Donald Trump used an interview with Sean Hannity of Fox News on Tuesday night to whine about the ingratitude of New York governor Andrew Cuomo, again push his preferred but unproven remedy for Covid-19, hydroxychloroquine, and attack the “lame stream media” for its coverage of his administration’s response to the crisis.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has hit back at the president after he threatened to stop US funding to the body as he seeks a scapegoat for the disaster wrought by the coronavirus pandemic, saying the WHO had “missed the call” – despite himself ignoring a memo from trade adviser Peter Navarro in February warning of the coming storm.
With the US now suffering almost 396,000 cases of the virus and recording nearly 13,000 casualties, Trump has said he is sending 200 ventilators to the UK to assist with the British recovery.
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Trump responds to Bernie Sanders' departure and tells supporters to vote Republican
Despite having polar opposite ideologies and political platforms, Donald Trump says Bernie Sanders' supporters should join the Republican party. He also blamed his exit on Elizabeth Warren splitting the progressive vote. The Massachusetts senator did not endorse a candidate after she left the race.
Despite having polar opposite ideologies and political platforms, Donald Trump says Bernie Sanders' supporters should join the Republican party. He also blamed his exit on Elizabeth Warren splitting the progressive vote. The Massachusetts senator did not endorse a candidate after she left the race.
States accuse federal government of seizing their coronavirus equipment
While the White House tells states to seek their own medical supplies following requests for aid from a national stockpile, officials in several states have accused the federal government of confiscating shipments that they've ordered, forcing them to compete with other states for critically needed equipment in the face of the coronavirus pandemic
Officials in Colorado, Florida, Kentucky, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Texas have said that Donald Trump's administration has blocked or re-routed shipments to their states, without explanation, while the president and Jared Kushner criticised officials for their lack of preparedness.
Here's Alex Woodward's story.
While the White House tells states to seek their own medical supplies following requests for aid from a national stockpile, officials in several states have accused the federal government of confiscating shipments that they've ordered, forcing them to compete with other states for critically needed equipment in the face of the coronavirus pandemic
Officials in Colorado, Florida, Kentucky, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Texas have said that Donald Trump's administration has blocked or re-routed shipments to their states, without explanation, while the president and Jared Kushner criticised officials for their lack of preparedness.
Here's Alex Woodward's story.
Breaking: Bernie Sanders is suspending his 2020 presidential campaign
Vermont senator Bernie Sanders, after launching an unprecedented progressive presidential campaign following a 2016 bid that launched a movement, will end his campaign, he announced on Wednesday.
That could leave Joe Biden as the party's nominee to face Donald Trump as the race is thrown into chaos during the coronavirus pandemic.
Vermont senator Bernie Sanders, after launching an unprecedented progressive presidential campaign following a 2016 bid that launched a movement, will end his campaign, he announced on Wednesday.
That could leave Joe Biden as the party's nominee to face Donald Trump as the race is thrown into chaos during the coronavirus pandemic.
Breaking: Bernie Sanders drops out of 2020 race
The Vermont senator has just announced he is ending his campaign for the presidency, leaving Joe Biden the last man standing.
"I wanted to just let everyone know that in a half hour I will be publicly announcing the suspension of our campaign. Needless to say this is a very difficult and painful decision for me," he says in a statement. "There is no alternative."
The Vermont senator has just announced he is ending his campaign for the presidency, leaving Joe Biden the last man standing.
"I wanted to just let everyone know that in a half hour I will be publicly announcing the suspension of our campaign. Needless to say this is a very difficult and painful decision for me," he says in a statement. "There is no alternative."
Police terrify Louisiana city by accidentally using the siren from The Purge to get people to stay inside
Sanjana Varghese has this for Indy100 on an ill-chosen alarm freaking people out in the town of Crowley who happen to have seen the films in a certain anarchist horror franchise.
Sanjana Varghese has this for Indy100 on an ill-chosen alarm freaking people out in the town of Crowley who happen to have seen the films in a certain anarchist horror franchise.
President trails end of lockdown 'sooner rather than later'
"The horror of the Invisible Enemy... most be quickly forgotten" once this is all over, Trump says.
"Except for those that sadly lost a family member or friend."
Who says he lacks empathy for the people he's blithely hawking untested hydroxychloroquine to?
Here's Chris Riotta on the latest rants.
"Except for those that sadly lost a family member or friend."
Who says he lacks empathy for the people he's blithely hawking untested hydroxychloroquine to?
Here's Chris Riotta on the latest rants.
Trump lashes out at Democrats over opposition to his daily press conferences
The president here accuses his enemies of "Trump Derangement Syndrome" - while displaying all the symptoms of a stubborn case of it himself - complaining that they used to complain he never gave briefings and now don't like it when he does.
