A new report has found “overwhelming opposition” among Democratic leaders to Bernie Sanders winning the party’s nomination against Donald Trump, as the president faced increasing criticism over his administration's response to the deadly coronavirus outbreak.
Though a new poll put him ahead of Democratic front-runner Bernie Sanders, the Vermont senator blasted Mr Trump as “incompetent and inadequate” while ridiculing his appointing Mike Pence to oversee the crisis. Meanwhile, the New York Times said Democratic delegates were unlikely to hand the nomination to Mr Sanders if he failed to garner a majority.
Mr Trump followed a press conference on the global epidemic on Wednesday night in which he said Americans faced only a “very low” risk from the virus by tweeting about the FBI spying on his campaign team in 2016, a gesture giving credence to the Vermont senator’s rebuke.
At a White House news conference, Mr Trump sought to minimise fears as he insisted the US is “very, very ready” for whatever the COVID-19 outbreak brings.
Under fire about the government’s response, he put Mr Pence in charge of coordinating the efforts.
“This will end,” Mr Trump said of the outbreak. “You don’t want to see panic because there’s no reason to be panicked.”
But standing next to him, the very health officials Mr Trump praised for fighting the new coronavirus stressed that schools, businesses and individuals need to get ready.
“We do expect more cases,” said Dr Anne Schuchat of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
If the CDC confirms that the latest US case doesn’t involve travel or contact with an infected person, it would be a first in this country and a sign that efforts to contain the virus’ spread haven’t been enough.
Additional reporting by AP. Please allow a moment for our liveblog to load
Hello and welcome to The Independent's rolling coverage of the Donald Trump administration.
Trump downplays coronavirus threat and tasks Mike Pence with oversight
Donald Trump again sought to downplay the threat posed by the coronavirus at a White House press conference on Wednesday night, insisting the global epidemic presented a “very low” public health risk and appointing vice president Mike Pence to oversee his administration’s response.
Donald Trump again sought to downplay the threat posed by the coronavirus at a White House press conference on Wednesday night, insisting the global epidemic presented a “very low” public health risk and appointing vice president Mike Pence to oversee his administration’s response.
"This ends. This is going to end," the president said. "Hopefully sooner rather than later."
He sharply broke with what top US health officials said on Tuesday when they said it is a matter of when the virus arrives in the United States.
"No, I dont think it's inevitable. It probably will, It possibly will," he said. "This will end... Nothing's inevitable."
Trump described his administration as "very, very ready" to deal with the virus, touting a Johns Hopkins University study of countries best prepared to deal with a pandemic. The United States was ranked first, Trump noted, and noted none of the 15 known American cases have pushed those victims towards death. He said all 15 have "fully recovered" or are expected to do so.
In amongst the president's blithe optimism was the usual lashing out at his enemies, singling out The New York Times for criticism (a paper he is suing for libel) and accusing House speaker Nancy Pelosi of scaremongering and "trying to create panic".
Pelosi had earlier in the day called his response "shameful" and said she doesn't think the president "knows what he’s talking about" on the issue after visitng San Francisco's Chinatown district to reassure locals after the California city declared a state of emergency.
“I think Speaker Pelosi’s incompetent,” Trump griped. “I think she’s not thinking about the country... She should be saying we have to work together.”
John T Bennett was looking on.
Bernie Sanders attacks 'incompetent and inadequate' response
The Democratic 2020 front-runner was quick to brand the president’s address “incompetent and inadequate”.
The Democratic 2020 front-runner was quick to brand the president’s address “incompetent and inadequate”.
Pelosi was equally dismissive of the president - pledging that the Democrat-led House of Representatives would push for an extensive emergency funding programme to combat the disease and quell its spread.
The criticism Bernie raised of Trump health secretary Alex Azar, who refused to commit to keeping any forthcoming coronavirus vaccine affordable to the American people yesterday before Congress, was also made by rival progressive Elizabeth Warren:
Here's Phil Thomas's report.
President immediately back to tweeting FBI critiques as pandemic looms
On Twitter last night, Trump was quick to get back to posting about such pressing matters as the FBI spying on his election campaign team in 2016, a gesture that only gave further credence to Senator Sander’s argument.
