending a letter asking for help with the coronavirus.
The captain is in charge of a nuclear-powered ship.
So what if the crew members are in danger from the virus.
They are Navy men. They should man up and tell the virus "We're not afraid of a common cold."
That's what Trump has done.
The Navy men should do the same.
And to make the letter public, exposing the Navy to shame with a plea for help?
Fuck the men, and fuck the captain.
You can't say, write, or message that you need help fighting a virus.

Trump, leader of the World of Free White Men Everywhere.
The captain should have let his 5000 crew members get sick and die before he asked for help with burying them.
And if they died, he could have asked for help in a classified tweet, which is much better than writing a letter.

Also, what if an enemy had read the letter?
They would have discovered the ship was in trouble.
And they could have attacked the ship.
So the captain should be tried for treason.
Loose lips sink ships.
Remember the Alamo!!!
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Trump says the fired Navy commander's letter pleading for help for his coronavirus-stricken ship 'looked terrible' and was 'not appropriate'

Business Insider
mmark@businessinsider.com (Michelle Mark)
Apr 5th 2020 8:26AM

President Donald Trump told reporters on Saturday he agreed "100%" with the Navy's decision to fire the commander who sent a letter pleading for help with the coronavirus outbreak on his ship.
"I thought it was terrible what he did, to write a letter? I mean, this isn't a class on literature. This is a captain of a massive ship that's nuclear-powered," Trump said.
Navy officials said they fired Capt. Brett Crozier because he bypassed the chain of command by sending the letter, and wasn't careful with who the information was sent to.
Crozier has been hailed in the wake of his firing, with his sailors giving him a raucous send-off and chanting his name as he left the ship in Guam.

President Donald Trump on Saturday bashed Capt. Brett Crozier, the fired Navy commander who wrote a letter demanding assistance with the coronavirus outbreak on his ship that sickened dozens of sailors.

Trump said he agreed "100%" with the Navy's decision to fire the commander, though he acknowledged he didn't "know much about it."

Navy officials removed Crozier from command on Thursday, several days after he sent a four-page letter to senior military officials pleading for help from the Pentagon as the virus spread throughout the ship. The letter was then leaked to the media.

The acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly told media the dismissal was because Crozier circumvented the chain of command when he sent the letter, and wasn't careful with "who that information went to."

"He wrote a letter. The letter was a five-page letter from a captain. And the letter was all over the place," Trump told reporters at his Saturday press briefing, inaccurately stating the number of pages. "That's not appropriate. I don't think that's appropriate."

In the letter, Crozier had described the impossible feat of implementing quarantines and social-distancing guidelines, noting that the warship had major space limitations.

He urged the military officials to remove most of the 4,800 service members aboard the ship and provide space to quarantine on shore in Guam, saying he knew it was an "extraordinary measure," but that it was a "necessary risk."

"We are not at war. Sailors do not need to die," Crozier wrote. "If we do not act now, we are failing to properly take care of our most trusted asset — our Sailors."

In his Saturday press briefing, Trump said he thought the letter "looked terrible."

"I thought it was terrible what he did, to write a letter? I mean, this isn't a class on literature. This is a captain of a massive ship that's nuclear-powered," Trump said. "And he shouldn't be talking that way in a letter. He could call and ask, and suggest."

After Crozier was fired, several videos went viral showing the send-off the sailors gave him.

Crozier walked off the ship in Guam to raucous cheers and applause, with sailors chanting Crozier's name.

The Navy announced Saturday that 155 people aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt had tested positive for COVID-19, none were hospitalized, and 44% of the ship's crew had been tested.

So far, 1,548 sailors have been moved ashore, and the ship will keep enough sailors aboard "to sustain essential services and sanitize the ship in port," the Navy said.



More from Business Insider:
Trump reportedly dismissed January coronavirus warnings from Health Secretary Alex Azar as 'alarmist'

04-10-20  05:43pm - 1623 days #1598
LKLK (0)
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Real news:
Donald Trump, the most stable genius President the United States has ever had, is now deciding the fate of the nation: when will the US return to normal.
Forget what the health experts say.
Donald is ruminating all the facts, far more than a bunch of health experts like medical doctors and scientist can comprehend.
Donald will go by his gut, which is far more important than what health experts can do.
As president, Trump is the one who has to make the hard decisions.
Thank God for genius Trump with his stable genius gut.

