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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Lois Beckett (now) and Daniel Strauss and Martin Belam (earlier)

Coronavirus US: Texas governor orders all residents to wear masks – as it happened

Greg Abbott, governor of Texas, last month.
Greg Abbott, governor of Texas, last month. Photograph: Tony Gutierrez/AP

Summary

Wrapping up today’s live US politics coverage, but you can continue to follow breaking news on our global coronavirus blog. Some of today’s highlights:

  • Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said the Trump administration has no regrets about urging states to reopen.
  • Republican Herman Cain tested positive for coronavirus.
  • Texas governor Greg Abbott issued an executive order requiring people to wear masks in public.
  • Thursday was Audrey Strauss’s first major appearance as acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York.
  • Prosecutors with the Southern District of New York arrested and charged Ghislaine Maxwell, a friend of financier Jeffrey Epstein.
  • California Democratic congresswoman Jackie Speier is pushing for a special inspector general to investigate white supremacy in the US military.
  • Tech billionaire Peter Thiel is reportedly skeptical that Trump can win in 2020.
  • Republican strategists are gushing over the possibility that Fox News host Tucker Carlson might run for president in 2024.

Supreme Court gives Indiana another chance to argue for abortion laws

The supreme court gave Indiana a second chance to revive two restrictive abortion laws - one imposing an ultrasound requirement and the other expanding parental notification when minors seek abortions - by throwing out a lower court’s rulings blocking them, Reuters reported.

The justices directed a lower court to reconsider both cases in light of the Supreme Court’s 5-4 ruling on Monday invalidating a Louisiana law that imposed restrictions on doctors who perform abortions.

Indiana will now get another shot at arguing for the legality of its two Republican-backed laws that the 7th Circuit court of appeals had prevented from going into effect.

GOP strategists: Tucker Carlson could run for president in 2024

Fox News host Tucker Carlson’s repeated racist comments have prompted major advertisers, including Disney, T-Mobile and Papa John’s, to pledge that they will no longer advertise on his show.

Meanwhile, high-profile Republicans are publicly speculating that Carlson could run for president in 2024, “as the next-generation leader of Donald Trump’s movement.”

Politico interviewed 16 prominent Republicans who gushed about Carlson as a “formidable” presidential candidate. Business Insider reported that conservative donors are taking the idea seriously.

In 2019, Carlson responded to a white nationalist mass shooting in El Paso, Texas, by calling white supremacy a “hoax” and a “conspiracy theory.” His show lost 70 advertisers in less than a year, GQ reported.

Report: Billionaire Peter Thiel is skeptical Trump can win

After backing Donald Trump with $1.25 million in the 2016 election and speaking at Trump’s nomination, tech billionaire Peter Thiel has been telling friends that he is going to sit the 2020 election out, because he thinks Trump’s re-election is “increasingly a long shot,” the Wall Street Journal reported.

A Trump spokesman told the Wall Street Journal that Thiel remains a supporter of the president. A spokesman for Thiel did not comment.

Kansas governor said schools may not reopen if surge does not reverse

Kansas’ governor said she is worried the state won’t be able to reopen its K-12 schools for the new school year in August if it doesn’t reverse a recent surge in reported coronavirus cases, the Associated Press reports.

Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly told legislative leaders Thursday that a desire to reopen schools is a key reason she issued an executive order requiring Kansas residents to wear masks in public and at their workplaces, effective Friday, with a fine of up to $2,500 possible for violators. Decisions about pursuing violations left up to prosecutors in each of the state’s 105 counties.

A California state lawmaker is sharing a striking photo from the 1918 pandemic in California, in which even the family’s cats are wearing masks.

It’s an image from an Atlas Obscura article from this April, about fears about pets transmitting the disease, and also about pets in masks as a much-needed dose of pandemic humor.

LA Mayor: ‘Personally, I’ll be ordering in.’

Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti faced questions today about why he is allowing outdoor restaurants to stay open for business, even as coronavirus cases surge and he is recommending that residents stay home if possible.

“Outdoor spaces properly spaced are very safe,” the mayor said, defending his decision. “I, personally, I’ll be ordering in.”

From Dakota Smith of the Los Angeles Times:

Proposed 'special inspector general' would investigate white supremacy in the military

California congresswoman Jackie Speier is pushing for the appointment of a new “Special Inspector General” to investigate the extent of white supremacy in the military.

The California Democrat included an amendment creating the new inspector general in the current version of the House’s annual defense spending bill.

“We’ve known about problems of white supremacy and violent extremist groups in the U.S. military for decades, yet this problem that threatens our national security – not to mention retention and recruitment of troops – seems to be getting worse,” Speier said in a statement to The Guardian. “The DoD and Pentagon have proven that they do not have the ability to address these issues on their own.”

Speier cited three incidents in the past month alone that highlight the need for more action:

California Sen. Kamala Harris is expected a similar amendment in the Republican-controlled senate.

A more in-depth look at the US military’s long problem with white supremacy:

California National Guard investigating sergeant’s ties to Proud Boys

The California National Guard is investigating a member’s possible ties to the Proud Boys, an extremist group, the Huffington Post reports.

