Summary
We’ll be shutting down today’s blog shortly. Here’s a glance at today’s major news items:
- Barack Obama and Oprah Winfrey lead tributes to civil rights hero John Lewis. Tributes have flowed in from across US society to the civil rights leader and Georgia congressman, who died on Friday evening at the age of 80.
- ‘Our ICU beds are full’: Covid-19 cases surge across American south and west. Covid-19 cases are surging across much of the American south and west, as familiar scenes of weary doctors and nurses in packed hospitals replay across a new region.
- Trump’s Fox News Sunday interview will include Biden battleground ads. The Democratic presidential candidate, who is leading in national polling, will run campaign ads during the sitting president’s eagerly awaited interview with Fox News on Sunday.
- Portland mayor demands Trump remove federal agents from city. Militarized federal agents deployed by Donald Trump fired tear gas at protesters again late on Friday night, even as the city’s mayor demanded the agents be removed and the state’s attorney general vowed to seek a restraining order against them.
- Kanye West asks fans to help get him on South Carolina’s presidential ballot. The rapper has asked supporters to sign a petition calling for him to be added to the state’s ballot as doubts persist over how seriously to take his bid.
Major League Baseball is moving full speed ahead with a shortened 60-game season to to be played in every club’s home ballpark starting on Thursday, but those plans just became more complicated for Canada’s lone team.
The Associated Press reports the Blue Jays won’t be permitted to play games in Toronto because Canada’s government doesn’t think it’s safe for players to travel back and forth from the United States, which has emerged as the hotspot of the coronavirus globally.
Immigration minister Marco Mendicino said Saturday the federal government had denied the Blue Jays’ request to play at Rogers Centre, confirming what an official familiar with the matter had told the Associated Press ahead of the announcement.
The team had been given clearance by city and provincial governments to play in its home stadium and was awaiting approval from Canadas federal government. The other 29 Major League Baseball teams plan to play in their home ballparks, without spectators, when the pandemic-shortened 60-game season begins on July 23.
Mendicino told the AP frequent travel to the US, where Covid-19 cases are surging, was the biggest issue.
“There were serious risks if we proceeded with the regular-season proposal of the MLB and the Jays and therefore we concluded it was not in the national interest,” Mendicino said.” I get that some people will disappointed but this decision can’t be taken as a fan. It is taken on behalf of the health and safety of Canadians.”
The Blue Jays were informed via a phone call. The team’s alternate site for home games is its training facility in Dunedin, Florida, which is among the states that are virus hotspots. Players have said they preferred to play in Toronto, and the team said it is in the process of finalizing a home location for the season.
The grim realities of the coronavirus outbreak have prompted a number of star players, including former Cy Young award winners David Price of LA Dodgers and Felix Hernandez of the Atlanta Braves, to opt out of playing the 2020 season entirely, claiming the health risks aren’t worth it for a two-month season.
The Washington Nationals relief pitcher Sean Doolittle, who is playing, described his hesitation surrounding MLB’s restart plan earlier this month.
“We’re trying to bring baseball back during a pandemic that’s killed 130,000 people,” Doolittle said. “We’re way worse off as a country than we were in March when we shut this thing down. And, like, look where the other developed countries are in their response to this. We haven’t done any of the things that other countries have done to bring sports back.
“Sports are like the reward of a functioning society. And we’re trying to just bring it back, even though we’ve taken none of the steps to flatten the curve.”
Updated
WHO reports record rise in cases globally led by US
The World Health Organization (WHO) reported a record increase in global coronavirus cases on Saturday, with the total rising by 259,848 in 24 hours.
The biggest increases were recorded in the United States (with 71,484 confirmed cases, its biggest single-day increase to date), followed by Brazil, India and South Africa, according to a daily report.
The previous WHO record for new cases worldwide was 237,743 on Friday.
Deaths rose by 7,360, the biggest one-day increase since 10 May.
Updated
Health officials in Arizona have reported a daily record of 147 coronavirus deaths and 2,742 new confirmed cases.
Authorities said the additional deaths included 106 newly attributed to Covid-19 after the department of health’s latest periodic reviews of death certificates.
The additional deaths and cases reported Saturday increased the statewide confirmed totals to 2,730 deaths and 141,265 infections.
Arizona’s Republican governor, Doug Ducey, lifted stay-home orders and other restrictions in May before reversing course last month and authorizing local governments to impose masking requirements.
Updated
Florida’s governor, Ron DeSantis, said tests administered in his state on Friday aiming to detect Covid-19 antibodies showed a 16.1% positive rate.
Having antibodies indicates that a person has had the virus at some point.