"But I’m going to surround myself with the greatest minds. Not only the greatest minds in numerous different businesses, including the business of politics and reason and we’re going to make a decision and hopefully it’s going to be the right decision. I will say this, we want to get it open as soon as we can.”

The business of politics and the business of business are important factors in when to say it's time to start going out and meeting friends and people and starting to be normal, because the coronavirus is history.

Thank God for Trump, the Man with the genius IQ.

Also, Trump explained that "Staying at home leads to death also and it’s very traumatic for this country. Staying at home, if you look at numbers, that leads to a different kind of death, perhaps, but it leads to death also.”

So, maybe it's better to stop staying home, to go out and buy things, and mingle with people.
And if you die, it's better than dying at home: you are going down fighting, which is the American way of life.
---------------


On post-COVID-19 reopening, Trump weighs 'biggest decision of my life'

Yahoo News
David Knowles
Apr 10th 2020 5:45PM

President Trump said Friday that determining when it will be safe to drop social distancing guidelines to stop the spread of the coronavirus is "the biggest decision I've ever had to make.”

With hospitalization rates from COVID-19 falling in New York and California, but the overall number of cases still rising in the United States, Trump spent much of Friday’s briefing by the coronavirus task force addressing the question of when the country could expect to return to normal. While state governors hold the power to lift restrictions on that have crippled economic activity across the country, Trump framed the issue as his own burden.

“I don’t know if I’ve had a bigger decision than that, if you think, right? I mean think of that decision, somebody said, ‘It’s totally up to the president,’ and it is. I don’t know if I’ve had a bigger decision,” Trump said. “But I’m going to surround myself with the greatest minds. Not only the greatest minds in numerous different businesses, including the business of politics and reason and we’re going to make a decision and hopefully it’s going to be the right decision. I will say this, we want to get it open as soon as we can.”

Trump said that next week he would announce the formation of an “opening our country council” designed to coordinate jump-starting the economy that would include some state governors. But Trump repeatedly stressed that he would ultimately be the one in charge.

“I can listen to 35 people. At the end, I’ve got to make a decision, and I didn’t think of it until yesterday, I said, ‘you know this is a big decision.’ I want to be guided,” Trump said. “I want to be guided by them [Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Deborah Birx], I’m going to be guided by our vice president. I’m going to make a decision based on a lot of different opinions. Some will maybe disagree and some will — I’d love to see it where they don’t disagree.”

One key question at the briefing was raised by Jeff Mason of Reuters, who noted that the statistical models now predicting a lower number of total deaths from COVID-19 — as few as 60,000, down from a range of 100,000 to 240,000 — “are based on social distancing continuing through May.” He continued: “If you were to open the economy on May 1 or sometime during that month would that impact the models in terms of the deaths that you expect?”

Trump quickly turned the microphone over to Birx, who conceded the premise of the question — that the modeling does assume a continuation of social-distancing precautions through the end of next month — but quickly segued to discussing how “the models are informed by the data and you can see how much that model has shifted on the amazing work of the American people.” In a complex answer that invoked “multivariate analysis” and the widening “confidence bands” on the graphs of expected deaths, she implied that other steps, such as contact tracing, which some states have put into effect, could make it feasible to relax some of the more stringent social-distancing guidelines.

Trump then reclaimed the lectern to give a more direct answer, based on his long-standing desire not to have “a cure that’s worse than the disease”: “Couldn’t it lead to death? Staying at home leads to death also and it’s very traumatic for this country. Staying at home, if you look at numbers, that leads to a different kind of death, perhaps, but it leads to death also.”

Still, the president acknowledged that abandoning social distancing too soon could result in new flare-ups of the virus, as have been seen in countries like South Korea and Japan. All of these factors, Trump said, were factoring into his decision.

“I’m going to have to make a decision and I only hope to God it’s the right decision. But I would say, without question, it’s the biggest decision that I’ve ever had to make.”