The sergeant involved has not been suspended during the investigation, a spokesperson told the Huffington Post.

Family of man killed by LA sheriffs say deputies harassed them

My colleague Sam Levin has more on troubling allegations from the mother and sister of Paul Rea, an 18-year-old shot to death by the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department deputies in 2019, about being harassed by sheriff’s deputies in the wake of Paul’s killing.

Jaylene is just one of the family members of people killed by the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department who has publicly spoken out about being harassed as a result.

Read Sam’s in-depth story here:

Fish fry: a ‘previously unknown problem for the future of fish’

By the end of the century, the world’s oceans, rivers and lakes will likely be too hot for about 40% of the world’s fish species, based on just a “medium-level” estimate of expected human-caused climate change, according to a study in Thursday’s journal Science, the Associated Press reports.

In a worst-case climate change scenario, which some scientists said is increasingly unlikely, the figure for species in trouble jumps to 60%.

The new research focuses on fish in their spawning or embryonic life stages, rather than on adult fish. Using this new approach reveals a previously unknown problem for the future of fish, scientists said.

Some of the fish likely to be hardest hit by this phenomenon include the Alaska pollock the biggest fishery in the United States and the source of fast food fillets — and well-known species such as sockeye salmon, brown trout, bonito, barracuda and swordfish.

Soldiers mobilized to DC during Floyd protests were issued bayonets

Speaking of America’s cherished freedoms, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff confirmed an Associated Press report that some of the soldiers who were mobilized to Washington, D.C., last month in response to protests over the killing of George Floyd were issued bayonets.

Two members of Congress who had pushed for more details about soldiers being issued bayonets to us on American civilians said they were disappointed Gen. Mark Milley would not commit to banning the practice.

“It is difficult for us to imagine a circumstance which could necessitate or justify the deployment of bayonets against American civilians,” the lawmakers wrote.

“While we are grateful for General Milley’s responses to our questions concerning the arming of troops with bayonets for potential deployment against protesters, we were disappointed he was not willing to commit to banning the practice,” Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois, and Rep. Ted Lieu of California said in a statement.

Updated

Coronavirus cases rising in 40 out of 50 states: ‘very disturbing’

This is Lois Beckett taking over our live news coverage from our West Coast bureau in Oakland.

As we head into the Fourth of July holiday weekend, the number of coronavirus cases is rising in 40 out of 50 states, the Associated Press reports:

An alarming 36 states are seeing an increase in the percentage of tests coming back positive for the virus.

“What we’ve seen is a very disturbing week,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious-disease expert, said in a livestream with the American Medical Association.

The surge has been blamed in part on Americans not covering their faces or following other social distancing rules as states lifted their lockdowns over the past few weeks. Fauci warned that if people don’t start complying, “we’re going to be in some serious difficulty.”

Summary

That’s it for me. Here are the major developments today:

  • Republican Herman Cain tested positive for coronavirus.
  • Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said the Trump administration has no regrets about urging states to reopen.
  • Prosecutors with the Southern District of New York arrested and charged Ghislaine Maxwell, a friend of financier Jeffrey Epstein.
  • Texas governor Greg Abbott issued an executive order requiring people to wear masks in public.
  • Thursday was Audrey Strauss’s first major appearance as acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York.

Texas governor orders all Texans to wear masks

Texas governor Greg Abbott today issued an executive order requiring all Texans to wear face masks at public gatherings. Here’s the announcement from Abbott’s office:

AUSTIN - Governor Greg Abbott today issued an Executive Order requiring all Texans to wear a face covering over the nose and mouth in public spaces in counties with 20 or more positive COVID-19 cases, with few exceptions. The Governor also issued a proclamation giving mayors and county judges the ability to impose restrictions on some outdoor gatherings of over 10 people, and making it mandatory that, with certain exceptions, people cannot be in groups larger than ten and must maintain six feet of social distancing from others.

“Wearing a face covering in public is proven to be one of the most effective ways we have to slow the spread of COVID-19,” said Governor Abbott. “We have the ability to keep businesses open and move our economy forward so that Texans can continue to earn a paycheck, but it requires each of us to do our part to protect one another—and that means wearing a face covering in public spaces. Likewise, large gatherings are a clear contributor to the rise in COVID-19 cases. Restricting the size of groups gatherings will strengthen Texas’ ability to corral this virus and keep Texans safe. We all have a responsibility to slow the spread of COVID-19 and keep our communities safe. If Texans commit to wearing face coverings in public spaces and follow the best health and safety practices, we can both slow the spread of COVID-19 and keep Texas open for business. I urge all Texans to wear a face covering in public, not just for their own health, but for the health of their families, friends, and for all our fellow Texans.”

Here’s the executive order.

As the Dallas Morning News notes, the move is a reversal from earlier this year when Abbott blocked local lawmakers from requiring people to wear masks.

Updated

The leaders of some of the nation’s major business organizations all signed a letter urging the White House and the National Governors Association to establish mandatory mask guidelines.