“That is a significant jump from where we were about a month and a half ago,” DeSantis said during a press conference on Saturday.
“So there’s a bigger pool of people who have the antibody,” he said.
“If you don’t have symptoms but you think [...] you have been exposed to the virus in the past, the antibody test is probably a better test than the diagnostic test. [...] If you have the antibodies, that’s information that you can take with you,” DeSantis added.
DeSantis also urged citizens who have recovered from the virus to consider donating blood for scientific trials involving convalescent plasma.
Coronavirus cases in Florida have surged in recent weeks. On Saturday, Florida reported a total of 337,569 virus cases and 4,895 deaths.
Florida made headlines with a record number of deaths among residents on Thursday, but both deaths and cases began to decline over the last two days.
Updated
Marco Rubio joined the chorus of tributes to civil rights hero and Democratic congressman John Lewis, writing on Twitter: “It was an honor to know & be blessed with the opportunity to serve in Congress with JohnLewis a genuine & historic American hero.”
The Florida senator failed to stick the landing, however, by attaching a photo of himself standing next to former Maryland congressman Elijah Cummings. The tweet has since been deleted.
Florida senator Marco Rubio commemorated the passing of John Lewis by posting a photo of him standing with Maryland congressman Elijah Cummings. pic.twitter.com/opfliq0KNh
— Bryan Armen Graham (@BryanAGraham) July 18, 2020
One imagines the mistake will be blamed on the real enemy in Washington: the low-level staffer.
Update: Rubio has since corrected the error, sharing a video of a Martin Luther King Day event where he and Lewis both appeared three years ago.
Updated
New York City police say the super-sized Black Lives Matter mural painted outside Trump Tower in Manhattan has been vandalized for the second time in a week.
The Associated Press reports:
Surveillance video showed three people smearing blue paint on the Fifth Avenue mural while a woman littered it with flyers around 4 p.m. Friday, police said.
Officers found the trio near the mural a short time later with blue paint on their hands and clothing, police said.
They were arrested, charged with criminal mischief and released with a order to appear in court at a later date.
The woman, 64, was issued a criminal court summons for illegal posting of flyers.
Meanwhile, police are continuing to look for a man in black shorts and a dark blue T-shirt who was seen splashing red paint on the mural around noon on Monday.
The words “Black Lives Matter” have been painted on streets in New York and elsewhere in recent weeks to show support for the movement demanding justice and reforms after the recent police killings of George Floyd and other Black people.
The New York City mayor, Bill de Blasio, took part in painting the mural earlier this month, a week after Donald Trump tweeted it would be “denigrating this luxury Avenue”.
Updated
Demonstrators gathered outside Donald Trump’s golf club in Virginia once more on Saturday in what’s become a regular assembly as the president’s twice-weekly visits have continued.
Today marked Trump’s eighth trip to his Loudoun county property in the past 28 days.
Updated
As the nation mourns the loss of John Lewis, leading figures from US public life, many from outside partisan politics, have reacted with expressions of admiration and gratitude.
Ava DuVernay, the Oscar-nominated director of Selma, which retells events on the civil rights march to Montgomery in 1965, including the bloody violence on the Edmund Pettus bridge, wrote that she would, “never forget what you taught me and what you challenged me to be.”
At the march in Selma, a police officer knocked Lewis to the ground and hit him in the head with a nightstick, striking him again as he tried to get up, he would later testify in court. Images of Lewis being beaten remain some of the most enduring images of the civil rights era.
A petition to change the name of the bridge to memorialize Lewis has more than 408,000 signatures. Pettus was a slaveholding member of the Confederate army, a leader in the Klu Klux Klan and a man “bent on preserving slavery and segregation”, according to the Smithsonian Magazine.
DuVernay added: “Better. Stronger. Bolder. Braver. God bless you, Ancestor John Robert Lewis of Troy, Alabama. Run into His arms.”
Viola Davis, the first black actor to ever win a Tony, an Emmy and an Oscar, thanked Lewis for his “commitment to change” and “courage”. In one of her most famous roles, she portrayed a maid in the Jim Crow south, a role she has since said catered to a white audience not “ready for the truth” about the black experience.
Donald Trump has broken his silence on the passing of John Lewis with a tweet posted moments ago.
“Saddened to hear the news of civil rights hero John Lewis passing,” he wrote. “Melania and I send our prayers to he and his family.
Saddened to hear the news of civil rights hero John Lewis passing. Melania and I send our prayers to he and his family.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 18, 2020
The US president finally commented on the civil rights hero and longtime Democratic congressman shortly after his motorcade departed Trump National Golf Course at 1.45pm following a four-and-a-half-hour visit to hit the links, according to the White House press pool.