He also continued his never-ending vendetta against Pelosi, saying her district was "hardly even recognizable" under her leadership in a retweet from the speaker's GOP challenger DeAnne Lorraine, who describes herself as a "Sicilian spitfire" and warned "Old Nan" that her "day of reckoning is coming for your crimes against Americans", a deeply inflammatory and troubling choice of words on the day of yet another mass shooting.
On Twitter last night, Trump was quick to get back to posting about such pressing matters as the FBI spying on his election campaign team in 2016, a gesture that only gave further credence to Senator Sander’s argument.
He also continued his never-ending vendetta against Pelosi, saying her district was "hardly even recognizable" under her leadership in a retweet from the speaker's GOP challenger DeAnne Lorraine, who describes herself as a "Sicilian spitfire" and warned "Old Nan" that her "day of reckoning is coming for your crimes against Americans", a deeply inflammatory and troubling choice of words on the day of yet another mass shooting.
Asian shares slump in response to Trump
Shares fell in Asia on Thursday morning after the president announced the US was stepping up its efforts to combat the virus outbreak that began in China, as the number of cases surpassed 81,000.
Japan's Nikkei 225 index lost 2.1 per cent to 21,948.23, while in Australia, the S&P ASX/200 dropped 0.8 per cent to 6,657.90. Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost 0.8 per cent to 26,491.52.
In South Korea, where 334 new cases of the virus were reported, the Kospi dropped 1 per cent to 2,056.76.
The central bank downgraded its growth estimate for 2020 to 2.1 per cent from 2.3 per cent and said the virus outbreak would have a short-term impact on business activity, after growth fell to its slowest in a decade last year.
The Bank of Korea kept its key policy rate unchanged, at its current record low 1.25 per cent.
The Shanghai Composite index rose 0.2 per cent to 2,993.15, while shares fell in Taiwan and most of south east Asia. Thailand's benchmark rose 0.4 per cent after tumbling 5.1 per cent on Wednesday following reports of newly discovered virus cases.
Shortly after Trump spoke yesterday, the government announced that another person in the US was infected - someone in California who appears not to have the usual risk factors of having travelled abroad or being exposed to another patient.
Major US stock indexes gave up early gains, closing mostly lower on Wednesday and extending the market's heavy losses for the week.
"Previous crisis playbooks have all revolved around buying the dip in equities, so I wonder just how much further the fire sale will go before the market at least starts to scale in again," Stephen Innes of AxiCorp said in a report. "But based on last night's price action, it does appear that any bounce in stocks is likely to be short-lived. And eventually, the markets could fall deeper as investors start to think what's the point of trying to pick the bottom in the short term."
Here's Vincent Wood with the latest global perspective on the coronavirus.
Shares fell in Asia on Thursday morning after the president announced the US was stepping up its efforts to combat the virus outbreak that began in China, as the number of cases surpassed 81,000.
Japan's Nikkei 225 index lost 2.1 per cent to 21,948.23, while in Australia, the S&P ASX/200 dropped 0.8 per cent to 6,657.90. Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost 0.8 per cent to 26,491.52.
In South Korea, where 334 new cases of the virus were reported, the Kospi dropped 1 per cent to 2,056.76.
The central bank downgraded its growth estimate for 2020 to 2.1 per cent from 2.3 per cent and said the virus outbreak would have a short-term impact on business activity, after growth fell to its slowest in a decade last year.
The Bank of Korea kept its key policy rate unchanged, at its current record low 1.25 per cent.
The Shanghai Composite index rose 0.2 per cent to 2,993.15, while shares fell in Taiwan and most of south east Asia. Thailand's benchmark rose 0.4 per cent after tumbling 5.1 per cent on Wednesday following reports of newly discovered virus cases.
Shortly after Trump spoke yesterday, the government announced that another person in the US was infected - someone in California who appears not to have the usual risk factors of having travelled abroad or being exposed to another patient.
Major US stock indexes gave up early gains, closing mostly lower on Wednesday and extending the market's heavy losses for the week.
