Live updates: WH chief of staff says Trump’s vitals over past 24 hours are ‘very concerning’

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NOTE: This article about COVID-19 is provided free of charge by The Washington Post.

The White House on Saturday created a startling amount of confusion on the timing of President Trump’s coronavirus diagnosis and the status of his health through a series of conflicting statements, injecting an extraordinary degree of uncertainty into the nation’s understanding of the president’s condition and who may have been exposed to the deadly virus.

At a Saturday morning news conference, members of Trump’s medical team at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center said the president is fever-free and that they are “extremely happy” with the progress he has made. But Mark Meadows, the White House chief of staff, said Trump went through a “very concerning” period over the last day.

“The president’s vitals over the last 24 hours were very concerning, and the next 48 hours will be critical in terms of his care,” Meadows said. “We’re still not on a clear path to a full recovery.” Continue reading.

How Trump amassed a red-state army in the nation’s capital — and could do so again

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The call that came into state capitals stunned governors and their National Guard commanders: The Pentagon wanted thousands of citizen soldiers airlifted to the nation’s capital immediately to help control crowds outside the White House in the wake of the death of George Floyd.

Presidents have routinely activated Guard troops to fight foreign enemies, and in extraordinary circumstances have federalized them to quell civil unrest, using the vast power of the commander in chief.

But the June 1 appeal to states was different. President Trump was drawing instead on an obscure law, changed after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, that made it easier for governors to voluntarily send guardsmen across state lines for counterterrorism missions. His action was not an order but a request, essentially inviting states to augment the D.C. National Guard, which he controls, in a potential clash with civilian protesters. Continue reading.

Furious Fox News’ John Roberts blows up on the White House after contentious press briefing: ‘I’m tired of it’

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Fox News’ John Roberts was enraged after the White House press briefing on Thursday in which Kayleigh McEnany refused to denounce white supremacy or explain why the president refuses to do so.

During Tuesday’s debate, Trump hammered former Vice President Joe Biden on denouncing violent protesters, which Biden did, saying that violence is not the answer and anyone who induces violence should be prosecuted. President Donald Trump, by contrast, refused to condemn white supremacists and militias who are trying to stir up more unrest to help Trump craft a narrative that Democrats are dangerous and create violence.

“All of you on Twitter who were hammering me for asking that question, I don’t care!” Roberts said after the contentious press briefing. “Because it’s a question that needs to be asked and clearly the president’s Republican colleagues, a mile away from here, are looking for an answer for it too. So stop deflecting! Stop blaming the media! I’m tired of it!” Continue reading.

Trump cuts refugee cap to lowest level ever, depicts them on campaign trail as a threat and burden

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The Trump administration has capped the number of refugees it will admit into the United States at 15,000 during the next year, a historic low that reflects the president’s increasing vilification of immigrants on the campaign trail.

Refugee advocacy groups and Democratic lawmakers reacted with outrage and disgust after the State Department sent its notification to Congress late Wednesday, issuing the decision hours before the start of the government’s 2021 fiscal year Oct. 1.

The 15,000 figure, the lowest since the 1980 Refugee Act took effect, is a drop from the 2020 cap that was set at 18,000. Since March, the number of refugees admitted to the United States fell sharply as the coronavirus outbreak slashed global travel. Fewer than 12,000 refugees have arrived in the past 12 months, statistics show. Continue reading.

Minnesota tops 100,000 COVID-19 cases as hospitalizations rise

State surpasses 100,000 lab-confirmed infections with the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19. 

Thirteen COVID-19 deaths were reported by Minnesota hospital authorities on Thursday along with new data showing rising hospitalizations due to the infectious disease.

The Minnesota Department of Health on Thursday also reported that the state surpassed 100,000 lab-confirmed infections with the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus that causes COVID-19. In total, the state has now reported 2,049 COVID-19 deaths and 100,200 infections, including 89,980 people who have recovered to the point that they are no longer risks for spreading the virus.

The Health Department’s new method of reporting COVID-19 hospitalizations showed a rising trend of patients newly admitted due to severe illnesses. The latest state data showed that at least 356 people were admitted to hospitals for COVID-19 in the seven-day period ending Sunday. That is the highest seven-day total since June 1. Continue reading.