Trump did issue a boilerplate proclamation for flags to be flown at half-mast at the White House and public buildings earlier Saturday but had otherwise yet to comment on Lewis.
Today in Virginia, the president is playing golf with Sen. Lindsey Graham among others. @nbcnews video taken at extreme distance. Clip here. pic.twitter.com/mhrb0qQ7TQ
— Kelly O'Donnell (@KellyO) July 18, 2020
Today’s pool reporter said they are unable to confirm an NBC News report that Trump is golfing with South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham.
Updated
Biden trolls Trump with Fox News Sunday ads
Joe Biden will run campaign ads during Donald Trump’s eagerly awaited interview with Fox News Sunday tomorrow – to go a bit Friends for a second, that being The One In Which Trump Says Biden Wants To Defund The Police And Chris Wallace Says Hang On A Minute, Not So, And Trump Gets A Little Testy.
The Biden ad, entitled “Tough”, will run during broadcast of the interview in six battleground states: Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Florida and North Carolina.
The realclearpolitics.com polling average puts Biden ahead in all six, by margins ranging from 7.8% in Pennsylvania to 2% in North Carolina.
The move could provoke a president notoriously susceptible to what he sees on television: anti-Trump groups such as the Lincoln Project have thrived by placing brutal ads where the president will see them.
Biden’s ad is more subtle. Without mentioning Trump, it aims to present its candidate as a leader capable of handling the coronavirus pandemic.
“I’m thinking of all of you today,” Biden says, mentioning “rising case numbers causing fear and apprehension”.
“This virus is tough but we can stop the spread. It’s up to all of us to do it.”
Biden advises Americans to “wear a mask, wash your hands, stay home if you can and socially distance when you go out”, public health measures advocated by White House experts but which Trump and many Republicans in elected office have been reluctant to forcefully endorse.
As cases surge in states across the US, with nearly 140,000 dead, as experts warn of a bleak fall to come and as Trump is widely accused of an abdication of responsibility, Biden’s implication is clear.
“I will not abandon you,” he says. “We’re all in this together. We’ll fight this together. And, together, we’ll emerge from this stronger than we were before we began.”
Here’s Tom McCarthy again on what experts think is going to hit the US in the fall. It’s not at all good, but it bears repeated linking:
Oprah Winfrey interviewed John Lewis last week, shortly before his death. She has posted a video of the conversation on Twitter.
Last week when there were false rumors of Congressman John Lewis’ passing, Gayle and I called and were able to speak with him. He sounded weak but was surprisingly more alert than we expected. pic.twitter.com/8kRRDMTvFm
— Oprah Winfrey (@Oprah) July 18, 2020
In early June, the United States awoke from a months-long nightmare.
Coronavirus had brutalized the north-east, with New York City alone recording more than 20,000 deaths, the bodies piling up in refrigerated trucks. Thousands sheltered at home. Rice, flour and toilet paper ran out. Millions of jobs disappeared.
But then the national curve flattened, governors declared success and patrons returned to restaurants, bars and beaches. “We are winning the fight against the invisible enemy,” vice-president Mike Pence wrote in a 16 June op-ed, titled, “There isn’t a coronavirus ‘second wave’.”
Except, in truth, the nightmare was not over – the country was not awake – and a new wave of cases was gathering with terrifying force.
As Pence was writing, the virus was spreading across the American south and interior, finding thousands of untouched communities and infecting millions of new bodies. Except for the precipitous drop in New York cases, the curve was not flat at all. It was surging, in line with epidemiological predictions.
Now, four months into the pandemic, with test results delayed, contact tracing scarce, protective equipment dwindling and emergency rooms once again filling, the United States finds itself in a fight for its life: swamped by partisanship, mistrustful of science, engulfed in mask wars and led by a president whose incompetence is rivaled only by his indifference to Americans’ suffering.
With flu season on the horizon and Donald Trump demanding that millions of students return to school in the fall – not to mention a presidential election quickly approaching – the country appears at risk of being torn apart.
“I feel like it’s March all over again,” said William Hanage, a professor of epidemiology at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health. “There is no way in which a large number of cases of disease, and indeed a large number of deaths, are going to be avoided.”
The problem facing the United States is plain. New cases nationally are up a remarkable 50% over the last two weeks and the daily death toll is up 42% over the same period. Cases are on the rise in 40 out of 50 states, Washington DC and Puerto Rico. Last week America recorded more than 75,000 new cases daily – five times the rate of all Europe.