"Previous crisis playbooks have all revolved around buying the dip in equities, so I wonder just how much further the fire sale will go before the market at least starts to scale in again," Stephen Innes of AxiCorp said in a report. "But based on last night's price action, it does appear that any bounce in stocks is likely to be short-lived. And eventually, the markets could fall deeper as investors start to think what's the point of trying to pick the bottom in the short term."
Here's Vincent Wood with the latest global perspective on the coronavirus.
Pence pick to lead coronavirus fightback sparks concern
The choice of Mike Pence to oversee the the effort to rein in the epidemic created an awkward moment for Alex Azar yesterday, who had to insist he was still chairman of the government task force tackling the virus and "could not be delighted" to have the vice president on board.
"I do not in the least feel like I'm being replaced. When this was mentioned I was delighted," he added later, unconvincingly.
The choice of Mike Pence to oversee the the effort to rein in the epidemic created an awkward moment for Alex Azar yesterday, who had to insist he was still chairman of the government task force tackling the virus and "could not be delighted" to have the vice president on board.
"I do not in the least feel like I'm being replaced. When this was mentioned I was delighted," he added later, unconvincingly.
Commentators were quick to express concern about the Pence appointment ("He's got a certain talent for this," said Trump) given that the veep once called global warming “a myth”, has refuted the evidence that smoking is harmful and, as Indiana governor, led his home state into an HIV crisis by cutting funding for Planned Parenthood clinics and opposing needle exchange programmes.
Here's a little more background on Pence from Andrew Naughtie.
Stephen Colbert and Trevor Noah poke fun at deadly virus
Here's Jacob Stolworthy on how the late night hosts have been handling the administration's response to the coronavirus.
Here's Jacob Stolworthy on how the late night hosts have been handling the administration's response to the coronavirus.
"Mike Pence has been quarantining himself from women all his life,” joked Trevor Noah on The Daily Show.
Top health official warns ‘vaccine at least a year away’
Before we move away from the coronavirus for the moment, here's Dr Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, telling John Berman on CNN's New Day yesterday that "it's going to be at least a year to a year and a half at best" before a deployable version of a vaccine is ready for public consumption.
Even then it may not be affordable, according to Alex Azar.
My colleague Clark Mindock has meanwhile been speaking to election soothsayer Allan Lichtman on what this could mean for the 2020 race.
Before we move away from the coronavirus for the moment, here's Dr Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, telling John Berman on CNN's New Day yesterday that "it's going to be at least a year to a year and a half at best" before a deployable version of a vaccine is ready for public consumption.
Even then it may not be affordable, according to Alex Azar.
My colleague Clark Mindock has meanwhile been speaking to election soothsayer Allan Lichtman on what this could mean for the 2020 race.
Ex-labour secretary calls on William Barr to step down 'for sake of democracy'
Robert Reich, a former Bill Clinton cabinet member turned avid Trump opponent, has released a new video attacking the president's attorney general and chief enabler and calling on him to step down for the greater good.
In the short clip for Inequality Media, Reich accuses Barr's Justice Department of “working hand in hand with Donald Trump to bend federal law enforcement to the president’s will”.
You can watch it in full below.
Robert Reich, a former Bill Clinton cabinet member turned avid Trump opponent, has released a new video attacking the president's attorney general and chief enabler and calling on him to step down for the greater good.
In the short clip for Inequality Media, Reich accuses Barr's Justice Department of “working hand in hand with Donald Trump to bend federal law enforcement to the president’s will”.
You can watch it in full below.
Lynching finally made federal crime 65 years after Emmett Till’s murder
In other DC news, Congress has made lynching a federal crime in a law named after Emmett Till a mere 65 years after the teenager was murdered in Mississippi.
The bill, sponsored by representative Bobby Rush of Illinois, was approved in the House of Representatives on Wednesday in an overwhelming majority 410-to-four vote that labels lynching as a hate crime under federal law. It designates the crime as punishable by up to life in prison, a fine, or both.
Since the passing of the bill in the House, it will now move to the White House for Trump to sign. The Senate unanimously passed the bill last year.