Here’s the key part of the letter (bold additions mine):

For the sake of public health and our economy, we request that the White House Coronavirus Task Force and the National Governors Association work together to:

    1. Establish guidance on the appropriate metrics (e.g. positive tests, hospitalizations) for imposing location-based mandatory mask requirements in all public spaces;
    2. Develop model mandatory mask policies that are simple and do not impose the enforcement burden on organizations without such expertise, such as businesses and non-profits; and
    3. Make clear that businesses and non-profits will not be held liable for refusing entry or services to an individual who is not complying with face covering requirements.

To be clear, the decision to impose face covering requirements should remain at the state or local level but be informed by clear and consistent guidance based on data. We believe that a national mask standard, implemented locally, offers the surest way to protect public health and promote economic recovery.

Updated

As there’s been an uptick in coronavirus cases across the country even governors in conservative leaning states have increased their pleas for everyone to wear masks. South Carolina governor Henry McMaster once again urged citizens to wear a mask.

The Associated Press reported that the curve of infection rates have been rising in 40 out of 50 states. Per the Associated Press:

The U.S. recorded 50,700 new cases, according to a tally kept by Johns Hopkins University. That represents a doubling of the daily total over the past month and is higher even than what the country witnessed during the deadliest phase of the crisis in April and May.

Almost 24 hours before news broke that Herman Cain had tested positive for COVID-19 he sounded a supportive note about an upcoming Independence Day celebration at Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota featuring Donald Trump.

South Dakota governor Kristi Noem has been one of the biggest opponents among governors of forcing people to take steps to prevent spreading coronavirus. She recently said masks would be made available at the Independence Day event but social distancing would not be enforced.

Over on the West Coast, California governor Gavin Newsom said Thursday that COVID cases have jumped over the past week.

Updated

A reader called attention to this Guardian article from August 2019 about Ghislaine Maxwell and her father, Robert Maxwell. The article, “The murky life and death of Robert Maxwell – and how it shaped his daughter Ghislaine” offers more insight into Ghislaine and her background.

Here is a snippet:

For Oxford-educated Ghislaine, the youngest of his nine children, Maxwell’s money had provided status and a ticket to the elite. She was dispatched to New York initially as a meeter-and-greeter, to pave her father’s way when he bought the Daily News. After his death, she made it her home. She soon became part of Epstein’s inner circle and remained there for more than a decade. The two were reportedly briefly an item; they remained close.

Updated

The Southern District of New York is pushing to keep Ghislaine Maxwell in jail for her arrest.

More details on Ghislaine Maxwell’s arrest, via investigative reporter Tara Palmeri:

It’s worth noting that today’s press conference was Audrey Strauss’s major first public appearance in her post as acting U.S. District attorney for the Southern District of New York.

Strauss assumed the role in June after an awkward back and forth between then-district attorney Geoffrey Berman and the Trump administration.

It started when Attorney General Bill Barr sent a late press release in late June announcing that Donald Trump planned to nominate Jay Clayton, the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission to serve as the district attorney for the Southern District of New York. The announcement meant that Barr wanted Berman to leave his post.

The Southern District of New York, under Berman’s leadership, had begun multiple investigations into allies of Trump. The move to remove Berman appeared to be to try and halt those investigations. The Southern District of New York is known as an aggressive and influential office. Serving as the top attorney in that office is a prestigious role.

Berman initially declined to leave his job resulting in a standoff. But when it became clear that Strauss, 72, then serving as deputy district attorney, would succeed him rather than Clayton, Berman stepped down.

That elevated Strauss, formerly a defense attorney, to the job. She will oversee the investigations Berman had been running including one on Trump’s personal attorney, Rudy Guiliani and the indictment of Turkish bank Halkbank with political ties that have attracted Trump’s attention.

Herman Cain tests positive for Covid-19 after attending Trump rally

Herman Cain, the former 2012 Republican presidential candidate, has tested positive for Covid-19. His team announced the results on Thursday.

Cain, something of a minor figure in the pantheon of Donald Trump’s campaign surrogates, attended the rally for Trump’s reelection campaign in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Health officials warned that attendees at that rally could contract coronavirus. It’s not clear when Cain contracted it.

Updated

Audrey Strauss’s handling of Maxwell’s arrest won praise from former U.S. attorney Barbara McQuade.

McQuade, it’s worth noting, was one of the U.S. attorneys appointed by then-President Barack Obama and purged from the Justice Department in 2017 by Donald Trump.

'Maxwell played a critical role in helping Epstein,' says prosecutor

Here’s what prosecutor Audrey Strauss had to say as she unveiled the charges against Ghislaine Maxwell:

Updated

Prosecutors at the press conference on the arrest this morning of British socialite and media heiress Ghislaine Maxwell, accused of being involved with Jeffrey Epstein’s child sex crimes, addressed victims of Epstein.

“There never was nor shall there be an excuse for the criminal behavior you were subjected to,” William Sweeney, assistant director in charge of the FBI’s New York Field Office, said in Manhattan moments ago.