04-12-20  07:37am - 1621 days #1599
LKLK (0)
Active User

Posts: 1,583
Registered: Jun 26, '19
Location: CA
Real news:
Donald Trump, the most stable genius president the United States has ever known, used his genius thinking to craft a plan to overcome the coronavirus.
He wanted the virus to wash over the US, and to allow herd immunity to build.
So what if some people died?
The bulk of the population would still be here, alive and kicking.
And in gratitude, they might even elect Trump as President For Life.
What a man.
What a hero.
Also, the US has more coronavirus cases than any other country in the world.
We are #1. That's another feather in Trump's hat.
Death is a natural process.
If the US has more deaths from the coronavirus, Trump can proclaim that he is the leader that saved America from the pandemic.
Vote for Trump, the most glorious, bestest president the US has ever had.
-----------
-----------


Trump reportedly asked Dr. Anthony Fauci whether it was possible to allow the coronavirus to 'wash over' the US

Business Insider
Tom Porter
Apr 12th 2020 8:30AM

President Trump considered allowing the novel coronavirus to "wash over" the US, The Washington Post reported Saturday.
At the time some experts believed that the best way to deal with the crisis was to allow "herd immunity" to build.
But Trump's top scientific adviser, Dr Anthony Fauci, warned the president that the policy would mean "many people would die."
The US acted in a slower and more piecemeal way to the coronavirus crisis, and currently has more cases than any other country in the world.


President Donald Trump weighed allowing the novel coronavirus to "wash over" the US as he considered strategies for dealing with the growing crisis in March, The Washington Post reported.

In a Situation Room meeting on March 14 — the same day Trump extended his travel ban to the UK and the Republic of Ireland in a bid to slow the spread of the pandemic — Trump reportedly suggested allowing the US to develop "herd immunity."

The controversial approach — advocated by some experts at the time — involved letting the disease spread on the assumption that many would develop only mild symptoms and widespread immunity to the disease would begin to build.

"Why don't we let this wash over the country?" Trump reportedly asked Dr Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, one of the top scientific experts on the president's coronavirus task force.

Two anonymous sources familiar with the president's remarks confirmed the details of the meeting to the publication.

According to the report, Fauci initially didn't understand what Trump meant by the phrase "wash over." When he realized what Trump was saying, he became alarmed and laid out the likely consequences.

"Mr. President," Fauci responded, according to The Post. "Many people would die."

Trump was not alone in backing the "herd immunity" strategy at the time.

Top government scientific advisers in the UK reportedly initially backed a "herd immunity" strategy and Prime Minister Boris Johnson initially resisted the sweeping lockdown measures that were being put in place in other European countries.

Related: Dr. Anthony Fauci in 2020

It was only when new projections from scientists at Imperial College in London found that 500,000 could die if the disease was allowed to spread largely unchecked that the government abruptly changed course and introduced compulsory lockdown measures on March 23.

Sweden has also resisted introducing sweeping lockdown measures, with government scientists there saying that if introduced too soon, such measures can be counterproductive.

With the death toll in Sweden rising, such measures could soon be introduced, according to reports. But the government insists no such plans are imminent.

Trump has veered between advocating widespread lockdown measures, and claiming that the measures could do more damage than the disease itself.

Before extending lockdown measures for a month in early April he had previously considered ignoring the advice of his top scientists and lifting the lockdown in Easter.

In tweets he has claimed that "we can't have the cure be worse than the problem" and that there is an urgent need to mitigate the damage to the US economy.

According to The Post, though Trump accepted Fauci's warning in the March meeting, he is continuing to push for an early reopening of the US economy.

Read the original article on Business Insider

04-12-20  03:00pm - 1621 days #1600
LKLK (0)
Active User

Posts: 1,583
Registered: Jun 26, '19
Location: CA
Trump is a man with a heart of gold.
He cares for all Americans.
But he is also the father of our great country, and he wants to do right by all Americans.
Therefore, he rejected wasting money on bailing out US Postal workers.
The US Postal Workers are crooks and slum-type people who need to work to get paid.
They don't deserve handouts.
If they don't work, they won't get paid.
And if they do work, then they need to find where the money is.
Or go on unemployed job lines.
Money for strong Americans.
No money for the disloyal US Postal Workers.
If postal workers really need money, they can take out personal loans.
That's what Trump did when he funded his casinos in years past.
And why he was forced to declare bankruptcy, washing out billions of dollars in losses.
Trump is a real businessman.
The US Postal Service needs to become a real business.
----------
----------
Trump rejected approving a bailout package that would rescue the US Postal Service: Report

Business Insider
Grace Panetta
Apr 12th 2020 3:44PM

The ongoing COVID-19 outbreak in the United States has plunged the US Postal Service into dire financial straits, as more Americans than ever rely on post offices to deliver necessary medicine and supplies, especially in underserved rural areas.