I think the objection is to the massive amount of life-threatening misinformation, conspriacy theories and quack sales pitches they contain, sir, and your habit of attempting to overrule the experts.
The president here accuses his enemies of "Trump Derangement Syndrome" - while displaying all the symptoms of a stubborn case of it himself - complaining that they used to complain he never gave briefings and now don't like it when he does.
I think the objection is to the massive amount of life-threatening misinformation, conspriacy theories and quack sales pitches they contain, sir, and your habit of attempting to overrule the experts.
Ten shocking things that Trump's new press secretary Kayleigh McEnany has actually said
Here's Greg Evans for Indy100 on the many awful pronouncements made by the latest person set to fail where Sean Spicer, Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Stephanie Grisham also failed.
Here's Greg Evans for Indy100 on the many awful pronouncements made by the latest person set to fail where Sean Spicer, Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Stephanie Grisham also failed.
Shoppers in LA will be turned away if they don’t wear masks, mayor says
Eric Garcetti has warned residents of the City of Angels to wear face masks before running errands during the coronavirus pandemic or risk being turned away from grocery stores and other essential businesses amid the shutdown.
The mayor announced new orders beginning at midnight on Friday requiring all customers at shops like pharmacies and grocery stores to cover their face with a cloth mask.
If residents fail to comply with the new guidelines, employees at essential services can refuse services.
“We need to protect every worker on the front lines of this crisis,” he said on Tuesday. “Each one of us is a first responder in this emergency. Every employer should keep employees safe, and so should Angelenos patronising these businesses."
Here's Chris Riotta's report.
Eric Garcetti has warned residents of the City of Angels to wear face masks before running errands during the coronavirus pandemic or risk being turned away from grocery stores and other essential businesses amid the shutdown.
The mayor announced new orders beginning at midnight on Friday requiring all customers at shops like pharmacies and grocery stores to cover their face with a cloth mask.
If residents fail to comply with the new guidelines, employees at essential services can refuse services.
“We need to protect every worker on the front lines of this crisis,” he said on Tuesday. “Each one of us is a first responder in this emergency. Every employer should keep employees safe, and so should Angelenos patronising these businesses."
Here's Chris Riotta's report.
‘I don’t know him’: Trump distances himself from ex-Navy secretary despite photos of them together
How often have we seen this president hotly denying knowing someone, only for a picture of them to emerge together almost immediately?
It's the recently-resigned acting Navy sec Thomas Modly that he claims never to have heard of, in this case.
Here's Gino Spocchia with the latest Where's Wally? challenge you didn't ask for.
How often have we seen this president hotly denying knowing someone, only for a picture of them to emerge together almost immediately?
It's the recently-resigned acting Navy sec Thomas Modly that he claims never to have heard of, in this case.
Here's Gino Spocchia with the latest Where's Wally? challenge you didn't ask for.
Chris Cuomo calls Trump's suggestion he did not want to cause panic over coronavirus 'asinine bulls***'
The embattled CNN anchor is still broadcasting from his basement despite being diagnosed with Covid-19 himself and is continuing to make a valuable contribution by describing his symptoms in graphic detail - even presenting "scary" X-rays of the excess fluid in his lungs to viewers - and by holding the government to account.
Yesterday, he spoke of his frustration at seeing the Wisconsin primary go ahead, greatly increasing the risk of the disease's spread among crowds of voters, and exposed the president's lies about his failure to heed the early warnings he was presented with for what they are.
Cuomo also interviewed Joe Biden, who was equally forthright on the subject of leadership:
The embattled CNN anchor is still broadcasting from his basement despite being diagnosed with Covid-19 himself and is continuing to make a valuable contribution by describing his symptoms in graphic detail - even presenting "scary" X-rays of the excess fluid in his lungs to viewers - and by holding the government to account.
Yesterday, he spoke of his frustration at seeing the Wisconsin primary go ahead, greatly increasing the risk of the disease's spread among crowds of voters, and exposed the president's lies about his failure to heed the early warnings he was presented with for what they are.
Cuomo also interviewed Joe Biden, who was equally forthright on the subject of leadership:
'The rich killed New York City and have abandoned it at the first sign of trouble'
Also for Indy Premium, here's Holly Baxter with a howl of anguish for the Big Apple.
Also for Indy Premium, here's Holly Baxter with a howl of anguish for the Big Apple.
Trump continues to fearmonger over voter fraud
The president's sudden interest in electoral integrity continues, I see...
The president's sudden interest in electoral integrity continues, I see...