Emmett Till, a black 14-year-old child from Chicago, was tortured and murdered in 1955 after a white woman accused the teen of grabbing her outside a Mississippi grocery store. The alleged incident encouraged the woman's husband and brother to attack four days later. The two men were charged with murder but later acquitted by an all-white, all-male jury. Both men confessed to the crime later.
Here's Danielle Zoellner with more.
In other DC news, Congress has made lynching a federal crime in a law named after Emmett Till a mere 65 years after the teenager was murdered in Mississippi.
The bill, sponsored by representative Bobby Rush of Illinois, was approved in the House of Representatives on Wednesday in an overwhelming majority 410-to-four vote that labels lynching as a hate crime under federal law. It designates the crime as punishable by up to life in prison, a fine, or both.
Since the passing of the bill in the House, it will now move to the White House for Trump to sign. The Senate unanimously passed the bill last year.
Emmett Till, a black 14-year-old child from Chicago, was tortured and murdered in 1955 after a white woman accused the teen of grabbing her outside a Mississippi grocery store. The alleged incident encouraged the woman's husband and brother to attack four days later. The two men were charged with murder but later acquitted by an all-white, all-male jury. Both men confessed to the crime later.
Here's Danielle Zoellner with more.
Barack Obama orders Republican super PAC to pull anti-Biden ad in South Carolina using his voice
Lawyers for the 44th president has issued a cease-and-desist letter to Republican super PAC ordering them to drop a TV advertising campaign running in South Carolina attacking his former veep Joe Biden by using a passage from his memoir Dreams from My Father out of context.
The promo by the Committee to Defend the President seeks to tear African-American support away from Biden by declaring: "Joe Biden promised to help our community. It was a lie. Here's President Obama."
It then cuts to Obama reading the audiobook version of Dreams from My Father and saying: "Plantation politics. Black people in the worst jobs. The worst housing. Police brutality rampant. But when the so-called black committeemen came around election time, we'd all line up and vote the straight Democratic ticket. Sell our souls for a Christmas turkey."
Obama spokeswoman Katie Hill commented: "This despicable ad is straight out of the Republican disinformation playbook, and it’s clearly designed to suppress turnout among minority voters in South Carolina by taking President Obama’s voice out of context and twisting his words to mislead viewers.
Lawyers for the 44th president has issued a cease-and-desist letter to Republican super PAC ordering them to drop a TV advertising campaign running in South Carolina attacking his former veep Joe Biden by using a passage from his memoir Dreams from My Father out of context.
The promo by the Committee to Defend the President seeks to tear African-American support away from Biden by declaring: "Joe Biden promised to help our community. It was a lie. Here's President Obama."
It then cuts to Obama reading the audiobook version of Dreams from My Father and saying: "Plantation politics. Black people in the worst jobs. The worst housing. Police brutality rampant. But when the so-called black committeemen came around election time, we'd all line up and vote the straight Democratic ticket. Sell our souls for a Christmas turkey."
Obama spokeswoman Katie Hill commented: "This despicable ad is straight out of the Republican disinformation playbook, and it’s clearly designed to suppress turnout among minority voters in South Carolina by taking President Obama’s voice out of context and twisting his words to mislead viewers.
"In the interest of truth in advertising, we are calling on TV stations to take this ad down and stop playing into the hands of bad actors who seek to sow division and confusion among the electorate."
New satirical play Ivanka 2020 opens in New York
A 90-minute one-man show about the Trumps has opened at New York's Public Theater.
Writer-director-star Ryan Raftery appears in drag as the president's daughter in Ivanka 2020 and implores his audience to vote Democrat this year. "We make sure in November that Democrats win. Literally any once else will do," he says from the stage.
Here's the blurb: "Inspired by the classic film The Manchurian Candidate and the beloved animated film Anastasia, Raftery’s latest piece is a satirical commentary on what is arguably the most fascinating political landscape the United States has seen in decades."
A 90-minute one-man show about the Trumps has opened at New York's Public Theater.
Writer-director-star Ryan Raftery appears in drag as the president's daughter in Ivanka 2020 and implores his audience to vote Democrat this year. "We make sure in November that Democrats win. Literally any once else will do," he says from the stage.