Judge rules federal law enforcement commission violates law, orders work stopped as attorney general prepares to issue report

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Presidential Commission on Law Enforcement is not diverse, doesn’t hold public meetings as law requires

A national commission on policing launched earlier this year by President Trump and Attorney General William P. Barr has violated federal law by seating only people in law enforcement and failing to include members with different perspectives such as civil rights activists, defense attorneys or mental health professionals, a federal judge ruled Thursday as he halted the group’s work. The commission also did not file a charter, post public notice of its meetings or open them to the public, so even though it has already sent its draft report and recommendations to Barr for release later this month, the judge prohibited Barr from publishing a final report.

The ruling by Senior U.S. District Judge John D. Bates in Washington came in response to a lawsuit from the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, which sought an injunction against the Presidential Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice for violating laws on how federal advisory committees must work. Bates did not issue an injunction yet, but asked both sides to file briefs on what should be included in an injunction, said he would order the commission to change its membership and comply with other aspects of the law, and that it could not issue a report until it had done so.

“Especially in 2020,” Bates wrote, “when racial justice and civil rights issues involving law enforcement have erupted across the nation, one may legitimately question whether it is sound policy to have a group with little diversity of experience examine, behind closed doors, the sensitive issues facing law enforcement and the criminal justice system in America today.” Continue reading.

McEnany defends Trump comments on white supremacy at combative briefing

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White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany sparred with reporters Thursday over President Trump’s recent comments on white supremacists, arguing Trump denounced hate groups at this week’s presidential debate and denying that he has a mixed record on the issue.

McEnany fielded questions from several journalists about the president’s record on condemning white supremacy, but largely parried them away by dismissing the inquiries as “partisan.” It marked the second consecutive day where the White House has struggled to answer questions about the president’s remarks from Tuesday night.

Fox News correspondent John Roberts asked McEnany for a “definitive and declarative statement” that the president denounces white supremacy and groups that espouse it. McEnany pointed to Trump’s previous comments condemning that ideology, including remarks from Wednesday and in the aftermath of a mass shooting in El Paso, Texas, in August 2019, but she would not offer a fresh condemnation from the podium. Continue reading.

Joe Biden Tests Negative For Coronavirus After Trump Announces He Is Infected

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s campaign announced on Friday afternoon that he and wife Jill Biden were both tested for coronavirus with negative results. 

Their announcement followed hours of uproar over President Donald Trump’s tweet announcing that he and First Lady Melania Trump tested positive for the virus yesterday — along with White House aide Hope Hicks. White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows told reporters that the president has “mild symptoms” but is “overall feeling good.” View the post here.

Trump’s ugly rant in Minnesota shows why Republicans fear he’ll lose

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President Trump’s shattering of the “blue wall” states in 2016 shocked many observers into believing that he possesses a quasi-mystical grasp of the values and aspirations of rural and small-town Whites in the industrial Midwest. Elite journalists flayed themselves mercilessly for remaining cosseted in their coastal bubbles and missing the story of the Real American Voter.

But Trump’s latest rant at a rally in Minnesota — along with a new election forecast that shows him losing Midwestern Whites and a new report on rising GOP anxiety about Trump — strongly suggests his preternatural grasp of the region might have deserted him, if he ever possessed it at all.

Trump unleashed a long and hateful diatribe Wednesday night about his favorite target in the state, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D), while spewing wretched nonsense about Joe Biden and refugees. The episode neatly captures the ailing state of Trumpist demagogic politics. Continue reading.

Mitch McConnell’s legacy is a conservative Supreme Court shaped by his calculated audacity

Unless Democrats win both the White House and the Senate in November, abolish the filibuster and expand the Supreme Court, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is about to finish his project of remaking the federal judiciary from top to bottom. 

The impact of that achievement will outlive the 78-year-old Kentuckian, making it the biggest piece of his large legacy in Senate history.

This feat could hardly have been predicted when Senate Republicans elected McConnell their leader in 2006. For most of the 40-plus years I have watched McConnell, first as a reporter covering Kentucky politics and now as a journalism professor focused on rural issues, he seemed to have no great ambition or goals, other than gaining power and keeping it. Continue reading.