Speaking live at a rally in Tulsa, Donald Trump has heavily criticised racial justice protesters across the US, his campaign even blaming the low turnout in Oklahoma on demonstrators.
The president also went on a long rant defending his awkward walk down a ramp at West Point military academy, including a lengthy mime of the viral moment.
Police have arrested a woman wearing a shirt that reads “I Can’t Breathe” outside of the rally as reports indicate six of the president's staffers working on logistics for the event have tested positive for Covid-19.
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President rebukes Dr Fauci over wary assessment of NFL restart
Donald Trump has lashed out at Dr Anthony Fauci, the popular director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, after he expressed his concern over prematurely resuming the NFL season despite ongoing coronavirus concerns, with the president reminding the expert he is not in charge of the sport’s governing body.
Dr Fauci had told CNN on Thursday that American football teams would need to emulate the “bubble” protocols adopted by the NBA and MLS in order to proceed with their seasons this calendar year. Even then, he warned, it might not be altogether safe given the inherent full-contact nature of a sport Dr Fauci described as a “perfect setup”for the spread of the deadly respiratory disease.
“Unless players are essentially in a bubble, insulated from the community and they are tested nearly every day, it would be very hard to see how football is able to be played this fall,” he said. “If there is a second wave, which is certainly a possibility and which would be complicated by the predictable flu season, football may not happen this year.”
Trump, already at odds with the NFL having said he would not watch it if players continued to take a knee during the national anthem in sympathy with Black Lives Matter, did not like that one bit - and told his veteran diseases expert so publicly.
Trump given go ahead for controversial Tulsa rally
The president is due to make his return to the campaign trail in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Saturday evening, the event given the go-ahead in court despite fears the massive arena gathering could further spread Covid-19, with social distancing next to impossible.
The president is due to make his return to the campaign trail in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Saturday evening, the event given the go-ahead in court despite fears the massive arena gathering could further spread Covid-19, with social distancing next to impossible.
Languishing behind presidential challenger Joe Biden in the polls, Trump is by all accounts chomping at the bit to return to the format that has so often energised himself and his loyal supporters: a raucous, no-holds-barred rally before tens of thousands of ardent fans, this time at the 19,000-seater BOK Center.
The rally is shaping up to be one of the biggest indoor events in the US since large gatherings were shut down in March because of the coronavirus and has been scheduled in spite of the protests of local health officials and as Covid-19 cases spike in many states. The event is expected to draw even crowds of protesters and counter-demonstrators to the area as well.
It's been more than three months since the nation last saw a Trump rally. The unemployment rate stood at about 3.5 per cent when he last took to the stage on 2 March. The number of coronavirus cases in the US was estimated at 91 at that point. "Our country is stronger than ever before," Trump declared.
Now, the unemployment rate stands at 13.3 per cent, based on the most recent monthly report, and the number of confirmed coronavirus cases has soared to about 2.2m. The number of deaths reported in the US has meanwhile surpassed 119,000. Outrage over the criminal justice system's treatment of minorities following the death of George Floyd and other African Americans has spawned protests around the nation. Only about a quarter of Americans say the country is headed in the right direction.
Trump understands the stakes and was determined to return to his signature campaign events. He dismissed complaints that bringing together throngs for an indoor rally risked spreading the coronavirus as nothing more than politics.
Trump's visit has also raised fears of clashes between protesters and Trump supporters. Officials expect a crowd of 100,000 people or more in downtown Tulsa. Trump will speak inside the BOK Center as well as at an outdoor stage. But his audience also will be voters in battleground states such as Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Florida.
Republican strategist Alex Conant said the rally gives the president a chance to reset his campaign after a couple of tough months.
"The Tulsa rally is trying to ignite some momentum in a campaign that's been going nowhere," Conant said. "When you look at the polls and then you look at the calendar, you realize he has to do something to try to reframe the election.”
Tulsa rally make or break for Trump as administration ignores expert caution to press ahead
Trump was reportedly warned against staging his rally by everyone from his own Coronavirus Task Force leaders Dr Deborah Birx and Dr Fauci to the city’s own public health director, Dr Bruce Dart, but pressed on anyway, with the White House repeatedly reminding supporters that attending meant assuming responsibility for the risk themselves and that the administration would not be liable if they are subsequently taken ill.