Prosecutors appeared acutely aware that girls and women are often blamed for becoming victims of sexual abuse and frequently, often for decades, blame themselves for what happened. The Feds at the press conference today made a particular point of speaking in their direction to absolve them for crimes and alleged crimes perpetrated by Epstein and, they accuse, by Maxwell indirectly and directly.

Maxwell's alleged crimes are 'unspeakable' says federal prosecutor

Prosecutors accused Ghislaine Maxwell of lying about the true nature of her relationship with Jeffrey Epstein and of lying under oath.

She lied “because the truth - as alleged - was almost unspeakable,” federal prosecutor Audrey Strauss said.

“She set the trap. She pretended to be a women they could trust.”

Updated

NY prosecutor: 'We would welcome Prince Andrew coming in to talk to us'

Strauss is now taking questions again.

She was asked about Prince Andrew. She said “we would like to have the benefit of his statement.”

Strauss declined to offer more comments on the Duke of York.

More on Prince Andrew’s connection to the case here.

Updated

New York police department commissioner Dermot Shea gave brief remarks. He thanked law enforcement officials and said that although these crimes happened decades ago for the victims they are “as fresh today” as they were then.

FBI assistant director in charge Bill Sweeney has now taken the podium.

“We moved when we were ready and the arrest happened without incident,” Sweeney said. Sweeney went on to say that Maxwell “assisted Mr. Epstein’s abuse of minor girls” by befriending the innocent and “attempted to normalize sexual abuse.”

Sweeney also said Maxwell lied under oath.

Updated

Ghislaine Maxwell charged with two perjury counts

SDNY acting district attorney Audrey Strauss just said that the SDNY office has charged Maxwell with two perjury counts.

“We are committed to prosecuting those who exploit minors, in this case and every case,” Strauss said.

Updated

Prosecutor Audrey Strauss, acting United States attorney for the southern district of New York, said that between 1994 and 1997, Ghislaine Maxwell played “a critical role” in helping Jeffrey Epstein with his pattern of abusing underage girls.

Maxwell and Epstein would “befriend and groom minors for abuse,” Strauss said.

“In some cases, Maxwell participated in abuse herself,” she said.

The couple would pick out girls, asking them about their lives and “pretending to take an interest in them”, taking them to the movies and shopping trips.

But it turned into sexual abuse, the prosecutor said.

Updated

Press conference on Ghislaine Maxwell begins in New York

Prosecutors announce they have taken Maxwell into custody and charged her in relation to Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes.

Ghislaine Maxwell press conference to begin

The US attorney for the southern district of New York will announce charges against Ghislaine Maxwell at a 12pm ET/4pm GMT press conference on Thursday. Maxwell was arrested in connection to the Jeffrey Epstein case.

Updated

Joe Biden appears to want to respond to Donald Trump’s Thursday morning press conference on the economy. The former vice president’s campaign just sent out an advisory that he will hold a press conference on the economic crisis and latest jobs report in about 15 minutes.

Coronavirus cases keep rising in states with governors that moved quickly to reopen. Thursday saw a surge in both Arizona and Florida.

Arizona saw an increase.

Florida saw an uptick too.

At 3:00 p.m. today Pence is slated to hold a briefing with Florida governor Ron DeSantis on COVID-19.

Meanwhile other governors are issuing new pleas for Americans to wear masks to prevent COVID-19 from spreading.

Updated

Arizona congressman Andy Biggs wants to see the White House’s coronavirus task force disbanded.

At times Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, have offered contradictory assessments to Trump on the seriousness of the pandemic. Fauci recently warned that new coronavirus cases could reach 100,000 per day.

Even as Trump has downplayed the seriousness of the coronavirus pandemic, the White House has continued its coronavirus task force, chaired by vice president Mike Pence.

Pence has also continued to hold regular meetings with all 50 U.S. governors to discuss dealing with the pandemic. Those conference call meetings are usually every Monday.

Updated

Mnuchin says 'absolutely' no regrets on states reopening

In Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin’s remarks at this morning’s press conference he not only said that the Trump administration has no regrets over urging states to reopen, he also said that judging when to reopen is primarily the states’ responsibility.

That last bit has been an important and persistent aspect of the Trump administration’s push to reopen states amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Although Trump and his team have said it’s safe to reopen they’ve caveated that by saying the ultimate responsibility lies in each state’s governor and top officials there. That cautionary argument seems to be a precaution against any blame the administration could field about reopening.

Coronavirus cases have recently seen a dramatic uptick, especially in states that have moved quickly to reopen. On Wednesday the U.S. surpassed 50,000 new cases of coronavirus cases, a new daily record.

Updated

Former president Barack Obama is teaming up with Illinois governor J.B. Pritzker for a fundraiser for former vice president Joe Biden.

This is significant as even though Obama has been actively supporting Biden, he and his team have been a bit slower to do high dollar fundraisers.

The Biden campaign has made gains in fundraising over the past few months. In June the Biden campaign along with the Democratic National Committee outraised the Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee.

But the Biden campaign and DNC did not release a cash on hand number, while the Trump team did. That suggests that the Democratic presidential apparatus still has less money to work with than their Republican opponents, even though they’re trending in an upward direction.