“We are unfortunately seeing more higher daily case numbers than we’ve ever seen, even exceeding pre-lockdown times,” said Jennifer Nuzzo, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. “The number of new cases that occur each day in the US are greater than we’ve yet experienced. So this is obviously a very worrisome direction that we’re headed in.”
You can read the full article below:
The Los Angeles Clippers coach Doc Rivers met John Lewis several times, and said on Saturday morning that many of the issues the congressman fought for still need to be addressed.
“Really sad day for our country,” Rivers said before his team’s practice on Saturday. “What is amazing is when you think of right now, some of the stuff that John Lewis was fighting for, we’re still fighting for. Voter suppression right now is at an all-time high.
“It’s amazing how hard we have a group of people who are trying to get people not to vote. Latinos, Blacks and young people are the targets. That’s what they are trying to get not to vote. It’s amazing when you think about how long ago that was and yet we are still fighting that fight.”
The Cato Institute, a rightwing, libertarian thinktank, has pushed things a little by calling John Lewis “a Libertarian Hero”.
John Lewis, Libertarian Hero https://t.co/xJSptL8Gmt pic.twitter.com/Km2bDuIVUZ
— Cato Institute (@CatoInstitute) July 18, 2020
Meanwhile, Vice President Mike Pence has called Lewis “a friend” in a statement.
“While John Lewis will be rightly remembered as an icon of the civil rights movement, for me he was also a colleague and a friend,” wrote Pence. “Even when we differed, John was always unfailingly kind and my family and I will never forget the privilege of crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge at his side on the 45th anniversary of Bloody Sunday.”
Statement from @VP. pic.twitter.com/1ZNvdxNAcf
— Steve Herman (@W7VOA) July 18, 2020
Still no words from the president, aside from his pronouncement that flags will be flown at half-staff. Then again, Trump has shown little regard for civil rights during his presidency so, if you’re being kind, you could say he’s not a hypocrite. I suspect he will wait a few hours so that, on one hand, he can say to critics that he has acknowledged Lewis’s death, but on the other he can signal to his base that he is his own man.
Updated
Some news from the Associated Press on Kanye West’s presidential bid:
Kanye West has asked fans to sign a petition calling for him to be added to the presidential election ballot in South Carolina.
The rap superstar announced he was running for the White House on 4 July, tweeting: “We must now realize the promise of America by trusting God, unifying our vision and building our future. I am running for president of the United States.”
But doubts persist over how seriously to take his bid.
West, who has both expressed support for Donald Trump and said he has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, has said he will model his White House on a fictional land in the Black Panther superhero film, saying: “Let’s get back to Wakanda.”
If you're a voter in South Carolina, please sign this petition to place me on the ballot Sponsored by Ye 2020 https://t.co/ZURvTEW9ee pic.twitter.com/Z9tdq0eG9c
— ye (@kanyewest) July 18, 2020
This week it emerged he has qualified to appear on the presidential ballot in Oklahoma after making Wednesday’s deadline to register as an independent candidate. But it appears he missed the cut-off to run in South Carolina. According to the Federal Election Commission (FEC), that state also had a deadline of Wednesday.
Apparently hoping public opinion can sway officials, he tweeted: “If you’re a voter in South Carolina, please sign this petition to place me on the ballot Sponsored by Ye 2020.”
Various athletes and entertainers have paid tribute to John Lewis.
NBA hall of famer, civil rights activist and Guardian columnist Kareem Abdul-Jabbar said he was “emotional” the first time he met Lewis, such was his stature.
— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (@kaj33) July 18, 2020
Abdul-Jabbar’s fellow NBA superstar, LeBron James, wrote: “Rest. In. Paradise John Lewis. #CivilRightsICON THANK YOU!!”
Hollywood director Ava DuVernay wrote: “Will never forget what you taught me and what you challenged me to be. Better. Stronger. Bolder. Braver.”
Samuel L Jackson wrote “Sometimes it’s Good to meet a Hero... I was blessed every time we met. RI POWER, Sir.#thestrugglecontinues#BLM#VOTE.”
And from the world of music, Mariah Carey wrote on Twitter: “Today we have lost a heroes’ Hero.. Thank you God for John Lewis’s life of service. Let us continue to try to walk his walk of truth. Rest in Power.”
The president’s silence on Twitter over the death of John Lewis has won support from California congresswoman Karen Bass, chair of the Congressional Black Caucus. Although, one suspects she is not quite complimenting Donald Trump in her tweet.
.@realDonaldTrump while the nation mourns the passing of a national hero, please say nothing. Please don’t comment on the life of Congressman Lewis. Your press secretary released a statement, leave it at that.