Whatever transpires in Tulsa today will go a long way to determining how the campaign plays out in the coming months. Success lays the groundwork for Trump to take his show to states that will determine the presidential election but a spike in coronavirus cases coming out of the city would make his reception in those states more contentious. The campaign said it will hand out masks and hand sanitiser but there is no requirement that participants use them. Participants will also undergo a temperature check.
The president's campaign views his rallies as critical to his success. They elevate the enthusiasm level of his supporters and often lead them to donate, knock on doors and make phone calls on the president's behalf.
Trump has generally held his campaign rallies in swing states or in Democratic-leaning states such as Colorado or New Mexico that he hopes to flip this November. Oklahoma fits none of those categories. The last Democratic candidate to emerge victorious there in a presidential election was Lyndon Johnson in 1964.
Trump won the state with more than 65 per cent of the vote in the 2016 election. The Republican stronghold gives Trump more assurance that he'll face little resistance to his efforts from top state officials.
"It's going to be safe," said Republican governor Kevin Stitt. "We have to learn how to be safe and how to move on."
Tulsa resident Sue Williams picked her place in line on Thursday afternoon. "I've been praying, and I don't believe I'm going to get the coronavirus," Williams, 72, said, adding that she signed a waiver on her ticket application about the risks involved in going inside.
Mark Kelleher, of Oklahoma City, dismissed the threat of the virus as "fear porn."
"I think it's all a hoax, to tell you the truth," Kelleher said.
The rally was originally scheduled for Friday, but it was moved back a day following an uproar that it otherwise would have happened on Juneteenth and in a city where a 1921 white-on-black attack killed as many as 300 people.
Campaign officials said that Trump would focus on what they call the "great American comeback." White House officials continue to project strong growth numbers for the US economy in the third and fourth quarters. They want to give Americans a reason for optimism. "We are back and we will be booming," press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said on Friday.
President attacks DC police after Confederate statue torn down
Trump has also been busy on Twitter lashing out at Washington’s police force after a statue of a Confederate general was pulled down, the latest of many such protests to take place across the nation as America continues to reckon with its history in the wake of George Floyd’s death at the hands of law enforcement on 25 May.
The 11-foot monument to Albert Pike in Judiciary Square was torn down by demonstrators on Juneteenth, which commemorates the freeing of the slaves in 1865, and was subsequently set on fire amid cries of "No justice, no peace!" and "No racist police!".
It had stood on its plinth since 1901 and been paid for by the Freemasons, among whom Pike was an influential leader.
It had stood on its plinth since 1901 and been paid for by the Freemasons, among whom Pike was an influential leader.
Trump responded angrily, denouncing DC’s police force and copying in the city’s Democratic mayor Muriel Bowser, whom he has repeatedly sparred with in recent weeks and who has so far ignored him.
Obama adviser says Trump administration 'racist to its core'
Susan Rice, former national security adviser to the Obama White House, has told MSNBC that current administration is inherently racist and that senators who support it belong on “the trash heap of history”.
Rice, in contention to be Joe Biden’s running mate, commented: “You know, to serve an administration which has been racist to its core for the last three and a half years, from comparing the peaceful protesters at Charlottesville to white supremacists, calling white supremacists very fine people, all the way through to the recent weeks where the administration has disparaged the Black Lives Matter movement, disparaged the peaceful protesters, and basically made plain that they prefer to stand by a Confederate legacy than a modern America, it's been an administration whose record on race is just disgraceful.”
The ex-aide was speaking to Andrea Mitchell following the resignation of Mary Elizabeth Taylor from the State Department over opposition to Trump’s handling of the George Floyd protests, a resignation she characterised as “better late than never”.
Susan Rice, former national security adviser to the Obama White House, has told MSNBC that current administration is inherently racist and that senators who support it belong on “the trash heap of history”.
