Trump let slip 3 damning admissions — but there’s been almost no outcry

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In a series of campaign stops, President Donald Trump has in recent days let slip disturbingly candid and revealing admissions on at least three different issues, each one of which would be a stunning revelation and scandal for any other president. But for Trump, the outrages and scandals are so constant that they just fade into the background noise. So these three moments didn’t receive much widespread outrage, though they did garner some media coverage.

It’s worth focusing on each of them, though, because they’re important for understanding the president and the current state of American politics — even if we’ve lost the capacity to be shocked by Trump.

Here are the three moments: Continue reading.

Senate GOP sees early Supreme Court vote as political booster shot

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Senate Republicans see a Supreme Court confirmation vote before Election Day as a big political boost that could help them retain their majority in November.

The GOP senators hope it could have the same kind of impact as the 2018 battle over Justice Brett Kavanaugh, which they believe helped their party knock off four Democratic incumbents during a midterm cycle when the party lost the House.

“Very honestly, we think the Democrats are in the wrong spot on this particular issue,” said Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), who attended the meeting. Continue reading.

The new CDC scandal proves Trump can’t be trusted with a vaccine

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September has featured one scandal after another stemming from Donald Trump’s belief that the best way to handle the coronavirus pandemic is to let a bunch of people get sick and die, and then deny that it’s happening. First, journalist Bob Woodward started to releasing recordings in which Trump said he “wanted to always play it down” and admitted he had deliberately lied to the public about how serious this virus really is. Then, in a town hall for ABC News, Trump confessed that his real strategy was to let the virus run loose to create herd immunity — or rather “herd mentality” which would be “herd developed,” to quote the president accurately — even though that would literally kill millions of Americans. Then the New York Times published a new exposé revealing that Trump officials had overruled medical researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, forcing the agency to publish misleading and dangerous information designed to discourage people who have been exposed to the virus from being tested.

None of this, it’s critical to underline, is good for Trump’s re-election campaign. Polling shows that only 35% of Americans approve of Trump’s handling of the pandemic, which is the same percentage of Americans who would probably say they’d still love Trump if he nuked their hometowns. Polls also show that because of Trump’s malice and incompetence, 69% of Americans have little to no confidence in the safety or efficacy of a vaccine that he may announce. Only 9% of Americans say they have a great deal of confidence in Trump. Even his own supporters know he’s a liar and a fraud: They’ve entrusted him with the nuclear codes, but don’t trust him with a vaccine. Continue reading.

White House seeks to change subject from 200K COVID-19 deaths

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The U.S. death toll from COVID-19 surpassed 200,000 on Tuesday, but the grim milestone passed without too much of a comment from a White House more focused on the battle over the Supreme Court.

Trump used a recorded speech to the annual United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday to condemn China for unleashing “the plague onto the world” but did not mention the fact that the U.S. was nearing 200,000 deaths.

The U.S. passed that marker a couple hours later, according to John Hopkins University. Continue reading.

Rising coronavirus case numbers in many states spur warning of autumn surge

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Progress in slowing the march of the novel coronavirus has stalled in much of the United States, and the pathogen is spreading at dangerous rates in many states as autumn arrives and colder weather — traditionally congenial to viruses — begins to settle across the nation, public health data shows.

Organizations that track the virus, including The Washington Post, have logged recent increases in case numbers and test positivity rates — worrisome trends as the United States on Tuesday surpassed the grim milestone of 200,000 deaths. Hospitalizations and deaths remain lower nationally than at their midsummer peak, but those numbers always lag several weeks behind trends in new infections.

Twenty-seven states and Puerto Rico have shown an increase in the seven-day average of new confirmed cases since the final week of August, according to The Post’s analysis of public health data. Minnesota, Montana, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, Wisconsin, Wyoming and Utah set record highs Monday for seven-day averages. Continue reading.

Democrats step up hardball tactics as Supreme Court fight heats up

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Senate Democrats are limiting the ability to hold committee hearings in retaliation for Republicans’ decision to try to fill a Supreme Court seat in the middle of an election year, the first action in what is likely to be an increasingly combative battle over procedure in the Senate.

A Democratic aide confirmed that Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer(D-N.Y.) had invoked the so-called two hour rule, which can be used to limit the ability to hold committee hearings after the Senate has been in session for more than two hours. 

The ability to hold committee hearings is routinely granted with little fanfare on the Senate floor. The Senate came in at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, meaning Democratic cooperation was needed for committees to meet after noon. Continue reading.

FDA poised to announce tougher standards for a covid-19 vaccine that make it unlikely one will be cleared by Election Day

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NOTE: This article is provided free of charge by The Washington Post.

The guidance is part of an effort to boost transparency and public trust as polls show many are skeptical a vaccine will be safe and effective.

The Food and Drug Administration is expected to spell out a tough new standard for an emergency authorization of a coronavirus vaccine as soon as this week that will make it exceedingly difficult for any vaccine to be cleared before Election Day.

The agency is issuing the guidance to boost transparency and public trust as it approaches the momentous decision of whether a prospective vaccine is safe and effective. Public health experts are increasingly worried that President Trump’s repeatedpredictions of a coronavirus vaccine by Nov. 3, coupled with the administration’s interference in federal science agencies, may prompt Americans to reject any vaccine as rushed and potentially tainted.

The stakes are high: polls show the relentless politicization of the race to develop a vaccine is taking its toll. Pew Research Center recently reported that the percentage of people who said they would get the vaccine if it were available today has dropped to just over 50 percent from 72 percent in May. Continue reading.

GOP will ask Supreme Court to limit mail voting in Pennsylvania in first post-RBG test

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Republicans plan to ask the Supreme Court to review a major Pennsylvania state court ruling that extended the due date for mail ballots in the key battleground state, teeing up the first test for the Supreme Court since the death of its liberal leader Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. 

The GOP legal strategy, which was revealed in a pair of court documents filed overnight and Tuesday morning, has not been previously reported.

The development comes after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court dealt Republicans a major blow last week in a bitterly partisan election lawsuit that could help determine whether President Trump or Democratic nominee Joe Biden takes the Keystone State, which Trump won in 2016 by just over 44,000 votes. Continue reading.

Trump calls 200,000 coronavirus deaths in U.S. ‘a shame’

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NOTE: This article is provided free of charge by The Washington Post.

The coronavirus death toll in the United States surpassed 200,000 on Tuesday, marking another milestone of loss at a time when many have become numb to the rising fatality count. The tally represents the upper boundary of a fatality range that President Trump in March said would signal that his administration had “done a very good job” of protecting Americans from the coronavirus.

As he left the White House for Pennsylvania on Tuesday evening, Trump responded to a reporter’s question about the 200,000 deaths, saying, “It’s a shame.” View the post here.

Attorney George Conway suggests two ‘great’ questions — that Trump can’t answer

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Prominent Republican attorney and Lincoln Project member George Conway on Monday offered his analysis of how reporters should question President Donald Trump.

Conway, the husband of White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, made his comments after watching video of Trump refusing to criticize Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“Who do you think poisoned Alexei Navalny in Russia?” Continue reading.