Tag: Trump putting his re-election over American lives

‘Trump is caught in a box’: Reporter details how the president made the US an ’emblem of global incompetence’

AlterNet logoWhat President Donald Trump had to say about coronavirus in April and the first half of May was considerably different from what he had said about it in January and February. But journalist Edward Luce, in a Financial Times article, stresses that even though Trump’s tone has changed, his response to the crisis has continued to be erratic and unfocused — seriously damaging the United States’ credibility as a world leader.

In early March, Luce recalls, Trump claimed that “within a couple of days, (infections are) going to be down to close to zero.” And after 15 cases had been reported in the U.S., Trump said, “One day, it’s like a miracle, it will disappear.”

Trump, Luce notes, later acknowledged how dangerous COVID-19 was, but his response to the crisis was inadequate. Luce writes that for his article, he interviewed “dozens of people,” from Trump associates to World Health Organization officials — and found that “the story that emerged is of a president who ignored increasingly urgent intelligence warnings from January, dismisses anyone who claims to know more than him and trusts no one outside a tiny coterie.” Continue reading.

White House, CDC rift spills into the open

The Hill logoThe rift between the White House and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has spilled out into the open as one of the nation’s top public health agencies finds itself on the margins of the response to a once-in-a-generation pandemic.

In an administration often beset by infighting, the CDC has been a consistent target of criticism from White House officials privately frustrated by its initial handling of testing and its inability to provide granular, up-to-date data to guide the country’s response.

White House trade adviser Peter Navarro took the fight public on Sunday, saying the CDC had “let the country down” with its early testing woes. The comments were the sharpest public criticism of the agency to date from a member of the administration. Continue reading.

As White House pushes firms to reopen, new report says much of bailout stimulus money remains unspent

Washington Post logoA Congressional Oversight Commission created by the Cares Act issued its first report, even though it still doesn’t have a chair

President Trump on Monday intensified his push for businesses to reopen as quickly as possible, but companies and cities continued to wait for the disbursement of unspent bailout funds and remain unsure what to expect as rules and programs continue to shift.

In tweets and during a meeting with restaurant executives at the White House, Trump tried to create a new sense of urgency about jump-starting the economy, which has suffered huge losses the past several months during the coronavirus pandemic. He told restaurant executives at a White House meeting that he was open to giving businesses more flexibility in how they use taxpayer funds so they could delay rehiring workers as quickly as originally required.

But while the Treasury Department has rushed to implement some stimulus programs, such as sending $1,200 checks to 140 million households and mobilizing a small-business lending program, other congressionally approved assistance funds are off to a much slower start. The Congressional Oversight Commission, a new body, released a report on Monday finding that the Treasury Department had spent very little from a $500 billion fund created by the Cares Act in March to help businesses and local governments, even though many of these entities have asked for immediate help. Continue reading.

‘Hang Fauci’ Sign Brandished Amid Lockdown Protesters Trump Hailed As ‘Great People’

The chilling message was part of a filmed report on the protest by TV journalist Kevin Vesey, who has become a target of Trump on Twitter.

A disturbing sign with the words “Hang Fauci” appeared in a news report about COVID-19 lockdown protesters whom President Donald Trump hailed on Saturday as “great people.”

The sign was part of a threatening rhyme reading: “Hang Fauci Hang Gates, Open Up All Our States.” It appeared in a local TV report Thursday on News 12 Long Island about the “Re-Open New York” protest that day in Commack.

The sign referred to philanthropist Bill Gates, who has sounded the alarm on pandemics, and Dr. Anthony Fauci, the popular science expert on Trump’s coronavirus task force and the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Fauci has warned of serious health consequences if the nation reopens the economy too quickly and drops safety precautions during the COVID-19 crisis. Continue reading.

“60 Minutes” interview with whistleblower sends Trump flying into a fit of rage

Trump calls whistleblower rules a “racket,” threatens a GOP senator and attempt to muzzle the press in one tweet

President Donald Trump went off on an extensive Twitterstorm Sunday night, demanding whistleblower laws be changed after a whistleblower complaint was filed by Dr. Rick Bright. Trump specifically told Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) that she needed to look into it.

Collins is up for reelection in November, in one of the tightest races of her career in a state that rates the president’s approval extremely low. Continue reading.

CDC guidance urges fewer health precautions than original plan

Original plan would urge businesses in areas with high COVID-19 caseloads to wait to reopen

The White House watered down Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance showing how businesses should protect employees from COVID-19, a comparison to an earlier draft shows, with changes including softening a recommendation to keep workers six feet apart.

The brief CDC guidance released Thursday night includes a flow chart for easy reference that maps the criteria businesses should meet before opening their doors during the pandemic.

“Encourage social distancing,” the guidance reads. It also recommends “limiting” access to common rooms and large gatherings.  Continue reading.

Yale epidemiologist: Premature reopening will bring ‘needless suffering and death’ from coronavirus

AlterNet logoIn the United States, the coronavirus pandemic is not only a health and safety issue — it has also become a political issue, with prominent Democrats like New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer asserting that businesses and schools shouldn’t reopen until it is safe to do so and President Donald Trump arguing that the U.S. should reopen sooner rather than later. Gregg Gonsalves, an assistant professor of epidemiology at Yale University’s School of Public Health, discusses Trump’s push to reopen the country prematurely in an article for The Nation — and warns that doing so will result in countless deaths that could have been prevented.

The epidemiologist explains, “The president of the United States has made a decision — sort of — that despite the lack of sufficient testing, resources to embark upon the tracing of the contacts of all people testing positive for COVID-19, and the ability to humanely isolate those infected, we are nevertheless reopening as a country….  His message is clear: ‘we have met the moment, and we have prevailed,’ he announces — declaring victory over the pandemic,  at least in his own rear view mirror.”

But in fact, Gonsalves warns, the U.S. hasn’t triumphed over COVID-19. Continue reading.

Trump, Azar rebuke testimony of ousted vaccine official

The Hill logoHealth and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar is sharply rebuking remarks from ousted federal vaccine official Rick Bright about the coronavirus response, saying his allegations “do not hold water.”

“Everything he is complaining about was achieved. Everything he talked about was done,” Azar, flanked by President Trump, told reporters on the White House lawn on Thursday before departing for a trip to a medical equipment distributor in Pennsylvania.

Azar sought to counter comments Bright made the same day before House lawmakers, warning of the “darkest winter in modern history” without a national play to fight the pandemic. Continue reading.

Ousted health official warns US needs national plan to beat coronavirus

The Hill logoRick Bright, a former top federal vaccine doctor, warned Congress that the country faces the “darkest winter in modern history” without a national coordinated response in place before next fall.

“If we fail to develop a national coordinated response, based in science, I fear the pandemic will get far worse and be prolonged, causing unprecedented illness and fatalities,” Bright told the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health.

Speaking slowly and softly, Bright testified for nearly four hours. He told lawmakers that Americans “deserve” to hear the truth. Continue reading.

Someone at the CDC Leaked Another Pandemic Plan the White House Doesn’t Want You to See

The guide was leaked by an anonymous source, who the AP said was “not authorised to share the document with the press”.

The White House is dealing with a second major leak from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in less than a week, which again shows the agency offering more detailed and restrictive guidance on reopening the country.

Last month, the CDC developed a 63-page guide called the “Guidance for Opening Up America Again Framework” for stopping the spread of the coronavirus. The plan offers more details than both the previously leaked CDC guide, and the plan released by the White House in April, the Associated Press reported on Wednesday.

The guide was leaked by an anonymous source, who the AP said was “not authorized to share the document with the press.” Continue reading.