Rice, in contention to be Joe Biden’s running mate, commented: “You know, to serve an administration which has been racist to its core for the last three and a half years, from comparing the peaceful protesters at Charlottesville to white supremacists, calling white supremacists very fine people, all the way through to the recent weeks where the administration has disparaged the Black Lives Matter movement, disparaged the peaceful protesters, and basically made plain that they prefer to stand by a Confederate legacy than a modern America, it's been an administration whose record on race is just disgraceful.”
The ex-aide was speaking to Andrea Mitchell following the resignation of Mary Elizabeth Taylor from the State Department over opposition to Trump’s handling of the George Floyd protests, a resignation she characterised as “better late than never”.
US attorney investigating Trump allies denies resigning after William Barr announces dismissal
Trump’s attorney general William Barr finds himself in an embarrassing position this morning after the US Justice Department moved to oust a US official in Manhattan overseeing key prosecutions of the president's allies and an investigation of his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, only for the attorney in question to refuse to budge.
Geoffrey Berman said he was refusing to leave his post as US attorney for the Southern District of New York and that his ongoing investigations would continue.
"I have not resigned, and have no intention of resigning, my position, to which I was appointed by the Judges of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. I will step down when a presidentially appointed nominee is confirmed by the Senate," Berman said in an extraordinary statement. "Until then, our investigations will move forward without delay or interruption."
The stand-off set off an amazing clash between the Justice Department and one of the nation's top districts, which has tried major mob and terror cases over the years.
It is also likely to deepen tensions between the Justice Department and congressional Democrats who have accused Barr of politicising the agency and acting more like Trump's personal lawyer than the nation's chief law enforcement officer.
The move to oust Berman also comes days after allegations surfaced from former Trump national security adviser John Bolton that the president sought to interfere in a Southern District of New York investigation into the state-owned Turkish bank in an effort to cut deals with Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Barr offered no explanation for why he was pushing out Berman in the statement he issued late on Friday.
The White House quickly announced that Trump was nominating the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission to the job, a lawyer with virtually no experience as a federal prosecutor.
Hours later, Berman issued his own statement saying he had learned that he was being pushed out through a press release.
He vowed to stay on the job until a Trump nominee is confirmed by the Senate, challenging Barr's power to remove him from office because he was appointed to the job by federal judges, not by the president.
Under federal law, a US attorney who is appointed by district court judges can serve "until the vacancy is filled".
A senior Justice Department official said the department was pressing forward with its plans and will have Craig Carpenito, the US attorney in New Jersey, take over the office temporarily, starting on 3 July.
Democrats have repeatedly accused Trump's Justice Department of political interference and those concerns have also been pervasive among some rank and file officials in the agency. House Judiciary Committee chairman Jerry Nadler said his committee was inviting Berman to testify next week.
Federal prosecutors in New York have overseen numerous prosecutions and investigations with ties to Trump in recent years.
That includes an ongoing investigation into Giuliani's business dealings, including whether he failed to register as a foreign agent, according to people familiar with the probe.
The office has also prosecuted a number of Trump associates, including his former personal lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen, who served a prison sentence for lying to Congress and campaign finance crimes.
Berman has also overseen the prosecution of two Florida businessmen, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, who were associates of Giuliani and tied to the Ukraine impeachment investigation. The men were charged in October with federal campaign finance violations, including hiding the origin of a $325,000 (£263,000) donation to a group supporting Trump's re-election.
Twitter removes Trump video labelled 'manipulated media'
The president yesterday tweeted a video accusing CNN of crying wolf over racism in America by presenting a video of two toddlers playing through the eyes of the "hysterical" "mainstream media".
It was all supposed to be "satirical", press secretary Kayeligh McEnany argued yesterday - rather weakly - as the social network slapped a "manipulated medai" warning on it before eventually removing the whole sorry mess entirely from its pages.
Here's more from Justin Vallejo.
The president yesterday tweeted a video accusing CNN of crying wolf over racism in America by presenting a video of two toddlers playing through the eyes of the "hysterical" "mainstream media".
It was all supposed to be "satirical", press secretary Kayeligh McEnany argued yesterday - rather weakly - as the social network slapped a "manipulated medai" warning on it before eventually removing the whole sorry mess entirely from its pages.
Here's more from Justin Vallejo.
