Tag: Trump mishandled pandemic crisis

52 People Who Took Part in Wisconsin’s Primary Have Tested Positive for Coronavirus

MADISON, WISCONSIN — There are no plans to postpone or otherwise alter a special congressional election in Wisconsin that is less than two weeks away, even though more than 50 people who voted in person or worked the polls during the state’s presidential primary this month have tested positive for COVID-19.

Democratic Gov. Tony Evers tried to change the April 7 election so that it would be conducted entirely by mail, but he was blocked by the Republican-led Legislature and conservative Wisconsin Supreme Court. Evers and others had warned that allowing in-person voting would cause a spike in coronavirus cases, but so far the impact appears to be limited.

Several of the 52 people who have tested positive and were at the polls on April 7 also reported other ways they may have been exposed to the virus, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services said Tuesday. Because of that, it’s unclear if those people contracted the virus at the polls. Continue reading.

Der Spiegel on Trump’s America: ‘Is the world witnessing the collapse of a superpower?’

AlterNet logoI knew Trump would be a disaster, but I didn’t expect his feckless fucknuttery to cut this close to the bone.

“Make America Great Again” — a slogan that was always laughable on its face — now seems like a cruel practical joke, and we’re left wondering how we’re going to get through the coronavirus crisis before sanity is restored in the form of a functioning adult president.

But even though we’re already deep in the soup, and it’s become increasingly clear that a chipmunk with its head stuck in a Mountain Dew can would make a better president, other countries’ perspectives are still valuable. And, as it turns out, pretty jarring. Continue reading.

Trump Turns Daily Coronavirus Briefing Into a Defense of His Record

New York Times logoAlso at the briefing on Monday, Dr. Anthony Fauci said a comment he made that was seen as critical of the president was taken out of context, and Mr. Trump said he did not intend to fire him.

WASHINGTON — President Trump turned Monday’s daily coronavirus task force briefing into an aggressive defense of his own halting response to the pandemic and used a campaign-style video to denounce criticism that he moved too slowly to limit the deadly spread of the virus.

For nearly an hour, Mr. Trump vented his frustration after weekend news reports that his own public health officials were prepared by late February to recommend aggressive social distancing measures, but that the president did not announce them until several weeks later — a crucial delay that allowed the virus to spread.

Mr. Trump broadly mischaracterized an article on his response to the coronavirus, published over the weekend in The New York Times, repeatedly insisting that the United States had very few cases of the virus in early January — six weeks earlier — and angrily mocking a suggestion that was never made: that he should have ordered all schools and businesses shut that month. Continue reading.