— Congressmember Bass (@RepKarenBass) July 18, 2020
Please let us mourn in peace.
“.@realDonaldTrump while the nation mourns the passing of a national hero, please say nothing,” wrote Bass on Twitter. “Please don’t comment on the life of Congressman Lewis. Your press secretary released a statement, leave it at that. Please let us mourn in peace.”
John Lewis represented Georgia in Congress for 33 years, and prominent figures in the state have paid tribute after his death.
“A civil rights icon, freedom fighter, and beloved Georgian, @repjohnlewis lost his battle with cancer today,” wrote Georgia’s Republican governor, Brian Kemp. “Our nation will never be the same without him. There are no words to adequately express the sadness that countless Americans are feeling upon learning this news.”
Atlanta’s mayor, Keisha Lance Bottoms, called Lewis “the most brave of giants” in her own tribute on Twitter.
The most humble of heroes, the most brave of giants. @repjohnlewis loved unconditionally and called upon us all to be a better version of ourselves. He was my Congressman and my best example of true servant leadership. I am grateful for his life and the joy of having known him. pic.twitter.com/HC23WElOtV
— Keisha Lance Bottoms (@KeishaBottoms) July 18, 2020
“The most humble of heroes, the most brave of giants. @repjohnlewis loved unconditionally and called upon us all to be a better version of ourselves. He was my Congressman and my best example of true servant leadership. I am grateful for his life and the joy of having known him,” she wrote.
The Florida department of health reported 10,328 new cases of Covid-19 and 90 new deaths on Saturday. Those figures are, mercifully, down from earlier in the week (14,000 new cases were reported on Thursday and 132 new deaths on Tuesday) but are still worryingly high in a state that has become a hotspot for the virus.
Daniel Strauss has more on how Florida’s governor, Ron DeSantis, who some have dubbed a “mini Trump”, has handled the crisis:
Updated
Donald Trump has yet to comment on the death of John Lewis, but he has issued an order for flags to be flown at half-staff “as a mark of respect for the memory and long-standing service” of the congressman.
A proclamation on the death of @repjohnlewis, from the White House pic.twitter.com/57m47Wa2Co
— Seung Min Kim (@seungminkim) July 18, 2020
New York hospitalizations from Covid-19 are at their lowest rate since 18 March. The state, which was at one point the worst affected region in the world by the virus, reported 743 hospitalizations from the virus on Saturday. It also reported 11 new deaths, two of which were in New York City.
The New York governor, Andrew Cuomo, said the state could act as an example to the rest of the US in how to lower infections.
“We remain alarmed by spikes in much of the country and the risk of a lack of compliance at home as the state pursues a phased, data-driven reopening,” Cuomo said in a press briefing on Saturday.
“New Yorkers’ vigilance, courage and adoption of basic behaviors – mask wearing, hand washing and social distancing – has driven our ability to control the virus, and we have to continue on that path to success.”
Updated
Two prominent Republicans have tweeted their tributes to John Lewis. Tim Scott, the only black Republican senator, said his “good friend” had helped welcome him when he first made his entry into Washington politics as a congressman.
“He was a giant among men; his life and legacy will continue to serve as an example for the generations to come,” the South Carolina senator wrote on Twitter. “I am encouraged by his courage, determination, and perseverance, characteristics that we can all try to emulate – especially in the wake of current events.”
With the passing of John Lewis, America has lost not only a man of history, but a man for our season; O how we need such men of unwavering principle, unassailable character, penetrating purpose, and heartfelt compassion.
— Mitt Romney (@MittRomney) July 18, 2020
Meanwhile, former presidential candidate and Republican senator for Utah, Mitt Romney, praised Lewis’s “unwavering principle”.
“With the passing of John Lewis, America has lost not only a man of history, but a man for our season; O how we need such men of unwavering principle, unassailable character, penetrating purpose, and heartfelt compassion,” wrote Romney on Twitter.
Bernie Sanders says “John Lewis inspired millions to fight for justice” in his tribute to the congressman on Twitter.
“His courage helped transform this country. He won’t ever be forgotten by those who believe America can change when the people stand together and demand it. Our thoughts are with his loved ones,” wrote the senator for Vermont.
John Lewis inspired millions to fight for justice. His courage helped transform this country. He won’t ever be forgotten by those who believe America can change when the people stand together and demand it. Our thoughts are with his loved ones.
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) July 18, 2020
Sanders and Lewis were involved in a minor controversy during Sanders’ run for president in 2016. The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) political action committee endorsed Sanders’ rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, Hillary Clinton. Lewis also appeared to play down Sanders’ involvement in the 1960s civil rights movement saying: “I never saw him. I never met him.”