And as the coronavirus crisis has pushed over a dozen states to postpone their presidential primaries, move to conduct them entirely by mail, or both, the Postal Service's lack of funding could impact ongoing and upcoming 2020 elections by harming states' efforts to expand absentee voting and vote-by-mail.

House Oversight Committee Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney and Rep. Gerry Conolly, who runs the subcommittee that oversees the Postal Service, sounded the alarm that the agency could run out of funding altogether by June if Congress doesn't act soon.

"Based on a number of briefings and warnings this week about a critical fall-off in mail across the country, it has become clear that the Postal Service will not survive the summer without immediate help from Congress and the White House," the two said in a March 23 joint statement, calling on Congress to appropriate $25 million in emergency funds to the agency.

But President Donald Trump, who has been vocally hostile to the idea of expanding vote by mail, is actively opposed to any measures to help the Post Office and refused to sign the CARES Act stimulus package if it included a bailout for the agency, the Washington Post reported on Saturday.

"We told them very clearly that the president was not going to sign the bill if [money for the Postal Service] was in it," an administration official told the Post. "I don't know if we used the v-bomb, but the president was not going to sign it, and we told them that."

The significant decline in Americans using the Postal Service, which operates as a semi-independent government agency that doesn't run on taxpayer funding, is only exacerbating existing financial woes which were manufactured in part by Congress.

The agency is especially burdened by 2006 legislation that required the agency to pre-fund 75 years' worth of employee pensions in advance. The service saw its annual losses double to $8.8 billion in 2019, and currently has $11 billion in outstanding debt.

In addition to the agency's chronic lack of funding, postal workers have reported facing hazardous conditions on the job due to the coronavirus crisis with little to no protective equipment.

Postal Services employees have told outlets including Business Insider, the Federal News Network and ProPublica that while they are designated as essential employees and come in contact with hundreds of pieces of mail every day, they lack consistent access to masks, hand sanitizer, and gloves to stay safe on the job.

While the Postal Service maintains they are providing mail carriers with the appropriate protective equipment, two postal workers told Insider's Ashley Collman that they've had to make their own hand sanitizer, purchase their own gloves out-of-pocket, work in unsanitary mail trucks, and encounter people not following proper social distancing protocols while working their routes.

Other workers told ProPublica that they were pressured to continue to work their routes and not take sick days even while experiencing coronavirus symptoms, which the agency disputed. So far, at least 500 of the Postal Service's 600,000-person workforce have tested positive for COVID-19 and at least 19 have died from complications stemming from the disease, the Post reported.

While the stimulus package signed into law by President Donald Trump includes $400 million in election assistance grants to states, election access advocates argue that amount doesn't come close to what's required to ensure every state can run a fair election that gives every voter an opportunity to cast a ballot.

The non-partisan Brennan Center for Justice estimated in a recent report that Congress needs to allocate at least $2 billion to states in order to ensure that states can implement safeguards including online voter registration, expanded no-excuse absentee voting and vote by mail, and enacted measures to make polling places safer.

Tiffany Muller, the President of the advocacy group Let America Vote, told Insider in a statement that the $2 billion in election assistance funding they and the Brennan Center are calling on Congress to allocate should "include pre-paid postage for all ballots so everyone's voice can be heard regardless of income," adding, "if additional funds are necessary to ensure the United States Postal Service can operate, Congress should provide those funds."

And while the stimulus bill extended the Postal Service greater flexibility to borrow up to $10 billion from the federal government, it didn't extend USPS any emergency government funding or eliminate its $11 billion in outstanding debt, two of the measures that Maloney and Connolly called for.

The Post reported that while Congress initially intended on giving the Postal Service a $13 billion grant, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin stepped up in to quash the grant, telling lawmakers, "you can have a loan, or you can have nothing at all."

"To give it $10 billion of additional credit is, frankly, a meaningless gesture. It's a slap in the face, and it's not what they need," Connolly told the Federal News Network. "They don't need more debt capacity, they need debt forgiveness."

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