Obama is incredibly popular in fundraising circles and has proven he can still raise large sums of money, even out of office. A recent grassroots fundraiser for Biden featuring Obama raised over $11 million.

One other important note from today’s press conference. After Trump left Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin took questions. He argued that the Trump administration does not regret urging states to reopen.

That comment comes even though states that moved quickly to reopen saw upticks in COVID-19 cases.

Meanwhile, there’s breaking news from the Supreme Court, via The Washington Post (added bolds from me):

A lower court had granted a request from the House Judiciary Committee for access to redacted portions of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s report on Russian interference in the 2016 election. But in May, the Supreme Court put a hold on that ruling until the high court could decide whether the issue warranted its intervention.

Updated

On the campaign trail and often in public remarks about economic news the president has promised that the final two quarters of 2020 would be a substantial improvement from earlier numbers.

He made that argument again at this press conference.

“We’re going to have a fantastic third quarter,” Trump said. “It’ll be a a third quarter the likes of which nobody has ever seen in my opinion.”

The president has never been shy in linking that argument to his reelection prospects. Today he added that that economic upturn, if it happens, would be “right before the election.” He called that good news, presumably for his chances to win reelection.

More Trump, as he ticks off various statistics out of this newly released jobs report:

“The stock market is soaring with the best gains in 20 years,” Trump said, adding “it’s the best in 33 years.”

Trump is also using some of his favorite phrases and assurances. He says the coronavirus crisis is “being handled” and called COVID-19 “the terrible China virus.”

Trump added that the “only thing that can kill” this momentum is a “terrible” president who will raise taxes.

Trump: 'Our economy is roaring back'

Trump just took the podium in the White House briefing room. Trump said the jobs report shattered “expectations.”

“Today’s announcement proves that our economy is roaring back. It’s coming back extremely strong,” Trump said. Trump added “these are historic numbers.”

Updated

In response to the latest jobs numbers, Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer, the highest ranking Democrat in that chamber, released a statement arguing that the new numbers mean that Trump and Republicans should work with Democrats to provide more economic relief.

Schumer called the new jobs report “a slight peak in a much larger valley.”

Here’s the statement:

“Today’s jobs report may just be a slight peak in a much larger valley, and unless President Trump demonstrates real leadership in fighting the health crisis and Senate Republicans get off their hands and finally work with Democrats to quickly provide additional federal fiscal relief, the pain America is experiencing will only worsen. President Trump must not repeat the same mistakes with this economic crisis that he made initially with COVID-19—ignoring it and brushing it aside now will only ensure that things will get worse once again.”

Calls like this though rarely result in any kind of bipartisan action.

The Department of Health and Human Services and the US Surgeon General, one of the the top healthcare officials in the federal government, are reiterating calls for Americans to take steps to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

Here’s a press release from HHS sent out this morning:

The U.S. Surgeon General and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services today released a public service announcement (PSA) ahead of the Fourth of July weekend imploring Americans to take action and to remember: COVID Stops With Me. The PSA from Surgeon General VADM Jerome M. Adams, M.D., M.P.H., reminds everyone to do their part to stay healthy by following a few simple instructions that will in turn, help prevent the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

In the message, Dr. Adams calls on all Americans to:

    • Follow federal, state and local guidelines;
    • Take extra precautions if you are at higher risk for severe illness;
    • Wash your hands frequently and thoroughly; and
    • Stay six feet away from others when you can, and wear a face covering in public when you cannot social distance.

These steps are critical for everyone to take, because although everyone is not at equal risk for a severe case of COVID-19, everyone risks being infected with the virus that causes the disease and then spreading it to others.

“There’s a reason we keep coming back to these same public health messages – they are tried and true. We all have a role to play in beating this virus and getting back to school, work, worship, play, and overall health,” said Dr. Adams. “Say it with me America: COVID stops with me!”

Download the video or audio file of the PSA.

The public service announcement comes as parts of the country see dramatic spikes in the number of coronavirus cases. Surgeon General Jerome Adams also taped a short video with Georgia governor Brian Kemp urging Americans to wear masks. Georgia is one of the states that have struggled to control coronavirus cases.

“You want some college football this fall and other sports, wear your mask for the next few weeks. Let’s flatten the curve and drive the numbers down,” Kemp said in the clip.

Updated

Daniel Strauss from the Guardian’s Washington DC bureau here. It’s going to be a busy day.

Donald Trump seems eager to highlight the newly released jobs figures. The White House just sent out an advisory that Trump will hold a press conference at 9:30am Eastern Time.

The announcement doesn’t explicitly say that Trump plans to focus on the jobs numbers but the president has consistently called press conferences after positive economic reports come out. This is likely that.

Updated

Dr. Anthony Fauci has appeared this morning on the radio in the UK, to discuss the coronavirus outbreak. Speaking on one of the flagship BBC news programmes, he repeated his warning about current spikes in cases in the US, saying:

We got hit very badly, worse than any country, with regard to the number of cases, and the number of deaths. The problem we’re facing now is that in an attempt to re-open or open and get it back to some form of normality, we’re seeing very disturbing spikes in different individual states in the United States…and that is not good news. We’ve got to get that under control, or we risk an even greater outbreak in the United States.