Lewis later clarified that he was not disparaging Sanders’ record in the civil rights movement.
“I was responding to a reporter’s question who asked me to assess Senator Sanders’ civil rights record. I said that when I was leading and was at the center of pivotal actions within the civil rights movement, I did not meet Senator Bernie Sanders at any time,” he said in February 2016.
“The fact that I did not meet him in the movement does not mean I doubted that Senator Sanders participated in the civil rights movement, neither was I attempting to disparage his activism. Thousands sacrificed in the 1960s whose names we will never know, and I have always given honor to their contribution.”
Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential candidate, has issued a lengthy statement on John Lewis’s death. Here’s an extract:
“John’s life reminds us that the most powerful symbol of what it means to be an American is what we do with the time we have to make real the promise of our nation – that we are all created equal and deserve to be treated equally. Through the beatings, the marches, the arrests, the debates on war, peace and freedom, and the legislative fights for good jobs and healthcare and the fundamental right to vote, he taught us that while the journey toward equality is not easy, we must be unafraid and never cower and never, ever give up.
“That is the charge a great American and humble man of God has left us. For parents trying to answer their children’s questions about what to make of the world we are in today, teach them about John Lewis. For the peaceful marchers for racial and economic justice around the world who are asking where we go from here, follow his lead. For his fellow legislators, govern by your conscience like he did, not for power or party. He was our bridge – to our history so we did not forget its pain and to our future so we never lose our hope.”
Updated
George W Bush has issued a statement on John Lewis’s death, saying the congressman “worked to make our country a more perfect union”.
“Laura and I join our fellow Americans in mourning the loss of Congressman John Lewis,” wrote the former president. “As a young man marching for equality in Selma, Alabama, John answered brutal violence with courageous hope. And throughout his career as a civil rights leader and public servant, he worked to make our country a more perfect union. America can best honor John’s memory by continuing his journey toward liberty and justice for all.”
Donald Trump, who isn’t exactly reticent about making statements on Twitter, is now the only living president not to have commented on Lewis’s death.
The White House press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, has issued her own tribute, while her boss plays golf.
Rep. John Lewis was an icon of the civil rights movement, and he leaves an enduring legacy that will never be forgotten. We hold his family in our prayers, as we remember Rep. John Lewis’ incredible contributions to our country.
— Kayleigh McEnany (@PressSec) July 18, 2020
“Rep. John Lewis was an icon of the civil rights movement, and he leaves an enduring legacy that will never be forgotten,” she wrote. “We hold his family in our prayers, as we remember Rep. John Lewis’ incredible contributions to our country.”
French president calls Lewis 'a true hero'
Such was John Lewis’s legacy that politicians from outside America have paid tribute to him.
France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, described Lewis as a “true hero” in a message in English on Twitter.
A lifetime of struggle for civil rights. A lifetime of getting into “good trouble”, of fighting for a world that is more just. A true hero. Indeed, “because of you, John”. pic.twitter.com/3u7qeqtCI0
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) July 18, 2020
“A lifetime of struggle for civil rights,” wrote Macron. “A lifetime of getting into ‘good trouble,’ of fighting for a world that is more just. A true hero. Indeed, ‘because of you, John.’”
In the UK, the Labour MP David Lammy said Lewis was “a titan” in the US civil rights movement.
“So sad to hear about the death of congressman John Lewis,” wrote Lammy, who is also the shadow justice secretary. “A titan in the struggle for civil rights, equality and freedom. The fight goes on, inspired by his fearless legacy and MLK dream.”
Meanwhile, Sweden’s prime minister, Stefan Löfven, said the congressman was an “inspiration”.
Learned with great sadness this morning of the passing of John Lewis – an icon of the civil rights movement, a hero and an inspiration to us all. My thoughts are with his family and loved ones.
— SwedishPM (@SwedishPM) July 18, 2020
“Learned with great sadness this morning of the passing of John Lewis – an icon of the civil rights movement, a hero and an inspiration to us all. My thoughts are with his family and loved ones,” wrote Löfven on Twitter.
Updated
Donald Trump has arrived at his golf club in Virginia for, we presume, a morning round. A smattering of protesters greeted the president.
According to the pool reporter, one person held a sign reading “Trust Fauci”, a reference to the White House’s attempts to silence the country’s top infectious diseases expert as Covid-19 continues its spread across the country.