Kayleigh McEnany claims Trump hiring 'whackos and liars' is modelled on Abraham Lincoln's 'team of rivals'
Following up on a question Paula Reid of CBS put to the president himself at the White House on Thursday (getting no answer), NBC reporter Peter Alexander asked the White House press secretary last night why Trump keeps hiring people he subsequently goes on to denigrate as "incompetents" etc. in light of his latest attacks on ex-hawk John Bolton over The Room Where It Happened.
Her answer, while laughable, was at least a new one.
Following up on a question Paula Reid of CBS put to the president himself at the White House on Thursday (getting no answer), NBC reporter Peter Alexander asked the White House press secretary last night why Trump keeps hiring people he subsequently goes on to denigrate as "incompetents" etc. in light of his latest attacks on ex-hawk John Bolton over The Room Where It Happened.
Her answer, while laughable, was at least a new one.
She also said that she would be in Tulsa but would not be wearing a mask.
Trump holding another 'Salute to America' on Fourth of July despite being urged not to
In his determination to reopen the country and kickstart the US economy - whatever the cost - the president has announced he will again hold an elaborate pseudo-totalitarian military extravangza on Independence Day, despite written opposition from Democrats.
In his determination to reopen the country and kickstart the US economy - whatever the cost - the president has announced he will again hold an elaborate pseudo-totalitarian military extravangza on Independence Day, despite written opposition from Democrats.
“Given the current Covid-19 crisis, we believe such an event would needlessly risk the health and safety of thousands of Americans. Further, this event would come at the cost of millions of taxpayer dollars while we are facing an unprecedented economic downturn due to the pandemic,” lawmakers wrote to defence secretary Mark Esper and interior secretary David Bernhardt.
Here's Kate Ng's report.
Here's Kate Ng's report.
Graph shows Covid-19 persisting in US while it subsides in other worst-hit countries
Here's Graig Graziosi with an ashonishing graphic illustrating the dogged persistence of the novel coronavirus in the US compared with other nations who suffered a comparably vicious dose.
Here's Graig Graziosi with an ashonishing graphic illustrating the dogged persistence of the novel coronavirus in the US compared with other nations who suffered a comparably vicious dose.
What has two thumbs and can't wait to catch coronavirus?
This legend.
This legend.
Mike Pence refuses to say ‘Black Lives Matter’
The vice president was interviewed by Brian Taff of WPVI-TV, an Philadelphia affiliate of ABC, who challenged to say those three simple words on Juneteenth.
“I wonder, sir, if those are words that you would utter right here today,” the anchor said. ‘Black lives matter.’ Can you say those words?”
“Let me just say that what happened to George Floyd was a tragedy,” Pence replied. “And in this nation, especially on Juneteenth, we celebrate the fact that from the founding of this nation we’ve cherished the ideal that all, all of us are created equal and endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights. And so all lives matter in a very real sense.”
Not satisfied, Taff persisted.
“Forgive me for pressing you on this, sir, but I will note you did not say those words, ‘Black lives matter,’ and there is an important distinction,” he said. “People are saying, of course all lives matter, but to say the words is an acknowledgment that Black lives also matter in a time in this country when it appears that there’s a segment of our society that doesn’t agree. So why will you not say those words?”
“Well, I don’t accept the fact, Brian, that there’s a segment of American society that disagrees in the preciousness and importance of every human life,” Pence said in response.
Melania Trump reads anti-slavery story for Juneteenth as husband continues to threaten racial justice protesters
The first lady's attempt to do the right thing was again undermined by one of the president's boorish tweets yesterday, much as her entire #BeBest anti-bulling initiative has been from the start.
Here's Louise Hall's report.
The first lady's attempt to do the right thing was again undermined by one of the president's boorish tweets yesterday, much as her entire #BeBest anti-bulling initiative has been from the start.
Here's Louise Hall's report.
Juneteenth protesters gather outside Mitch McConnell's old Kentucky home
The Senate majority leader - who prides himself on being the "Grim Reaper" of Democratic legislative ambitions - can't have slept much last night as activists from the youth environmental group the Sunrise Movement gathered outside his house to pledge his ousting in November and call for justice for Breona Taylor, the black Louisville woman killed in her own home by police executing a "no-knock warrant".
The Senate majority leader - who prides himself on being the "Grim Reaper" of Democratic legislative ambitions - can't have slept much last night as activists from the youth environmental group the Sunrise Movement gathered outside his house to pledge his ousting in November and call for justice for Breona Taylor, the black Louisville woman killed in her own home by police executing a "no-knock warrant".
US Navy reverses decision to reinstate captain who warned of coronavirus outbreak on USS Roosevelt
Captain Brett Crozier was given a hero's reception when he was dismissed of command of the war ship in April after sounding the alarm about a coronavirus outbreak on board and writing a stinging letter to his superiors arguing: “We are not at war. Sailors do not need to die. If we do not act now, we are failing to properly take care of our most trusted asset - our sailors."
Louise Hall has this report on he Navy's refusal to reinstate him.
Captain Brett Crozier was given a hero's reception when he was dismissed of command of the war ship in April after sounding the alarm about a coronavirus outbreak on board and writing a stinging letter to his superiors arguing: “We are not at war. Sailors do not need to die. If we do not act now, we are failing to properly take care of our most trusted asset - our sailors."
Louise Hall has this report on he Navy's refusal to reinstate him.
Trump’s campaign manager admits he didn’t vote in 2016
Brad Parscale has been forced to confess that he didn’t mark an X next to Donald J Trump’s name on 8 November 2016 (or anyone else’s), after CBS News obtained election documents for Bexar County, Texas, where he was living at the time.
Parscale, who served as digital media director for Trump's first White House bid before being promoted this time around, told CBS in a statement that he missed a deadline to vote by mail.
"In 2016, I was in New York working to elect Donald Trump and encountered a series of problems receiving my absentee ballot from Texas and missed the deadline," he said.
Never a man to miss an opportunity, Parscale added this was "just further proof that vote-by-mail is not the flawless solution Democrats and the media pretend it is."
Trump wraps arguably one of worst weeks of presidency as Republican strategists fret about November
John Bennett writes: For Donald Trump this week, when it rained, it poured. Of course, that’s going to be the case when you are, for the most part, the one dousing your struggling garden with vinegar.
The president on Friday wrapped arguably one of the worst weeks of his presidency out of public view, mostly broadcasting messages for his political base on Twitter. He was gearing up for his official return on Saturday night to the campaign trail – and seemingly laying low on Juneteenth.
The quiet day at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue marked a noted change for team Trump after the president’s bruising week that accelerated a sense among some Republican strategists that his re-election chances are sputtering largely because the president simply cannot get out of his own way. John Bolton‘s damning book excerpts painted a picture of an ill-equipped commander-in-chief. The Supreme Court handed him a major immigration defeat. His poll numbers continued to sink. There were new questions about his coronavirus response efforts.
How abolitionists see an America without police and prisons
While some campaigners see the phrase 'defund the police' as a starting point for reform, others argue it should mean exactly what it says, writes Alex Woodward
Legal experts and lawmakers decry Barr's 'naked abuse of power'
Democrats and legal experts decried a “Friday night massacre” and “naked abuse of power” after Donald Trump’s attorney general attempted to remove the man leading investigations into the president’s inner circle at the powerful US attorney’s office in Manhattan.
The explosive standoff took place on Friday as Attorney General William Barr said Geoffrey Berman, US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, was leaving his top position at the office.
Ben Rhodes, former deputy national security adviser to Barack Obama, called for the attorney general’s impeachment on Twitter, writing in one post: “We are so many miles further down to road to authoritarianism than our political and media culture can process.”
The former director of the Office of Government Ethics, Walter Shaub, alleged Mr Barr was “going to need to be the subject of a criminal investigation” after attempting to oust Mr Berman.
“But first Congress needs to impeach him,” he added. “The inquiry should begin Monday. There is no excuse for not doing it.
Lawmakers on Capitol Hill also resurfaced their calls for Mr Barr’s impeachment and demanded he resign amid the latest controversy.
Elizabeth Warren (D—Ma) wrote in a tweet: “This is a naked abuse of power. I’ve already called for AG William Barr to resign & for Congress to impeach him.”
Story to come...