'With his dangerous hydroxychloroquine obsession, Trump is putting himself first, not America'
For Indy Premium, Matthew Norman picks apart the president's pivot to full-on snake oil salesman in the hunt for a quick fix.
For Indy Premium, Matthew Norman picks apart the president's pivot to full-on snake oil salesman in the hunt for a quick fix.
Texas abortion restrictions can stay in place, appeals court rules, as critics argue state exploiting crisis to curtail freedoms
Texas can continue its restrictions on abortion during the coronavirus pandemic, a divided federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday, in a decision likely to make its way to the Supreme Court.
A panel of the US Court of Appeals granted what it acknowledged was extraordinary relief in keeping in place an executive order issued on 22 March. A federal district judge said the order denied women their constitutional right to abortion.
Supreme Court precedent “instructs that all constitutional rights may be reasonably restricted to combat a public health emergency”, wrote judge Kyle Duncan, who was nominated to the court by Donald Trump. Abortion would be different “only if the Supreme Court had specifically exempted abortion rights from its general rule. It has never done so.”
Texas can continue its restrictions on abortion during the coronavirus pandemic, a divided federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday, in a decision likely to make its way to the Supreme Court.
A panel of the US Court of Appeals granted what it acknowledged was extraordinary relief in keeping in place an executive order issued on 22 March. A federal district judge said the order denied women their constitutional right to abortion.
Supreme Court precedent “instructs that all constitutional rights may be reasonably restricted to combat a public health emergency”, wrote judge Kyle Duncan, who was nominated to the court by Donald Trump. Abortion would be different “only if the Supreme Court had specifically exempted abortion rights from its general rule. It has never done so.”
Trump cheers 'Good news!' as New York hospital admissions fall
Here's the national cheerleader, watching Fox and Friends and celebrating prematurely after griping about Governor Cuomo on the same channel last night.
Here's the national cheerleader, watching Fox and Friends and celebrating prematurely after griping about Governor Cuomo on the same channel last night.
Why Trump's press secretaries are always doomed to fail
As Kayleigh McEnany succeeds Stephanie Grisham, John T Bennett examines why no one can ever make a success of the role of White House press secretary under the famously media-obsessed Trump.
As Kayleigh McEnany succeeds Stephanie Grisham, John T Bennett examines why no one can ever make a success of the role of White House press secretary under the famously media-obsessed Trump.
New York's Cuomo sees virus slowing despite record death toll on 'hardest day'
Even as medical teams struggled to save an onslaught of gravely ill coronavirus patients and deaths hit new highs, the number of Covid-19 hospitalisations seemed to be leveling off in New York state, the US epicenter of the pandemic, governor Andrew Cuomo said on Tuesday.
New York was one of several states, along with the nation as a whole, to post their highest daily loss of life from Covid-19, the highly contagious respiratory disease caused by the virus. A staggering 731 fatalities were reported in Cuomo's state alone.
But early statistical signs the crisis might be peaking provided little comfort to weary doctors and nurses on the front lines of the outbreak, as hospital emergency rooms and intensive care units overflowing with Covid-19 patients.
"People are just so incredibly sick... incredibly sick in a way that I've never experienced or seen before," said Jacqueline Callahan, 33, a New York City nurse who spoke to Reuters on condition she not identify the hospital where she works.
"So every day is, honestly, the hardest day," she said. "You just don't know how it's going to change, and you just hope it keeps getting better, but - you know - we haven't turned that corner fully yet."
New York state accounts for more than a third of confirmed US coronavirus cases to date and nearly half the cumulative death toll - 5,489 as of Tuesday.
But Cuomo said the rising number of deaths was a "lagging indicator" coming days or weeks after the onset of infections.
He pointed instead to slowing rates of coronavirus hospitalisations, intensive care admissions and ventilator intubations as signs social distancing measures imposed last month were working.
The governors of Illinois and Louisiana - two other hot spots in the US pandemic - likewise paired reports of record jumps in Covid-19 deaths with data suggesting the contagion may be reaching a plateau.
The messages seemed calibrated to convey a sense of hope while urging the public to abide strictly by stay-at-home orders imposed by governors of 42 states.
"Let's not get complacent," Cuomo told a news conference. "Social distancing is working... That's why you see those numbers coming down."
Across the country, California governor Gavin Newsom said the infection curve in his state - the first to impose stay-at-home orders - was "bending but it's also stretching," with the virus outbreak there expected to peak in mid- to late May.
"The curve continues to rise, but now it is slower," he told a news briefing.
In another glimmer of good news, the US surgeon general, Jerome Adams, said on Tuesday the pandemic may end up killing fewer Americans than the range of 100,000 to 240,000 projected earlier by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The latest research model from the University of Washington - one of several cited by leading health authorities - has forecast US coronavirus deaths totaling fewer than 82,000 by 4 August.