You can watch the clip here:

Here’s our full report now on those US job numbers:

US employers took back another 4.8 million workers last month as the coronavirus pandemic’s economic impact appeared to wane, marking the second consecutive month of jobs growth. But the latest figures are from before new surges in infections that threaten the fragile recovery.

The US Department of Labor announced on Thursday that the unemployment rate dropped to 11.1% in June from an initial estimate of 13.3% in May. The figure is still more than three times higher than the 3.5% unemployment rate in February before the US outbreak.

Read it in full here: US employers take back 4.8 million workers as coronavirus threatens economic recovery

Richmond begins take-down of all Confederate monuments with Stonewall Jackson

As well as the whipping post in Delaware (see 7:20am), another removal yesterday was that of the statue of Thomas Jonathan “Stonewall” Jackson from Monument Avenue in Richmond, Virginia. The monument to the Confederate General who fought against the US was taken down by crane in front of a crowd of onlookers.

People watch as the Stonewall Jackson statue is removed from Monument Avenue in Richmond, Virginia
People watch as the Stonewall Jackson statue is removed from Monument Avenue in Richmond, Virginia Photograph: Ryan M Kelly/AFP/Getty Images

The move came just hours after Mayor Levar Stoney ordered the removal of all Confederate statues from city land.

It comes weeks after Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam ordered the removal of the most prominent and imposing statue along the avenue: that of Confederate general Robert E. Lee, which sits on state land. The removal of the Lee statue has been stalled pending the resolution of several lawsuits.

Stonewall Jackson statue removed in Richmond, Virginia, USA
Stonewall Jackson statue removed in Richmond, Virginia, USA Photograph: MediaPunch/REX/Shutterstock

The base of the statue had been heavily defaced in recent weeks following the wave of Black Lives Matter protests across the country.

Crew undoing the Stonewall Jackson Monument from its pedestal
Crew undoing the Stonewall Jackson Monument from its pedestal Photograph: Getty Images

The Associated Press report that a crowd of several hundred people cheered as a crane lifted the figure of the general atop his horse into the air and set it aside.

“This is long overdue,” Brent Holmes, who is Black, told AP. “One down, many more to go.”

Eli Swann, who has lived in Richmond for 24 years, said he felt “an overwhelming sense of gratitude” to witness the removal of the statue after he and others have spent weeks demonstrating and calling for it and others to be taken down. He said that as a Black man, he found it offensive to have so many statues glorifying Confederate generals for “fighting against us.”

“I’ve been out here since day one,” Swann said. “We’ve been seeing the younger people out here, just coming and constantly marching and asking for change. And now finally the change is coming about.”

The city has roughly a dozen Confederate statues on municipal land - Mayor Stoney said it will take several days to remove them.

US economy created 4.8m new jobs in June

We’ve just had the new jobs figures in and it shows that America’s economy created 4.8 million jobs in June - a mark of a steep recovery from the abrupt closure of much of the economy due to the coronavirus outbreak.

My colleague Graeme Wearden, writing on our live business blog, says:

This drags the US jobless rate down to 11.1%, down from 13.3%. Still worrying high, but a sign that America’s economy has been healing last month.

Economists had expected around 3 million new jobs to be created, so this is better than expected (although there was a wide range of forecasts...)

There will be more reaction to follow, no doubt.

The Washington Post has an interesting analysis this morning of what it calls ‘the enthusiasm gap’ voters have between Donald Trump and Joe Biden.

A deeper analysis of this week’s national polling figures show that while around 80% Trump supporters are very enthusiastic about voting for their man - Biden supporters are much less so. In fact, 60% of Biden supporters said that voting against Trump is their main motivation, with only 35% saying voting for Joe was what got them going.

But in the piece Jose A. Del Real and Brent D. Griffiths posit that this may work to Biden’s advantage. In effect, Trump’s campaigning efforts potentially just energise the anti-Trump voting bloc. They say:

The president’s public remarks on the George Floyd protests and the pandemic — which he has repeatedly called the “Kung flu” — have been highly inflammatory, signalling Trump is doubling down on the culture wars that animated his first presidential campaign. Those instincts might help shore up support among his base but they also turn up the sense of urgency among those who do not like what they see and hear.

Whit Ayres, a prominent Republican pollster, is quoted in the piece as saying: “The President’s message is the same as it was in 2016. The country has changed, but his messaging has not.”

Or a Joe Biden put it at the weekend: “The more that Donald Trump is out, the worse he does.”

Read it here: Washington Post - Trump is touting an enthusiasm gap with Biden. But his campaign may be looking at the numbers the wrong way

Speaking of Nazi emblems, John Semley writes for us today, asking the question: What if we treated Confederate symbols the way we treated the defeated Nazis?