The Republican party is facing a struggle to stage an in-person assembly for the selection of the Texas GOP’s presidential electors. The party had wanted to hold the event, which would comprise of thousands of delegates, at Houston’s George R Brown Convention Center.
However, Houston’s mayor, Sylvester Turner, wanted to cancel the event in case it helped spread Covid-19 in a city already hit hard by the virus. A US district judge then reinstated the convention before a federal appeals court blocked the move again in the early hours of Saturday.
An appellate court in New Orleans will now review the case.
Updated
CNN has a troubling report from Nueces county in Texas, where 85 children under the age of one have tested positive for Covid-19.
Nueces county, the location of Corpus Christi, has experienced a surge in coronavirus cases in July, like much of Texas.
“We currently have 85 babies under the age of one year in Nueces county that have all tested positive for Covid-19,” said Annette Rodriguez, director of public health for Corpus Christi Nueces county. “These babies have not even had their first birthday yet. Please help us stop the spread of this disease.”
State representatives Sheila Jackson Lee and Joaquin Castro have urged Texas’ governor, Gregg Abbot, to give local authorities the power to enforce stay-at-home orders.
“Texas is now not where it should be relating to fighting Covid-19. Therefore, your office should take immediate action to rewind the efforts to reopen the state quickly; which came about by ignoring CDC guidelines,” said the two in a letter to Abbot. “We need to provide local authority to local counties and cities to do what is in the best interest of their communities.”
Updated
John Lewis: tributes
The Associated Press has a collection of tributes to John Lewis from political figures, party leaders and civil rights activists. It follows:
Barack Obama
“Considering his enormous impact on the history of this country, what always struck those who met John was his gentleness and humility. Born into modest means in the heart of the Jim Crow south, he understood that he was just one of a long line of heroes in the struggle for racial justice. Early on, he embraced the principles of nonviolent resistance and civil disobedience as the means to bring about real change in this country, understanding that such tactics had the power not only to change laws, but to change hearts and minds as well.”
House speaker Nancy Pelosi
“John Lewis was a titan of the civil rights movement whose goodness, faith and bravery transformed our nation – from the determination with which he met discrimination at lunch counters and on Freedom Rides, to the courage he showed as a young man facing down violence and death on Edmund Pettus Bridge, to the moral leadership he brought to the Congress for more than 30 years. “
Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell
“I will never forget joining hands with John as members of Congress sang We Shall Overcome at a 2008 ceremony honoring his friend Dr Martin Luther King Jr. It could not have been more humbling to consider what he had suffered and sacrificed so those words could be sung in that place.”
Bill and Hillary Clinton
“From a small farm in Alabama, to life-risking service in the civil rights movement, to three decades in Congress, he was always ‘walking with the wind’, steered by a moral compass that told him when to make good trouble and when to heal troubled waters. Always true to his word, his faith, and his principles, John Lewis became the conscience of the nation.”
Jimmy Carter
“He made an indelible mark on history through his quest to make our nation more just. John never shied away from what he called ‘good trouble’ to lead our nation on the path toward human and civil rights. Everything he did, he did in a spirit of love. All Americans, regardless of race or religion, owe John Lewis a debt of gratitude.”
Congressional Black Caucus
“The world has lost a legend; the civil rights movement has lost an icon, the city of Atlanta has lost one of its most fearless leaders, and the Congressional Black Caucus has lost our longest serving member. The Congressional Black Caucus is known as the Conscience of the Congress. John Lewis was known as the conscience of our caucus.”
The Rev Al Sharpton
“My friend, role model and activist extraordinaire has passed. Congressman John Lewis taught us how to be an activist. He changed the world without hate, rancor or arrogance. A rare and great man.”
Rev Jesse Jackson
“John Lewis is what patriotism and courage look like. He sacrificed and personifies a New Testament prophet.”
Bernice King
“Farewell, sir. You did, indeed, fight the good fight and get into a lot of good trouble. You served God and humanity well. Thank you. Take your rest.”
Former Senate majority leader Harry Reid
“Few have had as powerful and inspiring an impact on our country as Congressman Lewis and America is a better, more equal place because of his sacrifice and leadership. Our nation owes so much to this incredible man. We served together in Congress for decades, and I was honored to call him my friend.”
Representative Maxine Waters
“It is not enough to say he was a revered civil rights icon. He was a man of impeccable integrity who dedicated his life to fighting against racism, discrimination and injustice. John was a true leader who inspired us all to have the courage to fight.”
American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia
“Time and time again he demonstrated moral and physical courage in nonviolent defiance of the white supremacist regime in the south. Throughout his long life, his commitment to full equality for all people never wavered. He will always be remembered with gratitude and admiration.”