Here's the blurb: "Inspired by the classic film The Manchurian Candidate and the beloved animated film Anastasia, Raftery’s latest piece is a satirical commentary on what is arguably the most fascinating political landscape the United States has seen in decades."
(Santiago Felipe/Getty)
Public Enemy to open for Bernie Sanders in Los Angeles
Say what you like about Bernie but how about this for a campaign poster? Jack White, The Strokes and now Public Enemy. Who's he going to bring out next - Black Flag? The Melvins? Fugazi?
Say what you like about Bernie but how about this for a campaign poster? Jack White, The Strokes and now Public Enemy. Who's he going to bring out next - Black Flag? The Melvins? Fugazi?
Why Trump might be learning the wrong lessons from his bromance with Narendra Modi
For Indy Voices, here's Amar Diwakar on the president and his new bestest buddy, India's authoritarian prime minister.
For Indy Voices, here's Amar Diwakar on the president and his new bestest buddy, India's authoritarian prime minister.
Trump sues New York Times over Russia interference story
Clark Mindock has the latest on the president's war with the "Fake News Media" for having the audacity to write negative coverage of him.
Lawyer Ted Boustrous, something a specialist in representing the press against the White House, has incidentally taken to Twitter to denounce the president's comments last night.
He accuses Trump of "abusing the judicial process to chill freedom of speech and of the press" by purusing "bogus libel lawsuits", which certainly seems to be about the size of it.
Clark Mindock has the latest on the president's war with the "Fake News Media" for having the audacity to write negative coverage of him.
Lawyer Ted Boustrous, something a specialist in representing the press against the White House, has incidentally taken to Twitter to denounce the president's comments last night.
He accuses Trump of "abusing the judicial process to chill freedom of speech and of the press" by purusing "bogus libel lawsuits", which certainly seems to be about the size of it.
Trump ahead of Bernie Sanders by seven points, new poll finds
As the president promotes his latest rally in North Charleston, South Carolina, on Friday night...
...a new poll from Rasmussen finds him comfortably ahead of his probable Democratic challenger, a worry development for the opposition ahead of Saturday's primary and Super Tuesday.
As the president promotes his latest rally in North Charleston, South Carolina, on Friday night...
...a new poll from Rasmussen finds him comfortably ahead of his probable Democratic challenger, a worry development for the opposition ahead of Saturday's primary and Super Tuesday.
'Putting Mike Pence in charge of the US coronavirus response is some kind of sick joke'
Here's James Dyke for Indy Voices on why the vice president is not the right man to fend off the coronavirus.
Here's James Dyke for Indy Voices on why the vice president is not the right man to fend off the coronavirus.
Bernie rips Pence for trying to 'pray away' Indiana HIV outbreak
The democratic socialist is not letting up on his criticism of the administration over the coronavirus, notably gunning for Pence over his blind faith and health secretary Alex Azar for refusing to commit to safeguarding American lives.
On the subject of Pence, here's CNN's Jake Tapper to remind us, once more, that there is ALWAYS a tweet.
The democratic socialist is not letting up on his criticism of the administration over the coronavirus, notably gunning for Pence over his blind faith and health secretary Alex Azar for refusing to commit to safeguarding American lives.
On the subject of Pence, here's CNN's Jake Tapper to remind us, once more, that there is ALWAYS a tweet.
Mike Bloomberg likens coronavirus to 9/11 in new ad
The billionnaire is joining in Bernie and Elizabeth Warren's attack on the administration over the epidemic with a new campaign spot in which he is hailed for his expertise in "managing a crisis".
“In the aftermath of 9/11, he steadied and rebuilt America’s largest city, oversaw emergency response to natural disasters, upgraded hospital preparedness to manage health crises, and he’s funding cutting edge research to contain epidemics,” a narrator intones, seemingly implying that he was the Big Apple's mayor when the World Trade Center went down, whereas it was actually one Rudolph Giuliani, whom you doubtless recall from these pages.
The billionnaire is joining in Bernie and Elizabeth Warren's attack on the administration over the epidemic with a new campaign spot in which he is hailed for his expertise in "managing a crisis".