Although the Confederacy lost the war, it hasn’t always felt that way for Black southerners. After Union troops departed, Black Americans endured decades of terrorist violence perpetrated by the Ku Klux Klan and other anti-Black paramilitary groups, plus segregation and humiliation under Jim Crow.

The civil war was followed by more than a century of calculated misremembering, proving the French historian Ernest Renan’s maxim that forgetting is “a crucial factor in the creation of a nation”. This southern memorialization, which unfolded against the backdrop of southern segregation as a means of enshrining the legacy of white supremacy, is itself the sort of “erasure of history” that contemporary apologists drone on about when confronted with the righteous keeling of a statue.

You can read it in full here: What if we treated Confederate symbols the way we treated the defeated Nazis?

Quite a few people on social media have been drawing attention to the design of a new t-shirt in the official Donald Trump store.

The new ‘America First’ t-shirt in the Donald Trump online store
The new ‘America First’ t-shirt in the Donald Trump online store Photograph: Donald Trump official website

Advertised with the slogans “We finally have a President that puts AMERICA first. America is strong again, safe again, GREAT again”, the t-shirt features an eagle holding a circular emblem in its talons, and it really seems to be reminding people of something.

It comes just weeks after Facebook deactivated dozens of ads placed by the Trump’s re-election campaign because they included a triangle symbol once used by the Nazis to designate political prisoners in concentration camps. The markings had been used by Trump as part of a camapign aimed at “antifa”.

The Trump campaign ran a number of ads lambasting “antifa”. Those using the inverted red triangle – a symbol used by Nazis in the concentration camps – were removed by Facebook.
The Trump campaign ran a number of ads lambasting “antifa”. Those using the inverted red triangle – a symbol used by Nazis in the concentration camps – were removed by Facebook. Photograph: Facebook

The president has made much in recent days of his insistence that statues and memorials should not be coming down in the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests of recent weeks - even signing an executive order to that effect.

Nevertheless one more symbol of US racial injustice was removed yesterday - an 8-foot (2.4m) tall whipping post that was in a Delaware county courthouse square.

The whipping post as it was displayed on the grounds of the Old Sussex County Courthouse near the Circle in Georgetown, Delaware
The whipping post as it was displayed on the grounds of the Old Sussex County Courthouse near the Circle in Georgetown, Delaware Photograph: AP

The Delaware Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs said the post was used to bind and whip people publicly for committing crimes up until 1952.

However, Black people were disproportionately punished. According to Robert Caldwell, a former sociology professor in the state, more than 60% of those beaten between 1900 and 1945 were Black. At that time, Black people made up less than 20% of Delaware’s population.

The post outside the Sussex County Courthouse in Georgetown was removed after an hour and a half of excavation and put into a storage unit.

Historical and Cultural Affairs Director Tim Slavin said the post was a “cold deadpan display” that didn’t “adequately account for the traumatic legacy it represents, and that still reverberates among communities of color in our state.”

Updated

LaToya Ratlieff was shot in the face with a rubber bullet during a largely peaceful Black Lives Matter protest. She suffered a fractured skull and required 20 stitches. She couldn’t eat for a week and she still has trouble seeing out of one eye that is filled with blood.

LaToya Ratlieff looks at a photograph of herself after she was hit in the face by a police officer’s rubber bullet during a Fort Lauderdale protest over the death of George Floyd on 31 May.
LaToya Ratlieff looks at a photograph of herself after she was hit in the face by a police officer’s rubber bullet during a Fort Lauderdale protest over the death of George Floyd on 31 May. Photograph: Lynne Sladky/AP

It took place on 31 May, but the incident is back in the news after the Miami Herald reported on newly released body camera footage, which shows Fort Lauderdale police officers laughing and celebrating after shooting protesters with rubber bullets on the night.

“Beat it, little fucker,” Detective Zachary Baro can be heard saying in the clip. Later in the clips another officer says “Did you see me fuck up those motherfuckers?”. Another replies amid laughter “I got the one fucker.”

At one point Baro appears to check whether a colleague’s body camera is on or off.

Fort Lauderdale Police Chief Rick Maglione told the Herald: “Your story shows less than 3 minutes of an 8 minute and 43 second long video. The entire video clearly demonstrates our officers were under attack by a group of people who chose to use violence instead of peace to antagonize the situation. Although the language is extreme, and offensive to some, our officers were dealing with the chaos of a developing situation.”

The officers’ conduct only came to light because of the hours of footage released by the Fort Lauderdale Police Department in response to a Miami Herald public records request.

“I’m heartbroken. We deserve better,” Ratlieff said in response to the video late Wednesday night.

You can read the full report here: Miami Herald - ‘Beat it, little fucker.’ Officers laugh after shooting rubber bullets at protesters.

“I would hope the president really wouldn’t veto the bill over this issue,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told Fox News yesterday. “I hope the president will reconsider vetoing the entire defense bill, which includes pay raises for our troops, over a provision in there that could lead to changing the names.”

He is referring to Donald Trump’s assertion that he would veto the bill because of a proposed amendment by Elizabeth Warren requiring that military bases bearing the names of Confederate military figures who fought against the US get re-named.