Senator David Purdue (Republican, Georgia)
“No one embodied the word ‘courage’ better than John Lewis. As a civil rights icon, John inspired millions of Americans to fight injustice and reject the status quo. Without a doubt, his wisdom and resolve made the world a better place.”
Senator Kelly Loeffler (Republican, Georgia)
“As a leader in the civil rights movement, he always pushed America to live up to its promise of freedom and equality. Our nation is better because of his leadership and courage. We know his legacy will never be forgotten.”
Stacey Abrams (Democrat, former candidate for governor, Georgia)
“Defender of justice. Champion of right. Our conscience, he was a griot of this modern age, one who saw its hatred but fought ever towards the light. And never once did he begrudge sharing its beauty.”
Updated
Donald Trump hasn’t commented on John Lewis yet – at the White House, pool reporters have been loaded into vans, bound for an undisclosed location that experience would suggest might be his golf course in Sterling, Virginia.
Trump was awake after news of Lewis’s death broke – and he did tweet. But it was a short message for a Fox News personality who sat in for Sean Hannity. So it goes.
The president has no public events scheduled on Saturday but he does seem to be smarting a little from his encounter with Chris Wallace of Fox News Sunday, an interview due for broadcast tomorrow but which provided embarrassment for the president on Friday.
In short, Trump claimed Joe Biden, his opponent in November, supported efforts to defund the police. Wallace, one of the sharpest questioners on TV, pointed out that Biden does not.
Trump insisted he did, and called for a copy of a policy compact Biden agreed with Bernie Sanders this week. In Wallace’s words, the president then “went through it and he found a lot of things that he objected to that Biden has agreed to, but couldn’t find any indication, because there isn’t any, that Joe Biden has sought to defund and abolish the police”.
As footage trailed by Fox News rippled out across the airwaves, Trump tweeted what might almost seem a concession: “Corrupt Joe Biden wants to defund our police. He may use different words, but when you look at his pact with Crazy Bernie, and other things, that’s what he wants to do. It would destroy America!”
As Joan E Greve pointed out from Washington, such attempts to paint Biden as an extreme liberal do not seem to be working: polls show voters view the challenger as more of a moderate than the president.
Here’s the full report, containing the released interview clip:
Updated
Former president Jimmy Carter, like John Lewis from Georgia, has released a tribute to the civil rights leader, who has died at the age of 80.
Statement from Jimmy Carter on the passing of John Lewis pic.twitter.com/neoHpc0jBt
— The Carter Center (@CarterCenter) July 18, 2020
Here’s a report from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, on the day in 2013 when Lewis and Carter both spoke at celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington.
“Too many of us still believe our differences define us, instead of the divine spark that runs through all of human creation,” Lewis said.
Carter quoted Martin Luther King: “The crucial question of our time is how to overcome oppression and violence without resorting to oppression and violence.”
Good morning …
… and welcome to another day of coverage of US politics, as the US wakes to the news that John Lewis, hero of the civil rights movement, last of the “Big Six” leaders and a Democratic congressman since 1987, has died. He was 80, and had been suffering from pancreatic cancer.
In tribute, Barack Obama said Lewis “loved this country so much that he risked his life and his blood so that it might live up to its promise”.
Obama also said it was “fitting that the last time John and I shared a public forum was at a virtual town hall with a gathering of young activists who were helping to lead this summer’s demonstrations in the wake of George Floyd’s death”.
Other tributes have poured in but as the sun came up over Washington, there had been nothing from the Trump White House. For a depressing flashback, there’s this from January 2017, when Lewis questioned the legitimacy of the Republican’s win at the polls: “Congressman John Lewis should spend more time on fixing and helping his district, which is in horrible shape and falling apart (not to mention crime infested) rather than falsely complaining about the election results. All talk, talk, talk - no action or results. Sad.”
Lewis’s life was of course quite the opposite: all action, all results and far from sad despite the brutality he faced and the hardships he endured. Here’s David Smith, our Washington bureau chief, on Lewis’s legacy in the age of Black Lives Matter. And here’s our obituary, and a look at Lewis’s life in pictures.
Elsewhere, the coronavirus pandemic continues, unchecked by the federal government, states which reopened too soon and still can’t even mandate the wearing of masks in public and, alarmingly, states like California which did lock down and seemed to be winning but are now seeing deadly reverses.
Daily case records have been rising with stunning regularity, hospitals are filling up and according to the Johns Hopkins figures here, more than 3.6m cases have been confirmed in total, and nearly 140,000 people have died.
Here’s Tom McCarthy’s look at why worse awaits in the fall:
