Donald Trump’s White House has claimed the rest of the world views the US as a “leader” in the coronavirus pandemic despite leading with record-level Covid-19 cases and
In a social media livestream on Monday, the nation's leading infectious disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci said the latest spike should not be "considered a wave".
"It was a surge, or a resurgence of infections superimposed upon a baseline that really never got down to where we wanted to go," he said.
But the president has insisted that "Lamestream Fake News Media" refuses to show that Covid-19-linked deaths have declined, and that "we now have the lowest Fatality (Mortality) Rate in the World" and are "doing so well".
The US mortality rate isn't anywhere near the bottom – deaths per 100 confirmed cases are at 4.5 per cent, and deaths per 100,000 capita are at nearly 40, according to Johns Hopkins University.
More than 130,000 Americans have died, far more than any country. The death toll is more than double that of Brazil, the second deadliest country.
Mr Trump began his week by lashing out at Nascar driver Bubba Wallace, statue protesters and China after being criticised for his divisive Mount Rushmore address on Friday, in which he attacked left-wing activists and defended Confederate generals, with senator Tammy Duckworth denouncing him for ignoring the country’s 130,000 coronavirus fatalities.
Mr Wallace – from whom the president demanded an apology after claiming that an incident in which a noose appeared on his garage was a "hoax" – offered his rebuke: "Love over hate every day. Love should come naturally as people are TAUGHT to hate. Even when it's HATE from the POTUS."
The White House refused to answer why Mr Wallace should apologise.
Mr Trump has meanwhile claimed that crime rates are spiralling in New York City and Chicago and offered federal assistance to curtail it while again attacking Fox News for broadcasting “phoney suppression polls” showing him trailing Joe Biden in the election race.
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Trump attacked for gaslighting nation on coronavirus and focus on 'dead traitors'
Donald Trump starts the week under fire over his divisive Mount Rushmore address attacking left-wing activists and defending Confederate generals, with Illinois senator Tammy Duckworth denouncing the president for spending “all his time talking about dead traitors” and not the country’s 130,000 coronavirus fatalities.
Trump spoke in the shadow of the South Dakota monument on Friday before holding a “Salute to America” Independence Day event at the White House on Saturday. He failed to address the growing Covid-19 crisis in states like Texas, Florida, Arizona and California and there was little evidence of mass or social distancing among the crowds at Rushmore, despite his own son’s girlfriend, Kimberly Guilfoyle, testing positive for the respiratory illness upon arrival.
Speaking to Dana Bash on CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday, Senator Duckworth, a Democrat and war veteran, said Trump’s speech revealed that his priorities “are all wrong” and that rather than tackling the resurgent coronavirus, addressing police reform in the wake of the killing of George Floyd or standing up to Russia after it allegedly placed a bounty on the heads of American troops, he preferred to launch on a spurious attack on “cancel culture” and efforts to bring down statues that many consider offensive.
Here's Alex Woodward with more on his dark and cynical speech.
City mayors worn Covid-19 pandemic in danger of getting out of control
Also speaking on the Sunday politics shows yesterday were the mayors of major cities in stricken states, who warned that the pandemic was in danger of getting out of control.
Sylvester Turner of Houston, Texas, told Face the Nation on CBS: “If we don’t get our hands around this virus quickly, our hospitals could be in serious, serious trouble.”
Turner said the virus was disproportionately affecting people of colour and Latinos in his city and added: “The major problem is staffing… We can always provide additional beds, but we need the people, the nurses and everybody else in the medical profession to staff those beds.”
His Austin counterpart, Steve Adler - likewise a Democrat - attacked Trump for his “ambiguous” messaging throughout the crisis.
“It makes me angry,” the mayor told Bash on CNN. “You know, I understand he has a tough job, but it is dangerous not to be sending a clear message to Americans.”
“When they start hearing that kind of ambiguous message coming out of Washington, there are more and more people that won’t wear masks, that won’t social distance, that won’t do what it takes to keep a community safe,” he added.
On ABC’s This Week, Phoenix mayor Kate Gallego was equally frank.
"We opened way too early in Arizona. We were one of the last states to go to stay at home and one of the first to re-emerge, and we reemerged at zero to 60," she said. "We had crowded nightclubs handing out free champagne, no masks. Our 20- to 44-year-olds, which is my own demographic, really led the explosion, and we've seen such growth in that area. We're seeing a lot of people go to large family gatherings and infect their family members."
On the same show, Miami’s Republican mayor Francis Suarez admitted “we’ve been breaking record after record after record all in the last couple of weeks."
Florida reported a record 11,458 cases on Saturday, and as of Friday, one in five coronavirus tests in the Miami-Dade region was coming back positive.
The mayor of that county, Carlos Gimenez, dared to blame his own constituents for that.
“My residents also kind of let their guard down in late May, early June, and also some of the protests we had here I think contributed to it,” Gimenez told Margaret Brennan on Face the Nation.
“We saw a rapid rise in young people being positive for Covid-19 around mid-June, and I think that had a lot to do with probably socializing, young people going to parties, maybe graduation parties at home,” he added.
Here’s the latest from Griffin Connolly on Florida as cases rise in 40 states.
FDA commissioner refuses to endorse Trump's claim that 99 per cent of Covid-19 cases are 'totally harmless'
Perhaps the most significant of yesterday’s interviews though was Bash’s exchange with Food and Drug Administration (FDA) head Stephen Hahn, who was challenged on the president’s assertion that 99 per cent of coronavirus cases are “totally harmless” and did not exactly spring to his boss’s defence.
“I’m not going to get into who’s right and who’s wrong,” Hahn answered. “What I’m gonna say... is what I’ve said before, which is that it’s a serious problem that we have. We’ve seen this surge in cases. We must do something to stem the tide."
An expert who might have been more forthcoming - and found a way of artfully contradicting the president without setting off the volcano - is Dr Anthony Fauci, but, according to CBS host Margaret Brennan, his media appearances are being reined in by the White House.
Here’s Griffin Connolly’s report on Hahn.
President scaremongers over crime and berates Fox on Twitter
After Senator Duckworth accused Trump of seeking distractions, he swiftly proved her point on Twitter by claiming that crime rates are spiralling in New York City and Chicago and offered federal assistance to curtail it.
He then again attacked Fox News for broadcasting “phony suppression polls” showing him trailing Joe Biden in the election race - and actually offered his followers two (very suspect) alternative news sources.
He then again attacked Fox News for broadcasting “phony suppression polls” showing him trailing Joe Biden in the election race - and actually offered his followers two (very suspect) alternative news sources.
Kanye West announces 2020 presidential run
Oh good god no...
Kate Ng has this report on the rapper's late, late entry into the race (assuming he's serious), which has already won him the endorsement of fellow wealthy eccentric Elon Musk and seen pundits worrying he could carve votes away from Biden and hand victory to Trump.
Oh good god no...
Kate Ng has this report on the rapper's late, late entry into the race (assuming he's serious), which has already won him the endorsement of fellow wealthy eccentric Elon Musk and seen pundits worrying he could carve votes away from Biden and hand victory to Trump.
What might a 'Yeezy' White House look like?
Kate Ng has this on Kanye's confused political philosophy (to put it generously), which has seen him excitedly race over to Trump Tower and the Oval Office to gladhand the reality TV president and praise their shared "dragon energy" and come under the influence of far-right attention-seeker Candace Owens, who inspired him to tweet that slavery was "a choice" in 2018, to widespread disbelief and outcry.
Kate Ng has this on Kanye's confused political philosophy (to put it generously), which has seen him excitedly race over to Trump Tower and the Oval Office to gladhand the reality TV president and praise their shared "dragon energy" and come under the influence of far-right attention-seeker Candace Owens, who inspired him to tweet that slavery was "a choice" in 2018, to widespread disbelief and outcry.
Former Trump aide Michael Flynn appears to make pledge to QAnon in Fourth of July video
The president's short-lived first national security adviser - the subject of long-running court cases since he was dimissed for lying to the FBI and Mike Pence over his foreign lobbying interests in 2017 - is in trouble again after being pictured apparently endorsing the disturbing QAnon "deep state" conspiracy theory.
Griffin Connolly has this one.
The president's short-lived first national security adviser - the subject of long-running court cases since he was dimissed for lying to the FBI and Mike Pence over his foreign lobbying interests in 2017 - is in trouble again after being pictured apparently endorsing the disturbing QAnon "deep state" conspiracy theory.
Griffin Connolly has this one.
Michael Cohen could be sent back to prison after being spotted at restaurant after release
Another Trump World bad boy, the president's former private attorney, has also been naughty, apparently breaking the terms of his house arrest to go out for a slap up lunch.
Oliver O'Connell has this one.
Susan Rice: Trump picks Putin over troops ‘even when it comes to the blood of American service members’
Also on TV yesterday was Obama's ex-national security adviser, in contention to be Joe Biden's running mate, who turned up the heat on the president for his refusal to take the Russian bounty story seriously for fear of jeopardising his friendship with his Kremlin counterpart.
Rice told Andrea Mitchell on NBC's Meet the Press: The message to Vladimir Putin is you can kill American servicemen and women with absolute impunity,” she said. “This is an extraordinary revelation. The president of the United States has demonstrated absolutely callous disregard for the safety and security of American forces in a war zone and there's no explanation for this.”
Also on TV yesterday was Obama's ex-national security adviser, in contention to be Joe Biden's running mate, who turned up the heat on the president for his refusal to take the Russian bounty story seriously for fear of jeopardising his friendship with his Kremlin counterpart.
Rice told Andrea Mitchell on NBC's Meet the Press: The message to Vladimir Putin is you can kill American servicemen and women with absolute impunity,” she said. “This is an extraordinary revelation. The president of the United States has demonstrated absolutely callous disregard for the safety and security of American forces in a war zone and there's no explanation for this.”
John Bolton says Trump spends more time watching TV than governing
Another former US national security adviser - still out there pounding the pavement and promoting his book - told Face the Nation yesterday that Trump is basically Jim Carrey's character from The Cable Guy.
“I think it’s a combination of television and listening to people outside of the government that he trusts for one reason or another,” Bolton said on CBS, responding to a question on precisely where the president gets his bright ideas from.
“I think that if you could clock the amount of time he spends actually in the Oval Office versus the amount of time he spends in the little dining room off the Oval Office with the cable news networks of one form or another on, it would be a very interesting statistic."
Another former US national security adviser - still out there pounding the pavement and promoting his book - told Face the Nation yesterday that Trump is basically Jim Carrey's character from The Cable Guy.
“I think it’s a combination of television and listening to people outside of the government that he trusts for one reason or another,” Bolton said on CBS, responding to a question on precisely where the president gets his bright ideas from.
“I think that if you could clock the amount of time he spends actually in the Oval Office versus the amount of time he spends in the little dining room off the Oval Office with the cable news networks of one form or another on, it would be a very interesting statistic."
Trump campaign pressing on with outdoor rallies despite coronavirus concerns
The president's next rally will take place on Saturday in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, according to the campaign.
The campaign gathering at Portsmouth International Airport will come three weeks after an indoor rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the president's first of the Covid-19 era, drew a smaller-than-expected crowd amid concerns of rising infections in the region.
The Trump campaign's announcement of the Portsmouth rally noted that "there will be ample access to hand sanitiser and all attendees will be provided a face mask that they are strongly encouraged to wear." Many people at Trump's rally in Tulsa skipped wearing masks and relatively few masks were seen during his speech at Mount Rushmore last Friday.
Public health officials are cautioning against holding large gatherings as the virus continues to spread throughout much of the country, but they believe outdoor congregations are relatively less risky than indoor gatherings. White House counselor Kellyanne Conway said last week that Trump may more frequently opt to turn to outdoor venues to host his campaign speeches.
"We need to understand it's a new world in terms of there are many people who support the president... who are not going to another rally," Conway said. "It's high risk, low reward for them, because they already support him."
Trump and his campaign hyped his formal return to the campaign trail with last month's Tulsa rally, which ultimately ended in a disappointing turnout and an outbreak of the virus among staff and Secret Service agents. The news about Don Jr's girlfriend, Kimberly Guilfoyle, testing positive in South Dakota appears not to have swayed them.
The president was narrowly defeated in 2016 in New Hampshire by Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. Before the pandemic, campaign officials had pointed to the state, in addition to Minnesota and New Mexico, as a place where they saw a chance to expand the electoral map.
"Trump's response to the Covid-19 crisis has been chaotic and woefully inadequate, resulting in thousands of Granite Staters contracting the virus and hundreds of lives lost, while causing significant damage to our state's economy," New Hampshire Democratic Party chairman Ray Buckley said after the rally was announced. "Instead of helping our state safely recover, Trump is flying in for a political rally that will only further highlight the chaos he has caused."
Trump has previously teased holding rallies in Texas, North Carolina, Florida and elsewhere. Now his campaign is taking a more cautious approach as those states and others have experienced worrisome upticks in cases and concerns that even Trump's own supporters may not be willing to turn out in droves to his appearances. A campaign aide described the campaign's thinking on the condition of anonymity.
Trump also plans to continue making frequent official visits to battleground states, where he is expected to continue to highlight his administration's response to the pandemic and efforts to reboot the nation's economy. Those smaller events don't replicate for Trump or his supporters the energy of his roaring arena rallies, but they are often paid for by taxpayers and still feature political broadsides at Democrats.
Trump held two in-person fundraisers in early June. Subsequent events have yet to be scheduled, but aides insisted there was "pent-up demand" for high-dollar events featuring the president that have been postponed due to the outbreak.
AP
The president's next rally will take place on Saturday in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, according to the campaign.
The campaign gathering at Portsmouth International Airport will come three weeks after an indoor rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the president's first of the Covid-19 era, drew a smaller-than-expected crowd amid concerns of rising infections in the region.
The Trump campaign's announcement of the Portsmouth rally noted that "there will be ample access to hand sanitiser and all attendees will be provided a face mask that they are strongly encouraged to wear." Many people at Trump's rally in Tulsa skipped wearing masks and relatively few masks were seen during his speech at Mount Rushmore last Friday.
Public health officials are cautioning against holding large gatherings as the virus continues to spread throughout much of the country, but they believe outdoor congregations are relatively less risky than indoor gatherings. White House counselor Kellyanne Conway said last week that Trump may more frequently opt to turn to outdoor venues to host his campaign speeches.
"We need to understand it's a new world in terms of there are many people who support the president... who are not going to another rally," Conway said. "It's high risk, low reward for them, because they already support him."
Trump and his campaign hyped his formal return to the campaign trail with last month's Tulsa rally, which ultimately ended in a disappointing turnout and an outbreak of the virus among staff and Secret Service agents. The news about Don Jr's girlfriend, Kimberly Guilfoyle, testing positive in South Dakota appears not to have swayed them.
The president was narrowly defeated in 2016 in New Hampshire by Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. Before the pandemic, campaign officials had pointed to the state, in addition to Minnesota and New Mexico, as a place where they saw a chance to expand the electoral map.
"Trump's response to the Covid-19 crisis has been chaotic and woefully inadequate, resulting in thousands of Granite Staters contracting the virus and hundreds of lives lost, while causing significant damage to our state's economy," New Hampshire Democratic Party chairman Ray Buckley said after the rally was announced. "Instead of helping our state safely recover, Trump is flying in for a political rally that will only further highlight the chaos he has caused."
Trump has previously teased holding rallies in Texas, North Carolina, Florida and elsewhere. Now his campaign is taking a more cautious approach as those states and others have experienced worrisome upticks in cases and concerns that even Trump's own supporters may not be willing to turn out in droves to his appearances. A campaign aide described the campaign's thinking on the condition of anonymity.
Trump also plans to continue making frequent official visits to battleground states, where he is expected to continue to highlight his administration's response to the pandemic and efforts to reboot the nation's economy. Those smaller events don't replicate for Trump or his supporters the energy of his roaring arena rallies, but they are often paid for by taxpayers and still feature political broadsides at Democrats.
Trump held two in-person fundraisers in early June. Subsequent events have yet to be scheduled, but aides insisted there was "pent-up demand" for high-dollar events featuring the president that have been postponed due to the outbreak.
AP
Fox criticised for cropping Trump out of Jeffrey Epstein party photo
The president may be raging against Fox on Twitter but the Rupert Murdoch-owned network continues to do him favours, including cutting him out of this picture of the dead billionaire paedophile and Ghislaine Maxwell (while leaving Melania in!)
Note the poster of this tweet is the self-same constitutional law expert who defended Trump during the impeachment hearings last December - suggesting shifting sands in his allegiance.
The president may be raging against Fox on Twitter but the Rupert Murdoch-owned network continues to do him favours, including cutting him out of this picture of the dead billionaire paedophile and Ghislaine Maxwell (while leaving Melania in!)
Note the poster of this tweet is the self-same constitutional law expert who defended Trump during the impeachment hearings last December - suggesting shifting sands in his allegiance.
Trump rages at 'anarchists' for tearing down statue of abolitionist Frederick Douglass
The president's first tweet of the day finds him resuming his "statue wars" distraction, quoting a Breitbart report on a statue of abolitionist Frederick Douglass being vandalised in New York state - surely a very unlikely target for Black Lives Matter activists?
Here's Chris Riotta's report.
Trump lashes out at Biden, China and Nascar driver who stood up for Black Lives Matter
He's angry today my friends.
We've heard his first two grievances before but this attack on Bubba Wallace for opposing the flying of the Confederate battle flag at stock car events is pretty lively.
Still no word on Russia or the coronavirus crisis at home though.
He's angry today my friends.
We've heard his first two grievances before but this attack on Bubba Wallace for opposing the flying of the Confederate battle flag at stock car events is pretty lively.
Still no word on Russia or the coronavirus crisis at home though.
'With an inept president in charge, America’s devastating second wave was inevitable'
For Indy Premium, here's Holly Baxter on the growing - and avoidable - disaster facing the US.
For Indy Premium, here's Holly Baxter on the growing - and avoidable - disaster facing the US.
Frank Sinatra ‘loathed’ Trump, says singer’s daughter after president lauds late star
Old Blue Eyes, who reportedly once told Trump to "go f*** himself" after he questioned the crooner's appearance fee to sing at the opening of his Atlantic City casino, has nevertheless been nominated for inclusion in the president's National Garden of Heroes.
But Sinatra's ex-wife Mia Farrow and daughter Nancy have been exposing a few home truths on Twitter.
Oliver O'Connell has this report.
Old Blue Eyes, who reportedly once told Trump to "go f*** himself" after he questioned the crooner's appearance fee to sing at the opening of his Atlantic City casino, has nevertheless been nominated for inclusion in the president's National Garden of Heroes.
But Sinatra's ex-wife Mia Farrow and daughter Nancy have been exposing a few home truths on Twitter.
Oliver O'Connell has this report.
Trump accuses New York and Chicago of playing ‘sanctuary city card’
The president appears to be operating in a completely different reality to the rest of us right now, utterly refusing to address the coronavirus resurgence he has to take some responsibility for after advocating reopening.
Instead, he’s insisting on painting a nightmarish vision of two Democratic cities and raging against people opposed to racist monuments.
If he’s so concerned about gun violence in Chicago he should consider the impact of his own rhetoric, given that the city police force recovered this MAGA-customised Glock 19 over the weekend.
Donald Trump Jr appears not to understand the concept of 'contagious'
The president's son had this to say about his girlfriend being taken ill with coronavirus, either gallantly sacrificing himself to take care of her or too dim to understand the threat - depending on your point of view.
The president's son had this to say about his girlfriend being taken ill with coronavirus, either gallantly sacrificing himself to take care of her or too dim to understand the threat - depending on your point of view.
Montana Republican congressional representative Greg Gianforte has abandoned in-person campaigning as he tilts for the state's governor's office after his wife Susan and running mate Kirsten Juras came into contact with Guilfoyle.
Don Jr also posted this truly North Korea-standard artwork of his father over the weekend, which deserves a wider audience.
As does this extraordinary photo of papa, since we're talking memes. He picked a hell of a day to quit sniffing hydroxychloroquine!
Neil Young angered after Trump uses songs at Rushmore address
Another music icon with some pithy advice for this president is the long-lasting Canadian folk rocker, furious after "Rockin' in the Free World", "Like a Hurricane" and "Cowgirl in the Sand" were played in South Dakota.
Here's Jacob Stolworthy's report.
Another music icon with some pithy advice for this president is the long-lasting Canadian folk rocker, furious after "Rockin' in the Free World", "Like a Hurricane" and "Cowgirl in the Sand" were played in South Dakota.
Here's Jacob Stolworthy's report.