Alexander Bolton has written for The Hill this morning looking at the fears Republican lawmakers have that this could turn into an unwelcome distraction during an election campaign. says:

With Trump and several Senate GOP incumbents down in the polls to Democratic opponents, Republican lawmakers are not looking forward to a racially-charged debate in Congress over preserving the memories of Confederate generals. A messy partisan fight over bases could also further drive away swing suburban voters, who are already dropping away from Trump.

The piece is a good overview of the debate, and a look at which Republicans are coming round to the idea. As Mitt Romney puts it: “Those individuals fought against the United States of American and we should instead be honoring people who fought for the United States of America.”

Read it here: The Hill - Republicans fear backlash over Trump’s threatened veto on Confederate names

My colleague Maanvi Singh has been looking into how America’s broken autopsy system can mask police violence.

In most states, officials who oversee autopsies are not required to have a medical degree. The departments responsible for investigating suspicious deaths often lack funding and oversight, and work closely with – if not under the supervision of – law enforcement. As a result, many deaths at the hands of police are never reported as such, or are minimized by diagnoses that blame the victim’s heart disease or mental illness rather than an officer’s boot or bullet.

Dr Jennifer Tsai, who last month was among a group of physicians and psychiatrists signed an open letter condemning the system, says that beyond mis-diagnosis, there is also often “character assassination in this process in describing the medical facts.”

Reports into the victims of police brutality will often try and paint a picture of drug use and pre-existing medical conditions to try and minimise the extent to which an officer has been responsible for a death.

It’s a sobering read: ‘I can’t breathe’: how America’s broken autopsy system can mask police violence

Lauren Boebert, who won her Colorado primary this week is part of a small but growing list of Republican candidates who have in some way expressed support for QAnon. They include Marjorie Taylor Greene, who is advancing to a runoff for a congressional seat in a Republican-dominated Georgia congressional district, and Jo Rae Perkins, the party’s Senate nominee in Oregon.

The trend pales in comparison to previous movements that have swept Capitol Hill, such as the 2010 tea party wave. But at a time when the Republicans are facing steep headwinds among women and in the suburbs, the QAnon candidates could add extra headaches, the Associated Press reports.

“The more times you have candidates who are crazy, the more it hurts your brand,” said John Feehery, a Republican consultant and former House leadership aide. “The trick is for Republicans to embrace the anti-establishment mood without embracing the crazy.”

Lauren Boebert speaks during a watch party for her primary result this week
Lauren Boebert speaks during a watch party for her primary result this week Photograph: McKenzie Lange/AP

But it seems like the Republicans are going to swing right behind Boebert. “Lauren won her primary fair and square and has our support,” Minnesota Rep. Tom Emmer, the chair of the House Republican campaign arm, said in a statement.

“This is a Republican seat and will remain a Republican seat as Nancy Pelosi and senior House Democrats continue peddling their radical conspiracy theories and pushing their radical cancel culture.”

Boebert’s campaign manager, Sherronna Bishop, said the campaign was ignoring the headlines tying the candidate to the QAnon conspiracy: “We know exactly what we’re about and that’s the Constitution and freedom. We are not into conspiracy theories.”

When Lauren Boebert was asked in May about QAnon, she didn’t shy away from the far-right conspiracy theory, which advances unproven allegations about a so-called deep state plot against President Donald Trump that involves satanism and child sex trafficking.

“Everything that I’ve heard of Q, I hope that this is real because it only means that America is getting stronger and better, and people are returning to conservative values,” she said.

Republican voters may not know the details of the theory, but they’ve become more amenable to the notion of conspiracies because Trump exploited them during his own campaign and administration, said Joseph Uscinski, a political scientist at the University of Miami who studies conspiracy theories. “Just as that worked for him, there are going to be copycats, too,” he said.

Uscinski said there’s nothing in the QAnon theory that’s inherently conservative, and Boebert was nowhere near as enthusiastic about it as other candidates. He cited Perkins, the Senate nominee in Oregon, who repeated the QAnon oath in a recent video. She took down a video backing the movement, then said she’d been duped by her own campaign staff and supported it again.

Other Republican candidates have referred to the conspiracy theory in social media posts but say they’re not believers. Angela Stanton-King, the nominee in Georgia’s solidly Democratic 5th Congressional District, said in a statement that a post linking to a QAnon video on Instagram that begins: “This would explain why they tried so hard to make us hate him...” was just questioning the movement. She also said that her use of QAnon hashtags in tweets didn’t mean she was an adherent, explaining she peppers her social media with various hashtags to extend her reach.

If you missed it, yesterday we had this profile of Lauren Boebert, and my colleague Julia Carrie Wong recently did a deep-dive into how the QAnon conspiracy spreads from the fringes of the internet to mainstream sites like Facebook.

Welcome to our live coverage of US politics today. Here are some of the key catch-up points and a little of what we can expect today

We’ll get new figures on unemployment claims today too - they are expected to show a sudden bounce back as states started re-opening their economies.

I’ll be with you for the next couple of hours, and you can get in touch with me at martin.belam@theguardian.com

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