New York was one of several states, along with the nation as a whole, to post their highest daily loss of life from Covid-19, the highly contagious respiratory disease caused by the virus. A staggering 731 fatalities were reported in Cuomo's state alone.
But early statistical signs the crisis might be peaking provided little comfort to weary doctors and nurses on the front lines of the outbreak, as hospital emergency rooms and intensive care units overflowing with Covid-19 patients.
"People are just so incredibly sick... incredibly sick in a way that I've never experienced or seen before," said Jacqueline Callahan, 33, a New York City nurse who spoke to Reuters on condition she not identify the hospital where she works.
"So every day is, honestly, the hardest day," she said. "You just don't know how it's going to change, and you just hope it keeps getting better, but - you know - we haven't turned that corner fully yet."
New York state accounts for more than a third of confirmed US coronavirus cases to date and nearly half the cumulative death toll - 5,489 as of Tuesday.
But Cuomo said the rising number of deaths was a "lagging indicator" coming days or weeks after the onset of infections.
He pointed instead to slowing rates of coronavirus hospitalisations, intensive care admissions and ventilator intubations as signs social distancing measures imposed last month were working.
The governors of Illinois and Louisiana - two other hot spots in the US pandemic - likewise paired reports of record jumps in Covid-19 deaths with data suggesting the contagion may be reaching a plateau.
The messages seemed calibrated to convey a sense of hope while urging the public to abide strictly by stay-at-home orders imposed by governors of 42 states.
"Let's not get complacent," Cuomo told a news conference. "Social distancing is working... That's why you see those numbers coming down."
Across the country, California governor Gavin Newsom said the infection curve in his state - the first to impose stay-at-home orders - was "bending but it's also stretching," with the virus outbreak there expected to peak in mid- to late May.
"The curve continues to rise, but now it is slower," he told a news briefing.
In another glimmer of good news, the US surgeon general, Jerome Adams, said on Tuesday the pandemic may end up killing fewer Americans than the range of 100,000 to 240,000 projected earlier by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The latest research model from the University of Washington - one of several cited by leading health authorities - has forecast US coronavirus deaths totaling fewer than 82,000 by 4 August.
Republican wearing protective gear tells Wisconsin voters it's 'incredibly safe to go out'
Wisconsin Republican Robin Vos was rightly roasted yesterday for attempting to reassure the public it was "incredibly safe" to go out and vote in the state's primary while wearing full protective gear.
Wisconsin Republican Robin Vos was rightly roasted yesterday for attempting to reassure the public it was "incredibly safe" to go out and vote in the state's primary while wearing full protective gear.
Thousands of locals were forced to choose between their health and democracy yesterday as they left home apprehensively to vote, with many forced to congregate for hours in long lines, making a mockery of social distancing rues.
Voters reported feeling afraid, angry and embarrassed by the state's unwillingness to postpone their presidential primary elections as more than a dozen other states have already done.
Neither Joe Biden nor Bernie Sanders will be declared a winner at least until next Monday in accordance with one of several court orders that shaped the contest.
Voters reported feeling afraid, angry and embarrassed by the state's unwillingness to postpone their presidential primary elections as more than a dozen other states have already done.
Neither Joe Biden nor Bernie Sanders will be declared a winner at least until next Monday in accordance with one of several court orders that shaped the contest.
Here's Justin Vallejo on the ridiculous Vos.
President ridiculed for claiming Ivanka 'created 15 million jobs'
With more than 10m Americans claiming unemployment benefit as a result fo the coronavirus outbreak, Trump yesterday gave his daughter Ivanka another prominent platform by inviting her to a small businesses event at the White House - and made an extraordinary claim about her contribution to his administration.
"My daughter Ivanka Trump who just wants to have people working," the president blustered. "I gave her lots of options. What do you like? She created over 15 million jobs working with some of you, but working with the biggest companies in the world".
Citizens for Ethics were just one voice among many to be incensed by the gushing, noxious blend of nonsense and nepotism on display as the pair tried and failed to legitimise one another.
With more than 10m Americans claiming unemployment benefit as a result fo the coronavirus outbreak, Trump yesterday gave his daughter Ivanka another prominent platform by inviting her to a small businesses event at the White House - and made an extraordinary claim about her contribution to his administration.
"My daughter Ivanka Trump who just wants to have people working," the president blustered. "I gave her lots of options. What do you like? She created over 15 million jobs working with some of you, but working with the biggest companies in the world".
Citizens for Ethics were just one voice among many to be incensed by the gushing, noxious blend of nonsense and nepotism on display as the pair tried and failed to legitimise one another.
