Tag: Trump’s botched COVID-19 response

Trump administration insisted this Democratic congressman hold hearings in person. Now he has COVID-19

AlterNet logoDays after being forced to share air with a Texas congressman (and staunch anti-mask enthusiast)—who tested positive for COVID-19 the very next day—Democratic congressman Raúl Grijalva announced Saturday that he, too, has tested positive for the deadly virus. 

WASHINGTON— Today, Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva issued the following statement after testing positive for COVID-19:

“The Attending Physician of the Capitol informed me that I tested positive for COVID-19. As a result, I will be self-isolating in quarantine at his recommendation. I currently have no symptoms, feel fine, and hope to make a quick and speedy recovery.

Continue reading.

Senate GOP proposes cutting unemployment benefits in coronavirus relief plan

The Hill logoSenate Republicans are proposing to reduce the expanded $600 weekly unemployment benefit as part of their forthcoming coronavirus relief plan.

The GOP proposal, according to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, will transition to payments equal to roughly 70 percent of an individual’s previous wages.

But states and GOP lawmakers have warned that it could take weeks, if not months, to be able to switch to unemployment benefits that would be scalable based on a person’s wage. Negotiators had discussed doing something similar during the March negotiations but were told by the Labor Department that because of archaic technology it was not possible. Continue reading.

Former Trump official makes frightening prediction about the number of COVID-19 infections by the end of 2020

AlterNet logoFormer Trump FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb on Monday warned that COVID-19 infections in the United States are accelerating at an alarming rate that could see as much as half the population infected with the disease by the end of the year.

Appearing on CNBC, Gottlieb argued that the rapid spread of COVID-19 in many parts of the country had already gotten out of hand to the point where they may not be much that can be done to stop it.

“The community spread is pretty pervasive and we’re going to see it build pretty quickly over the next two weeks,” he said. Continue reading.

Billionaire MAGA Fan Peter Thiel Has Had It With Trump’s COVID-19 Response

More than a dozen sources in Trump’s orbit said they could not say whether the Silicon Valley luminary was going to play any meaningful role in the election, like he did in 2016.

During the last presidential campaign, Facebook board member and billionaire Peter Thiel was among Donald Trump’s most important backers, campaigning for the future president as a “proud,” openly gay supporter of the Republican nominee and even speaking at the Republican Party’s 2016 convention. Four years later, Thiel has taken on a dramatically reduced—if not altogether nonexistent—role in pushing for Trump 2020.

Though Thiel declared a year and a half ago that he supports Trump’s re-election, he so far hasn’t donated large sums to any of the major Trump campaign committees, and it is unclear to various Trump lieutenants if those contributions are forthcoming. Top officials in the president’s political orbit say that Thiel has been absent from 2020 discussions, with one proclaiming the famous investor had “ghosted” Team Trump lately. And several people familiar with the situation say he has privately criticized Trump in recent months and contemplated limiting his support to other GOP or conservative-nationalist politicians such as Missouri Senator Josh Hawley, to whom he donated the legal maximum of $5,400 in 2017.

Thiel’s cold front has come as the data-mining firm that he co-founded has been raking it in from federal contracts with the Trump administration, including a recent deal to help build what the government hoped would be “the single source” for data to understand and mitigate the effects of the coronavirus. But, as it were, sources say the heart of Thiel’s disaffection with the president is Trump’s handling of the coronavirus crisis. Continue reading.