“In the aftermath of 9/11, he steadied and rebuilt America’s largest city, oversaw emergency response to natural disasters, upgraded hospital preparedness to manage health crises, and he’s funding cutting edge research to contain epidemics,” a narrator intones, seemingly implying that he was the Big Apple's mayor when the World Trade Center went down, whereas it was actually one Rudolph Giuliani, whom you doubtless recall from these pages.
CPAC kicks off in Maryland
The Conservative Political Action Conference has kicked off at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in Fort Washington, Maryland, today, where the line-up of guest speakers this weekend features anyone who's awful in the Magaverse.
Trump, Pence, Alex Azar, Jared Kushner, Ivanka, Don Jr, Kellyanne Conway, Elaine Chao, Betsy DeVos, Mike Pompeo, Mick Mulvaney, Chad Wolf, Larry Kudlow, Richard Grenell, Ken Cuccinelli, Nikki Haley, Diamond and Silk, Ronna McDaniel, Charlie Kirk, Tom Fitton, Ted Cruz, Matt Gaetz, Doug Collins, Jim Jordan, Liz Cheney, Dan Crenshaw, Devin Nunes, Mark Meadows, Dan Bongino, somebody called "Buck Sexton", this guy, even Nigel Farage... Honestly, you name it - they're there.
Some of the talks planned include:
- Socialism: Wrecker of Nations and Destroyer of Societies
- The Coup: Rosenstein & Comey- The Empire Strikes Back
- Prescription for Failure: The Ills of Socialized Medicine
- What Lies Beneath the Surface: The Global Struggle for Resources and the 21st Century Socialist Axis of Evil
- Grace Canceled: How Outrage is Destroying Lives, Ending Debate, and Endangering Democracy
- The Plot Against the President: The True Story of How Congressman Devin Nunes Uncovered the Biggest Political Scandal in U.S. History
- Ask the Experts: Combatting the Cancel Culture on Campus
- Everything You Wanted to Know About Russiagate but Were Afraid to Ask
The Conservative Political Action Conference has kicked off at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in Fort Washington, Maryland, today, where the line-up of guest speakers this weekend features anyone who's awful in the Magaverse.
Trump, Pence, Alex Azar, Jared Kushner, Ivanka, Don Jr, Kellyanne Conway, Elaine Chao, Betsy DeVos, Mike Pompeo, Mick Mulvaney, Chad Wolf, Larry Kudlow, Richard Grenell, Ken Cuccinelli, Nikki Haley, Diamond and Silk, Ronna McDaniel, Charlie Kirk, Tom Fitton, Ted Cruz, Matt Gaetz, Doug Collins, Jim Jordan, Liz Cheney, Dan Crenshaw, Devin Nunes, Mark Meadows, Dan Bongino, somebody called "Buck Sexton", this guy, even Nigel Farage... Honestly, you name it - they're there.
Some of the talks planned include:
- Socialism: Wrecker of Nations and Destroyer of Societies
- The Coup: Rosenstein & Comey- The Empire Strikes Back
- Prescription for Failure: The Ills of Socialized Medicine
- What Lies Beneath the Surface: The Global Struggle for Resources and the 21st Century Socialist Axis of Evil
- Grace Canceled: How Outrage is Destroying Lives, Ending Debate, and Endangering Democracy
- The Plot Against the President: The True Story of How Congressman Devin Nunes Uncovered the Biggest Political Scandal in U.S. History
- Ask the Experts: Combatting the Cancel Culture on Campus
- Everything You Wanted to Know About Russiagate but Were Afraid to Ask
- Israel: What Should the Map Look Like?
- Nigel Farage (The Godfather of Brexit), Brexit Party
- Nigel Farage (The Godfather of Brexit), Brexit Party
- Culture Jihad: How to Stop the Left from Killing a Nation
Perhaps the real highlight though is the performance of a play entitled FBI Lovebirds: UnderCovers about Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, which is written by Phelim McAleer and will feature Dean Cain from The New Adventures of Superman and Kristy Swanson, the original Buffy the Vampire Slayer!
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